That is very good advice on parking at the school and heading out from there. Our winters do not get that cold. It could be anywhere from 25 for the high (this coming Saturday) to 70 for the high (tomorrow). The length of the commute is for sure in consideration. It is an easy commute mostly on designated paths and very few stoplights or streets to cross. In 15 miles I think I only have to cross 5-6 streets. We do have uber here as well so that would be a potential option on the days needed.

And yes definitely cannot make my wife do all of the running around after work. Pretty much every day we meet at home after work and *if* we have some running around to do we head out and do it together.

my wife and I have done the 1 car thing for almost 4 years now

some things that make it work OK:
- she works from home, and only 2-3 days a week
- our kids are still young (1 and 4)
- the daycare/preschool (and Elemenarty School next year) are all 5-10 minute walking distance away
- we live a short 10 minute walk from grocery/bank/coffee/post office/doctor/etc so she can do most of errand without the car
- my work has a great shower/locker room setup, as well as a big kitchen - so I drive on monday and bring all my clothes and food for the 2-3 days that I will run
- there is a bus option where I can go half way or all the way if I decide not to run/bike - its just a little less convenient to rely on the stupid bus

some things that make it annoying:
- WINTER. Like everyone else said - commuting without a car sucks balls in the winter. And i'm not that much of a softy, but 4-5 months of darkness/rain/5 degree cold here in Vancouver is kinda tiring
- it adds about 30 minutes to my commute times (ie i'd get home at 5:30 if I drive, 6:00 if I run) - so I get to spend less time with my kids in the evening
- we have the odd miscommunication/argument here and there - but like other people said if you do some sort of shared calander that makes things a little bit easier

I am definitely defending it because I have been thinking it through for a couple of months now and have tried to weigh out the pros and cons and all of the logistics for it. My original post was asking for reasons I should do it and some things that other people have encountered in doing this. I also knew that I would get people giving me reasons that I should not do it as well. To those people, and their advice truly is appreciated, I have tried to give my solutions to the potential problems they have presented. Up to know I don't feel much has been presented that cannot be overcome which is what I was hoping for. You are 100% correct in that if we try it for a little bit and it doesn't workout we are not out anything and we will have saved a bit more money and just go out and buy a second vehicle. So far I have tried to defend the idea and go against the reasons given to not do it so I know in my head how we as a family will handle the situations that have been presented.

I live in a big city and at least half of the people I know are one car families. If you don't have transit options, or if you have to drive a long distance on different schedules, then I can't help you.

Otherwise, my wife gets the car pretty much all the time because she has parking at work (I don't) and she drives the kids everywhere.

I have a bike, jump on the bus, or grab rides with neighbours. If I need the car for something I reserve it in advance. Having common expectations is key.

I am not a one car family but wanted to add some thoughts. I used to bike commute year round and met quite a few other bike commuters, some fair-weather, others 365'ers like myself. I will say that an hour bike commute doesn't seem too bad at first, but it becomes a major time commitment. What is your current commute time vs how long you will be bike commuting? Don't forget to include any showers and extra preparation time each day. That adds up. For me, I bike commuted 365 partially out of necessity but also because it was a way for me to start getting back in shape after being rather inactive for a while. I could justify my bike commute because in car it takes about 20-25 minutes and on bike it takes 22-25 minutes of traveling plus an extra 10 minutes per day getting ready. That meant 50 minutes car commute vs 60 minutes on bike per day. From what I've seen in other bike commuters, once you start going around 40 minutes bike commute (one way) is where you are really losing time out of your day. At one hour, you're most definitely going to be losing time. What is your time worth to you? is it worth it? That's for you to decide.

Also, from your initial post you seem to think that getting a new car means a new car payment. Not necessarily. You can get a good used car for $6-10k and skip the car payment. Alternatively you could always get a beater car as well.

I do know some co-workers who are in the 1-car family situation. They make it work and it certainly is possible but it really just boils down to your family travel needs and how flexible you are to be able to make it all happen. I have some co-workers who have their spouse pick them up everyday after work. I have other co-workers who spend a 20 minute walk home, another co-worker who alternates running 6 miles and biking 6 miles each way to work, etc, etc. Personally, I loved my bike commuting days but only because it made sense from a time perspective. If my bike commute was 1 hour each way then I wouldn't be making that bike commute because it'd likely be too much time lost per day and ultimately I'd rather just get a relatively cheap but reliable used car.

