A Hard Change

The Babe and I changed something kind of big in our lives today.

Most American homes have one vehicle per licensed driver. We’ve always each had our own car or truck. In the past calendar year, we seem to go most places together, in one vehicle. That set us to talking: at what point should we go to one car?

We’ve leased for quite a few years. Yes, it’s a bit more expensive, yet it’s worked well for us. Now, we’re both in our 70s, and it makes sense to save nearly $1K a month and just have one car. On paper, it makes perfect sense. In the feelings? It’s hard.

Why? The Babe has had a car since he first got his driver’s license. I got my license at 18, and co-owned the car. As my married life continued, we had one car, and I was pretty isolated. Since I was 30, I’ve owned my car. When the kids were all old enough to drive, I was the owner of their cars, until they could have a loan of their own. It all worked.

And now, besides all the other things going on in our lives, we’ve decided on one car. It’s the smart thing to do. Sure, it’s a little hard. I have no problem staying home. If the Babe needs to be gone, I can always drop him off and pick him up later. I’m sure in three months, we won’t even notice. The other thing that sometimes happens is one person has a health crisis and can no longer drive. I believe this move today will make that sort of thing easier, if it could be.

In the meantime, we’re going to enjoy the little boost to the pocketbook and make sure we continue to coordinate appointments, etc. It should be no big deal in the long run.

What do you think? Are you a couple in a similar situation? What are you doing about it? Or do you have any other ideas about it? As the Babe said, “If we change our minds, we can always come back and get another car.”

With the Babe’s words of wisdom, we will go out and enjoy this Thursday. I have PT and it’ll be good. Have a wonderful day and we’ll see each other tomorrow!