Monday, February 4, 2013

One Car for One Month

What if we had one vehicle between the two of us, how weird would that be? That question is the topic of this month's experiment, where we'll try to use just one of our cars all month long. Already three days in, there are no issues yet except for the extra effort in coordinating our goings and comings, and that I might need to walk to work sometimes (not complaining!).

Like any good "scientist" though, I am also interested in answering a few other questions come March 1st:
  • How much do we save in car-related expenses by using one vehicle?
  • How many miles do we both drive in an average month?
  • What other challenges, apart from the artificial limited transportation problem, arise from having to use one car?
  • How well do we work together coordinating our schedules and transportation needs?
  • Are there activities we may find unnecessary or have to forgo just because there is no transportation? (How much does transportation influence our decisions to participate in external activities?)
  • What personal issues shall surface, that we might need to work on?
  • What strengths will come into play, that maybe we didn't know we had, or that we hadn't had a chance to express? Big opportunity to serve one another.
  • What other lessons shall we learn from this experience? I'm sure there will be a few.
  • Will the experience be beneficial to our marriage somehow, or a total waste of time? Do we grow stronger from adversity or shall we crumble under pressure?
  • How much urgency should we have to purchase another car, should any of ours go out of commission?
  • How reliable is whatever car we choose to use?
  • Did our apprehensions, assumptions, and fears pan out?
It all sounds like some assignment from a marriage workshop, but it is completely self-assigned. We are in no such hardship (both our cars work well), but I think this experience will reveal some things we perhaps hadn't had to deal with, and enhance the marriage in ways we hadn't thought about. We'll have  answers in 25 days.

1 comment:

Valarie said...

John and I made do with one car for a year without any trouble and almost no complaints! It'll be fun to hear what your conclusions are!