How many cars are there in your family? Hang on, let me guess for just a minute. I’m guessing a minimum of two, maybe even three or four if (like us) you’ve got a couple of teenagers hanging around.
The question is . . . do you really need to have multiple cars? What about that good old fashioned concept of sharing? What about re-organizing your life so that everybody and everything does not revolve around jumping into separate cars and going your separate ways every morning?
If you can possibly manage with one car there are lots of advantages . . . as well as a few disadvantages but we’ll come to those later.
Fewer Car Payments – a couple who have come together with two cars just might be able to downsize to one, pay off the car loan and come out car payment free at the other end. Doesn’t that sound inviting for a start?
Lower Insurance Costs – as well as saving money on car payment you can also save a shed load of money on car insurance costs. If you choose your car carefully (check out the choices at www.ocfiat.com for starters) then you might be surprised at what you can get.
Increased Consciousness Regarding Driving Habits – when you’ve only got one car to share then it pays to look after it properly don’t you think? Why drive like a maniac when the whole family depends upon the reliability of this one car? It also makes you plan your errands more carefully which in turn helps to save gas. Why run to the store every time you run out of milk instead of planning ahead and buying everything you need for a couple of days?
Increased Family Time – a young family with a shared car does, by default enjoy more family time. You can give each other lifts to places . . . you know, the “”I’ll drop you off at the gym, then take little Jennie to ballet class and pick you up on the way home”” . . . that sort of thing. Sitting in the car together gives you more time for talking, not about anything important, just talking. When you have two cars you spend a lot of time driving in opposite directions.
More Walking – okay, so you might say that you can walk even if you have two cars on the driveway but realistically . . . do you? Of course it does help if you have lots of places within walking distance of your home which can encourage you to walk instead of jumping into the car. If you can walk to the grocery store, the movie theater, the bank and the restaurants then why do you need to take the car at all?
Okay, so there are some disadvantages too, so all things being equal we’d better point a couple of them out. For one thing your one car will be doing many more miles than it would if you were a two car family which may mean increased maintenance costs and this car will certainly be racking up more miles but then again, why not splash out on something newer and more modern?
There are some great cars for sale at http://www.ocfiat.com, so whether you need to replace your “”one”” family car or are fed up with walking everywhere and want to go back to being a two car family . . . check out the great deals they’ve got.