We are introducing a new feature on the blog: Reader Case Studies! The goal is to share relatable stories about personal finance that might help others. With that said, let’s get into our first Case Study: Going to One Car.
This interview is with one half of the duo Sweet & Sour Sales. And despite that saucy nickname we created for purposes of this interview, they are not in the Chinese food business. And as you likely guessed by the article title, this family of two recently made the decision to go down to one vehicle. We asked them some questions, they shared their answers, and we added some final thoughts below.
Here we go!
Q. Now I understand you and your wife work together in real estate. How is that?
Wonderful! It’s something we discussed, prayed about, and planned for diligently.
Q. So how do you divide up the responsibilities in the workplace, and what’s a typical day like?
My wife coordinates my schedule and appointments as well as all office paperwork and I handle the showings, negotiations, inspections and closings/walk throughs. There is no typical day in Real Estate. It starts and ends when you say it does and although at the disposal of our clients, we try to keep a structured schedule.
Q. So Sweet & Sour, considering the city you live in, what is the most optimal way for you to travel to the showings?
Driving is the best way to travel for showings. With multiple clients and multiple appointments a day, I cannot rely on public transportation or “slower” forms of transportation (i.e. biking). Uber is too expensive and the prices can spike if it’s rush hour or there’s a popular event nearby. Walking is only an option if I have multiple showings in a small area or the weather is agreeable (3 months of the year).
[He’s right, Miami is scorching. Showing up dripping with sweat in the pristine lobby of a hi-rise lux condo isn’t the image that sells]
Q: What was the main driver in the decision to go down to one car?
I have an awesome relationship with our Lease Guy. We talk numbers, market, value, etc. COVID caused a huge spike in the cost of leasing due to low inventory since production had to slow down (or sometimes even stop completely) because of the pandemic. I wasn’t finding any cars I would be happy driving for the next 3 years at a price point I thought was reasonable.
Also, after having a conversation with you about the Cash Flow consolidating would create (sometimes when my wife explained it, it wouldn’t click – “a prophet has no honor in his own homeland”), I asked my wife if she could draft the numbers. Once we sat down and considered that she currently only needs the car once per week for groceries and the money we could be saving, it was an easy and obvious choice.
[Often a husband and wife “get on board” with various domestic initiatives at different speeds – glad it clicked here for you!]
Q: What have been some of the pros and cons in the few months so far since you’ve been a single car family?
A huge pro are the savings! My lease payment was $311/month and insurance was approximately $145/month. That’s $456/month!!!!! We aren’t calculating gas into the equation because she hardly used any and my consumption has remained the same.
Also, pre-pandemic, my wife bought herself a bicycle. She wanted to start running nearby errands on bike for exercise and to help the environment. We live a 5-minute ride to a grocery store and tons of local restaurants and shops so she just gets on her bike and quickly takes care of business!
One CON is I went to play golf and left my wedges in the car. Also, driving manual was way more fun. Final CON: we have 2 completely separate car organization “styles”. My wife has 1 box in her car with some essentials she likes to carry. I am used to carrying my golf bag, a change of clothes, basketball shoes, regular shoes, 2 basketballs, & extra PPE…as you can see we had some issues consolidating what the car actually needs to carry.
[Just a note, the car they turned in was a manual transmission, and it appears the interior resembled a Foot Locker!]
Q: Anything else you guys discovered?
When we decided to turn in my lease, we immediately knew based on our experience what could be some “triggers” with sharing a car. We spoke about “calling” the car first. We agreed she would do groceries Wednesday mornings leaving me at home to work. Sundays she also has the car to run any errands she might need to do. Mondays are another day I usually try to spend at the office so the car is available to her for whatever she might need it.
My wife refills her gas tank every week, even if it doesn’t need gas. I wait until the light turns on. We came to the agreement that she would continue doing her thing and I would make sure I never left her with the light on.
[Please tell me you call “Shotgun” on each other]
Q. Do you think this will be a permanent move as a single car family?
Let’s take it day-by-day.
5 Takeaways from us
After reviewing their answers, we have a few final thoughts:
- Sweet & Sour Sales displayed the super power of thinking outside the box. Rather than make a decision they would not be happy with (lease turn-in clock was ticking, new lease options were not appealing), they opted to “not” replace the vehicle. This option would not even enter the mind of many with similar situations, so kudos to them.
- Convenience costs money! While it’s nice to have a car for every driver, many families have found it’s a luxury, not a need. Notice when they sat down they realized she only needed the car once a week for groceries! Those were pretty expensive grocery trips when you include 1/4 of the car payment each time. Sure, now it “costs” them time to plan ahead the week of vehicle sharing, but what’s the Return on Investment of that one hour or so every Sunday? (it’s pretty high).
- Our decisions tend to have compounding effects, or off-shoots. A positive compounding effect here is increased use of bicycle transportation in response to the lack of a second vehicle. Win for health and the environment! Taken further, there’s other pros from the weekly vehicle coordination conversation. Less surprises, more efficient schedules, a couple being on the same page, all good stuff. Without the need to do this for the car, would as much of that discussion happen? We can’t say.
- Because you heard ‘compounding’ on the last one and thought I would go the numbers route, I’ll take a second and do that here. $456/month savings, without investing it, is $5,472.00 of savings annually. (almost a fully funded IRA). Invested at 8% and kept up for 5 years would reap them $34,184.82! What kind of free and clear new vehicle could you buy then for that money if you wanted to? A really nice one!
- It’s not permanent. The reader’s final thoughts indicate as much – this isn’t something they’ve committed to long-term. If their circumstances change or they decide it just isn’t working, they’ll add back that second car. Viewing these type of things as experiments is a healthy way to tackle trying new things, whether you’re married or single. We’ve found it helpful to always go back to the question: What is Your Why?
Many thanks to Sweet & Sour Sales for sharing their story!!!! We will definitely catch up with you down the line to see how this is going.
So what do you think? What is your family’s vehicle situation? Could you make a similar move? Let us know in the comments!