Two cars or one?

We're a two car family, but this week we only have one.  My mum had one of their cars die, and they were in a real jam, so we let them borrow one of ours for the week, thinking Stu was only working one day this week.  Turns out he is now working all week again, so we're having to do the one car juggle.


We live in a tiny town (a primary school, a pub, a general store and a couple of hundred people), 10 minutes drive from our nearest small town and 25 minutes drive from our big town - Warrnambool.  The kids go to school here, Stu works in Warrnambool, I teach belly dance in the small town and do the shopping in Warrnambool, so there is a reasonable amount of driving done by our family each week.  It is usually very easy to manage, but with only one car or one driver it becomes a real juggle.

http://www.tropicalnsw.com.au/aaa_site/album/environment/rural_road.jpg

At the start of this year, Stu was unable to drive for medical reasons for three months.  This had its moments of being stressful, but thanks to kind friends and family and his work hours being a bit flexible, we managed.  The most challenging moments were when he couldn't get a lift and I had to bundle the kids in the car to do a 1 hour round trip to pick him up, or when I was working and he needed to get the kids somewhere.  But we managed.

This week, with only one car, Stu has taken it to work today, and I'm left at home with no way to go anywhere today and tomorrow.  I think this is great!  I have a huge list of things I want to get done over the next couple of days, and don't have to worry about fitting in a trip to town to do the shopping.  Tuesday is usually shopping day, but I have plenty in the pantry, fridge and freezer and will make do for a couple of days.  The real challenge is going to come when I have to go to work during Stu's work hours on Thursday and Friday, but we'll find a way around it.

Unfortunately, the solutions to these problems won't work long term for us, otherwise I would love to get rid of one of the cars permanently.  Think of the savings!  I would halve the payments for registration, insurance, car servicing and maintenance.  We would have an extra space in the carport and the money from selling the extra car.  We would also be saving on trips to town (if they're more challenging you're less likely to do them) and therefore petrol and spending.  And on top of all that would be the environmental savings.
Perhaps one day we'll be able to do it, but for now, the odd challenge is enough.

How about you?  One car or two?