How many cars do most people own? How many cars do you need?
Heather and I got used to only having one car when we were living in DC. We had even considered getting rid of the car because we could get around pretty well with Metro and ZipCar. When we moved to Beaufort, we strongly considered getting a second car. No Metro, no buses, no trains, no ZipCar, heck, no taxis to speak of.
After about four months of living here, I think we have decided to stick it out with the one car, unless something significant changes in our lives. The logic is pretty simple: Cars are the absolute biggest waste of resources and capital that a person can own. Not only does the car depreciate, it generally sits in a parking lot.
On a normal day, Heather has to be at work by 9am. So we both get up at 630 or 7, depending on if we head to the Y first. When Heather is ready to go, I take her to work then pick her up at the end of the day. If she needs the car on a particular day, she just takes it and I am home without a car. If something comes up, I can generally be at her office within 15 minutes to pick her up and then she just drops me back to the house. At most, the running back and forth takes about half an hour a day. Not a huge problem.
The logic is simple: If we bought a second car, Heather would probably drive it to work and park it for most of the day. The car wold sit there for 8 hours. Heather would then drive it home. Some days she would be out making pastoral visits, but most days she would be in the office. While the new car sits in the church parking lot, our current car would sit in our driveway.
The only way you can ever approach getting your money out of a car is to use it as much as possible. It’s the Southwest Airlines approach. Southwest makes money because they keep their planes in the air for more hours a day than their competitors. Cars are the same way. To purchase a new car, we’d increase our monthly bills by at least $300 including a payment and insurance. All to own a car that sits in a parking lot or driveway for at least 22 hours a day.
No thanks.
