6 months ago I posted about Nova selling her car leaving us with just one vehicle, the truck. You can read that post here.
Thought I’d give an update on how things are going with just the one vehicle.
So… not much to report as it hasn’t really affected us that much. I rarely have anywhere I have to be so that makes it a lot easier. When I am riding errands or for entertainment, most everywhere I go is fairly accessible by bike and I can choose the time of day that I do go to avoid traffic as much as possible. There has been one time in that 6 month period I wanted to drive to an appointment I had instead of ride, so I drove Nova to work and then picked her up after so I could have the truck for the day.
Another occasion where I probably would have normally driven if I still had a vehicle was to a friend’s funeral. Instead I hitched a ride with Nova to her work place in the big city bringing my bike and a change of clothes and then rode the remaining distance to the service. This saved on time, sweat and me having to ride in rush hour traffic. I changed clothes in the bathroom of a fast food restaurant next to where the service was being held. After, I changed back to my shorts and rode home.
One Sunday I was rotating the tires on the truck when a wheel lug broke off. When we had 2 vehicles I probably would have took the truck to a mechanic on Monday and Nova driven the other vehicle to work, but having just the one vehicle forced me to attempt replacing the lug myself which I managed to do successfully after Nova rode to the parts store and purchased a new lug.
Grocery shopping has changed some. When I had a vehicle at my disposal I would drive to do the bulk of our shopping on a weekday. Now we generally shop together on the weekend. Nova will frequently stop at the grocery store for a few items on her way home from work and I will do the same on occasion while on the bike. Doing all of our grocery shopping by bike is just not practical though.
With winter weather here the truck is definitely not the one vehicle to have. It does terrible in the snow and ice. This is one factor we’ve considered when trying to decide what to replace the truck with when the time comes. When I was driving it to work I would borrow bags of rocks from my employer to weight the rear end down. I may have to go purchase some sandbags now.
So 6 months in, going down to just the one vehicle is something I’m glad we did and I have no regrets.
Thanks for the update. I am always interested in stories where families experiment with reducing personal transportation to one vehicle. It’s been 2.5 years now that we’ve had our sports car that just was garaged yesterday due to unexpected winter weather. We’ve gotten by well with one vehicle throughout the winter. We both use the bus and I will ride during dry road conditions. The car is used for family transport and appointments. 1.5 vehicles is very doable.
That really sounds ideal. You both put forth good effort to not use the car but it’s there if needed. I may have mentioned this elsewhere but public transport is not really an option here.The nearest bus stop is in the big city 5 miles away and that 5 miles is the worst of the riding so once I’m at that point it’s fairly easy to get around by bike. For the majority of my childhood we were a one car family. My Dad drove the car in his work and my Mother would take the bus. When we moved to the town we live in now (basically a suburb of the city) my Dad would take my mother to and from work. In the mornings that was easy enough as my Mother’s workplace was downtown and Dad’s day would start downtown all though the rest of it was out and about in the city. His day ended earlier than Mom’s so in the evening’s he would drive from home back in to the city to pick her up. Don’t know how practical that was but my Dad has always been minimalistic and didn’t like having and maintaining 2 cars.
Thanks,we are a one car family and we have a 11 year old..I am lucky to live in a small town..every thing is close ,few blocks on bike or walking.,Plus helps to keep cost down…Glad it is working out for you..
That’s good to hear it works for you too. Yes the cost savings is nice and just having one less thing around that requires attention outweighs any inconveniences it may cause.
Subject that has nothing to do with cars.Just a minute to tell you Thanks for the last several years all the effort an time that you put into this site and everything about bikes and you other interests..it is somewhat of a comfort to read your site and love your pictures…I do have your Bicycle Geocouching book..won it in one your contests…Keep up the fine work and Happy Holidays…also like your videos!!!!
Thank you Cecil! I really appreciate that you’re following along and that you take the time to give your input. Being able to share with others what I do and the feedback I get from you and others is motivation for me to get off the couch. Also I’ll admit I have a need for attention but I’m somewhat of an introvert and I suppose social media fills my need in a way that I’m comfortable with. You know I think I may expand on this a little and make it a future blog post. Thanks again.