Best of luck in whatever you decide. You could always try it out for a while but set a date for you and your wife to discuss how things have gone with it, how happy the two of you are with the arrangements, etc and then decide if it is worth continuing or not.

It would be a "new to us" car but on the newer said. Absolutely we could get a cheaper car than even a "new to us" car that we had and if we end up getting another car it would most likely be on the not so new side. My commute in the morning would really only impact me. I leave the house every morning before anyone is up anyway to go workout. The main area it would impact the rest of the family is in the evening. Instead of getting home about 5:35 or 5:40 I would be getting home somewhere around 5:50. I should also add that the main impact in the evening would be Monday-Thursday as I am usually off around 2 or so on Fridays but there is still that impact the first 4 days of the week. My other option would be get to work a little earlier and leave a little earlier so I am getting home closer to or at the time I would if driving. I hadn't really considered this but it is certainly an option and might be something for me to do even just a couple days a week and get home a little later the other days of the week. I will agree an hour commute is a bit on the long end. One of the advantages is it provides my workout for the day so when I get home I am done and not worried about staying up late to get in the day's workout after everyone is asleep. I almost enjoy the length of the commute better since it is longer and especially in the winter. Getting appropriately dressed for a 15-20 minute commute in cold weather drives me insane and makes it seem like more work but obviously this is just a matter of opinion and I certainly respect yours and everyone else's.

My wife would have the car most of the time. The bus would be an option. There is 1 stop about a mile from our house and then I would have to change bus routes after a couple of miles and the second one would get me within about 3 miles of my office which I could finish off by running or riding.

Are you nuts? One car for two people... sounds like a recipe for divorce. I personally need at least three cars and I keep trying to buy more and the wife keeps saying "Make the ones you own run first".

we have 5 and it sucks. I wish it was one.
good luck!

We did this for about 3 months. It wasn't a total nightmare but it really sucked. The reason? Kids. As much as you think their schedule is simplistic, it is anything but that. I commend you for think you can commute on bike 100% of the time but I think that is realistic. The issue is that if you can't commute 100% or have an issue commuting then you two have a BIG problem. She is loading one now, two in the future in the car to come get you.

In my situation, we both worked from home and rarely left our little suburb during the week. I hated either asking her to drop me at the YMCA or driving there and her having no better option than 911 if something was to happen with our toddler. In the long run, I just ended up with a high mileage car and bought my wife a different vehicle.

In a few months, we are moving to a more walkable community and my current job is only 5 miles up the road. We committed to reconsidering the 1 car option but I still don't see it working. Those cold rainy days are a dealbreaker

We've been a single car household for 4+ years and live in a rural area where bus transport is not an option. It's worked very well and we've saved a lot of money. At first we did it out of necessity due to a family illness and job loss (scaling back costs due to being one income). But we stuck with it after things straightened out. We both work and are fortunate our hours are relatively close to make it work. We still make a "car payment" each month to ourselves so the next car purchase will either have a big down payment or be paid in full. There are some inconveniences and waiting a bit for the other's schedule. But we don't plan on going back at this time even though funds aren't an issue.

Often, I'll be dropped off to work in the morning with my bike and the wife takes the car. Then I ride home. No issues coming to work sweaty and it gives me a workout on the commute home. That's worth something as it's less time leaving the family for a workout later.

The biggest problem we've had is when a snow plow ran into the car and put it in the shop for a week. We had to get a loaner for the week. Not a big deal. Getting somewhere if there is an emergency could be a problem. But that's what friends and family can be for.

We're a one car family. Most of the time we can both get to work without a car (via train or bike) but we so both have meetings sometimes which involve driving, and each of us also works from home one day a week and generally needs the car on that day as it's need to pick up our youngest from school (we have a nanny the other 3 days), though can normally cope without if given notice.

Key for us is planning ahead. The only time we've had problems is if we've both assumed we can use the car to get to a meeting, and only discover this the night before. We just send each other Outlook invites for anything work or social that is outside the usual routine and therefore impacts the other person, either from a car perspective or child care. Works pretty well.