Transportation Expenses

Save Money by Reducing to One Vehicle

Transportation. The second biggest expense you probably have, after housing, is transportation.

Between your car payment(s), auto insurance, maintenance and repair, and gasoline, this category probably takes a huge chunk out of your monthly income.

Downsize to One Vehicle

The obvious solution is to eliminate a second vehicle.

I know what you are thinking, in this day and age, I must be nuts!

Well, it's not easy, that's for sure.

I have spent about half of the last ten years with only one vehicle in our family. It can be done.

Actually, once you get used to it, it's not that big of a deal.

Benefits:

You only have one car payment (or none if you have paid off your car)

Your auto insurance rates are less

You only have maintenance and repairs on one vehicle

Plus, with less access to a vehicle, its harder to go out shopping, or out to lunch, which means you will save money that you don't need to spend.

You'll even save gas money!

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Plan Your Trips

The big key is planning. Let me say that again.

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The big key is planning.

Make sure you plan all your doctor's appointments and shopping trips, essentially all of your errands, for one specific day, if possible.

This will save you time, effort, energy, and gasoline.

How do you get by? There are several ways that one car families adjust.

Mom may chauffer dad to work in the morning, and pick him up in the evening. This can be every day, once a week, or just occasionally for errand days.




Dad can carpool with a co-worker who lives near him. In this case, it would be a good idea to pitch in for gasoline.




Dad can take advantage of the public bus or train system and use public transportation to get to work. Alternately, mom can use public transportation for errand days.




Dad, can bicycle or even use a fuel-friendly motorcycle to get to work.


There are, of course, disadvantages to having just one vehicle.

Disadvantages


It is less convenient

Can be difficult in an emergency

It is hard to make repairs to the vehicle when there is not a second vehicle to drive around.


But, it is very possible to live with just one car per household. Some families even manage with NO vehicles. Now that's a way to reduce transportation expenses!

There is one family, in New York City, who lives without using any motorized transportation whatsoever. They conducted a year-long experiment, not just with transportation, but with what they felt was their impact on the environment, and wrote about their experiences in their blog No Impact Man.


Now, if you choose to check out the site, please note that while I personally find their walking and bicycling around town to be of value, this site does not endorse any political views from the No Impact Man site. But an interesting read nonetheless!



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Car Share

Another way to get along with no vehicles is to use a car share network for transportation.

What is Car Sharing? Car Sharing, or Auto Sharing, which operates in larger cities across the US and other parts of the world, is similar to renting a car.

Members decide when they need a car and for how long. They can borrow a vehicle for an hour, or a week, whatever they need. They pay by the trip.

It is less expensive and more convenient than a typical rental agency. The cars are picked up at drop off locations in parking lots throughout town. Companies like FlexCar and ZipCar are leading the industry across the USA, but several local co-operatives have also been formed.



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Rural Areas

What happens if you live in a rural area?

Well, living with just one vehicle is possible in a rural area too. My cousins live in Montana.

They live in a small, sparsely populated town. They both work in a small city (around 50,000 people) 25 miles away.

They use one vehicle for transportation every day.

My cousin's wife drives, and drops my cousin off at his job.

Then she drops their son off at daycare. She goes to work herself, and when she is done working, she picks my cousin up, they then pick up their son, and go home.

Errands such as grocery trips are done either during lunch, or after everyone is in the car.

So it is possible to reduce your transportation expenses, if you plan in advance.



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Car Fund

I've told you that we have spent half of the last ten years with one vehicle. Right now we own one truck, a big F350 that pulls our RV (our home). We do not have any car payments whatsoever. Instead, we put $300 per month aside in an ING Account for our next vehicle purchase.

When we're ready to sell the truck, we'll use that money, plus the money in our vehicle savings account to buy a new vehicle.





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Go No Payments

If you can't drop down to one vehicle, you should consider at least dropping down to one, or no, car payments.

See if you can sell one of your current vehicles and buy a lesser expensive, older model.

If you can manage to reduce or eliminate your car payments, put the amount you would have been spending each month, into a Vehicle Savings Account.

That way, when it is time to purchase a newer vehicle, you will have most, if not all, of the money already saved.

You will be able to pay cash for a vehicle, which will save you money on the sticker price, plus you will not be forced to take out financing, which will save you thousands of dollars in interest.



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Car Wraps

Another option for saving money on transportation is to join a Car Wrap company and get a vehicle for free. Alternately, you can be paid to drive your vehicle.

This works especially well for husbands who tend to drive long distances or in heavy traffic.


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