I've blogged before about how I love saving money by taking public transportation. For years we've had a single family car to cut costs and spare the environment. According to LeaseTrader.com, we're not the only family conserving money these days. The number of LeaseTrader.com customers transferring out of car leases to share the only remaining family car has tripled this year.
Whether or not you lease a car, you'll save money by downsizing to a single vehicle. (Or from three to two cars, if you're a family with teen or grandparent drivers.) According to AAA, it costs about $8,000 a year to own and operate a new sedan. One of the side benefits we've enjoyed is more family togetherness, as my husband and I tend to carpool together and have some quiet time after dropping the kids off in the morning. Of course we spend less on gas, registration, auto insurance and (ahem) parking tickets.
You may think it's impossible to shuttle kids and adults to all their obligations in just one car, but think it through. Can you carpool with friends or neighbors to children's activities? Can you or your spouse telecommute a day or two each week or carpool to work with a collague? You may find that some creativity will save you money -- and maybe even change your life.
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More Thrifty Thursday Advice from About.com:
When you lease a car, you’re going to have to pay the difference between the lease payoff and your payment balance. If it’s a new lease, that could be a substantial amount of money. I suggest sticking out a lease and finding other ways to save money.
Myths About Car Leasing
Short term leasing is a viable option though – the car depreciates less during this time, the mileage is less but the car payments are significantly less because of this. Also, maintenance of the car tends to be lower because the cars are newer.
Car leasing is still an option – divide the payment between families and the costs could be a lot lower than you first anticipate.