I like to play a little game every few months called “What major costs can we eliminate from our budget?” (I know, my Saturday nights sound great, right?) The expense that comes up in this exercise over and over again is auto costs. After our mortgage, my household spends more on automotive costs than any other budget category. When I include all the expenses (monthly finance payments, insurance, gas, registration, repairs and parking), this category quickly adds up. It drives me crazy.
In Los Angeles, having a car feels more necessary than in other parts of the country. But in a two-person household, could one car be enough?
How Much Savings Would There Really Be?
The car that we would get rid of is 10 years old and fully paid for, with a Kelly Blue Book value of about $6,000. If we sold this car, we would get that value, plus cut all related costs. Based on our average expenses over the last few years, here is what we would save on a monthly basis:
| Insurance | $103 |
| Gas | $40 |
| Average monthly maintenance | $38 |
| Registration | $9 |
| TOTAL MONTHLY SAVINGS | $190 |
To account for some extra costs like public transportation and added gas/wear and tear, we estimate that our savings would be at least $2,000 a year. That is the equivalent of two round-trip flights to Europe—every year.
As much as I would like to have an annual trip to the Amalfi Coast, there are some big roadblocks for my husband and me. Both of our jobs are not easily accessible via bike or public transportation relative to our house. Add that to the atypical hours we often work, my inconveniently located gym that I refuse to give up and the ongoing needs of two young puppies that we adopted, and the cost savings is not enough to make us pull the plug.
Christina and Joey
While mourning the loss of my hypothetical recurring trip to Italy, I spoke with my colleague Christina, who actually has gotten rid of her family’s second car. In fact, her family has been a one-car household for going on five years—and they have a one-year-old! I had to pick their brains to see how they did it.
Working in different parts of the city, Christina most often uses their car to get to and from work while Joey takes a commuter bus, which he loves. “I can do whatever I want on the bus. Also, when I get off of work, it gives me time to unwind so that Christina doesn’t have to see any work stress.”
The financial benefits are also big. “It opens up a lot of cash flow,” Christina said. This money not only has allowed them to afford better housing in their chosen area, but has given them a better opportunity to beef up their savings. As an added benefit, they avoid expensive parking in downtown LA, and Joey’s work covers the commuter bus costs.
The downsides seemed small, comparatively. “We have to do more scheduling and planning ahead of time,” Christina said. “Sometimes, Joey has to take Uber when he has to be in another part of the city, but the cost of that is still way less than having another car.” Lastly, because of their reliance on the commuter bus, when they recently moved they found they had to narrow their search to neighborhoods close to public transportation.
Overall, both feel that “it’s a lot easier than people think it is.” They do fear that the time may come where having one car could be a big problem if something were to happen to their son and the parent with the car wasn’t immediately reachable. But for now, their system is working great for them.
As for me, I’ll keep crunching the numbers to see if there’s some other expense I can cut to afford that annual trip to Italy. Maybe I’ll explore going solar.
