It's Cash for Clunkers. Except backward.

We have been a one car family for a little over a year. We decided last June to wait on buying a new car until we found one we liked that we could get without a payment.

Fast forward 13 months and we finally decided we were ready for another car. I don't know if it was my attitude or our life changes (adding a newborn makes things complicated!) but I was suddenly totally over the whole one car family thing. Waking up early and loading three littles into a car every morning to drop daddy off at MARTA started getting to me. And since I'm not so good at the whole waking up early thing, Thomas nearly always got into work later than he wanted to.

So this weekend, when the rest of the country was turning in their clunkers for cash we used our cash to buy a clunker of our own.

Meet Woody. He gets horrible gas mileage (thank goodness he only has to drive 5 miles to MARTA) and he's a bit quirky, but he is exactly the car Thomas has been wanting for a while. So, he's happy. I'm happy. And tomorrow I'm planning to enjoy the extra hour of sleep that I get by not making a trip to the bus station.

Clunkers FTW!

The One Car Wonder: Day 21

So, the one car thing has been going really well for us. We've managed to get everywhere we need to get without suffering any major inconveniences.

In fact, (don't say a word, Ryan T.) I actually mentioned to our Bible study that I didn't even really notice that we only had one car. Being the kind souls who keep me accountable, they mentioned that perhaps Thomas was the one busy noticing that we had one car since he was the one taking MARTA. Fine. I stand corrected. Yes, it has been noticed but I promise not in a bad way.

We've noticed a dramatic decrease in gas charges on our bank statement. We've noticed that we managed to pay off an outstanding credit card balance with our proceeds from the sale of the Xterra. We've noticed we've become more efficient. We've noticed that if I am going to be the one driving our only car on a regular basis then we are going to have to get AAA. Why, you ask?

Take a look:
This is what happens when I attempt to back down my driveway while "multitasking." And by multitasking, I mean, dialing my phone, breaking up a fight over whether frosties or chocolate milk are superior, finding Avril Lavigne on the iPod, and, oh yeah, looking out the rearview mirror.

Yes, I am the person who managed to rip a 3 inch tear in her tire's sidewall in HER OWN DRIVEWAY. It was my sequel to last month's flat tire wherein I backed over three 5" screws that had been left somewhere in the driveway. And, everyone knows that sequels have to outdo the first installment.

But, AAA saved the day (thanks, Michael!) and luckily I was still able to pick Thomas up at MARTA on time. Lesson learned today: always have a back-up when relying on one car 'cause you never know when being supermom will leave you stranded.

One Car Wonder: Day One

Okay, so today was the first work day we spent with one car. It's a big change since Tal and I have always had our own cars. But, I'm thinking it's a good change. And here's why:

1. Thomas got to go with me to drop the girls off at preschool. They LOVED that the whole family took them to school.

2. I got my lazy-in-the-morning behind out of bed and dressed EARLY to take Thomas to Marta and it made my day super productive.

3. Thomas was able to get to work on time with a minimal amount of frustration and sweat (from the 1/2 mile walk to Coca-Cola).

4. Thomas is guaranteed to get more exercise this way and he's pretty excited about that.

5. We'll save over $100 this week in gas we'd ordinarily be putting in the Xterra for one week's worth of commuting. That's the best part of all!

I'm sure it isn't going to be easy all the time, but this first day was alot less traumatic than I thought it was going to be. And, I'm excited to see what other hidden benefits we find from being a one-car wonder...