Well, it’s finally happened: my wife and I have graduated to full card-carrying ‘Tree Hugger’ status by deciding to become a 1-car household.
This may not sound like a dramatic, eco-warrior style decision to any die-hard greenies out there, but it has been a genuine leap into the unknown for us, particularly given that we both work full-time.
It’s my trusty Peugeot we’ve decided to let go. We’re selling it to my younger brother, whose own car is currently in its death throes. So, there’s some comfort knowing its going to a good home.
So what precipitated this sudden outpouring of eco-zeal? Well, my wife and I have been on a gradual journey of simplification, decluttering and life balancing for several years now, ranging from dramatic career downsizing, through to the slightly less lofty clearing out of the sock drawer. We’ve instinctively adopted a incrementalist approach to life change. Adopting the perennial cliche of ‘evolution’ over revolution.
I’d actually raised the topic of becoming a 1-car household around 12 months ago. At the time we dismissed it out of hand, primarily for reasons of convenience and because it just seemed too radical in a world where your most of your neighbours, work colleagues and friends own 2 cars. Well, the ones outside of London anyway.
Afterall, we’ve been a 2-car family our entire working lives. How could we possibly live in 2011 without more than one car?! What next? Biking into work via Penny Farthing?
I somehow managed to airbrush from memory the fact that I managed to live the first 22 years of my life without my own car, and that my 4 University housemates and I had survived perfectly well with 1 car and the student bus pass.
So what changed? Well, perhaps we just needed time to get used to the idea. A little time for reflection and fermentation.
The tipping point arrived on a recent trip to Italy in June. During the outbound flight, we revisited the topic of going ‘car-lite’. We talked non-stop for the entirety of the 2-hour flight.
Incredibly, we calculated that we could save the better part of £4500 – £5000 a year by ditching our under-utilized second car, including the cost of personal loans, insurance, servicing, MOTs, car tax, repairs and general wear. That’s a lot of money to most people. Roughly equivalent to a gross annual pay rise of £7000! Seven grand… to drive a Peugeot? We’re not talking about a chaffeur-driven Bentley here!
Once we stopped and realized how much we were actually spending on our second car, it wasn’t a difficult decision to make. We now aim to finalise the sale of the car by August, and make do with our one remaining car.
We both work in the same city, so we can car-share into work each morning. My wife works flexi-time and often finishes work before me, so the return journey demands slightly more planning and will mean I need to… ‘take the bus’ (gasp!).
I’ve already ordered my bus pass. A one-way ticket will cost me the princely sum of £2.55. I’ll probably end up taking the bus home from work around 3 days a week, costing me a ‘mammoth’ £7.65! Much less than I currently spend on petrol, and a big tick in the eco-friendly box to boot. Hurrah!
I can’t believe it’s taken us so long to embrace the logic of going car-lite. It’s now so glaringly obvious that we’ve been underutilizing our second car for years, and paying two lots of insurance, tax, servicing, petrol etc, when we should have seen the potential for both saving money and helping the environment
long ago.
I think we simply became entrenched in our habits. Conforming to what passes for ‘normal’ orthodox behaviour in the uk. Why drive one car if you can afford two? Everyone else on the street / at work is a two-car household, so why not you? Whatever you do, don’t stand out. Conform! Conform!
It’s scary to live counter-culturally, even in small ways. Pack mentality tends to win out. We’re usually far too busy (and tired), to even question how things might be different, let alone put those thoughts into action.
So, we’re hoping that our car-sharing experiment will free up some resources to throw at some of our other life priorities, particularly travel, short breaks, entertainment and socialising with loved ones. We’re choosing to value experiences over stuff, quality over quantity, and balanced living over excess.
Hopefully, my new travel memories will keep me warm during the wind-swept and drizzly winter evenings at the bus stop! I’ll keep you updated. Put the kettle on. I may be needing that hot cup of tea when we next talk.
