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no car, no problem?

any one have a baby/kids and has no car and plans not to have a car? we had one and recently may loose it-long story! and i wondering how we will do without one maybe long term, not sure yet.
if you live outside london, how do you cope>?

Replies

  • No car, dont want it really, but I do think that realistically at some point when we will have two kiddies, we will need one. Atm we live in Brighton and you so do not need a car there as everything is so close! Also hate that you pay so much to have one, tax, insurance, fuel, bla bla bla ... lame :P
  • Its not the same, but we went from 2 cars to 1 car when Toby arrived. So far its not caused us any major problems, apart from today when we've had to move the car seat into my brothers car so hubby can have the car for work!
    xxx
  • we don't have a car, i've never been able to drive so its the 'norm' for me, but OH did find it touhger to start as he's always had his own car, but when we moved back to the uk cos his liscence is eu the insurance for him is sky high and simply can't afford that....but he's more used to it now and quite enjoys walking into town or to the shops etc...the only issue we have with not having a car is food shopping, but u can do this online, but i get my mum to take me once a week to the big tesco when she goes and tyhen just use the local shops to buy extra bread milk etc...and if we're going slightly further away (not wlaking distance) u can't always guarantee there will be a buggy space on the bus, and taht can be annoying, but here there's usually another bus along within 10 minutes so never have to wait too long...but it is doable, we haven't ahd a car now for about 15months and ds is 11months and we've never had a time when its been a major issue, the trains etc are good round here so been fine for oh getting to work....i suppose it depends on how well ur area caters for pedestrians really xx
  • Hi honey, i also don't have a car.. well.. sorry, we do have one but only hubby drives, and has the car at work with him monday-friday all day. so when i look after Evie it's public transport of walking for us.

    I think because it's always been this way for me i adapted quickly, where-as if you're used to a car the transition may be a bit harder. I'm very fortunate to live within walking distance of about 5parks, and a library which is brilliant! But town/softplays/swimming pool/friends&family are all too far to walk. You do have to plan what you take with you and be realistic about what you need, as obviously you can't just load up the boot with "just incase" things. You'll soon get used to only packing the essentials so you can carry it or fit it onto the pushchair.

    We use both metros (trains) And buses. I find metros easier as there is much more space for pushchairs. Buses can be a pain if they come and are full, or if the bus is not pushchair friendly.

    To be honest it's hard to say how i manage, because i'm not used to anything else, but you will cope image also... I'm very pleased i've not had a car because i'm forced to do a lot of walking which is great exercise and nice fresh air! thats one bonus!

    I do find though that getting out and about on foot or on public transport gives LO's oppertunity so see different things along the journey, see different people and thats good for their development!

    xx
  • We went from 2 to 1 car when lo was born. This has helped our finances so I can be a SAHM. We don't miss the extra car at all as DH uses public transport for work. So usually we have the car in the day if we need it but we don't use it loads and could easily use public transport/walk instead. Does depend where you live and the transport links available. But it does save alot of cash to have 1/no cars. As we hardly use our 1 car cuts down on fuel/ repair costs. We live in a small town x
  • Hi we're a no-car family with a 6 month old daughter. I live in Manchester and the public transport here is great so not had any problems x
  • We have literally *just* got a car this week and the only reason was because Peter grew out of his first car seat. Before that I could hitch lifts with friends if we wanted to get anywhere without a public transport links. For necessities (food, clothes, doctors, etc.) we can still manage without a car, but having one (with a stage 1 car seat) means that we now have that little bit more flexible as we live in a city where all the public transport goes in and out of the centre and none goes around (if that makes sense).

    I think the availability of public transport and the direction it goes is important to consider. Also what sort of activities you want to do with you los and where they are located. But yes, it is do-able, it just takes a bit of work and thought.

    Hope that helps.
  • We have 2 cars (well 3 but one is off the road) and I absolutely love my car. I definitely would not be able to work if I didn't drive, because I have to drive 5 miles to lo's nans to drop him off then 3 miles back to go to work. Public transport is terrible round here - having said that last year I wasn't driving hardly at all because I crashed my car and was very nervous. Lo's been a lot healthier since we started using the car more as some people on public transport are just disgusting arent they coughing everywhere! If we got rid of just one of the cars we'd be screwed but that's just us and our lifestyle - when I was a SAHM I was perfectly happy not to drive xx
  • We went down from 2 cars to 1 when I was about 3 months pregnant to try and save money and then aquired another car (my grandpa had 3 and gave us 1) when our son was 3 months old. Before that I really struggled when hubby took the car to work as I felt totally stranded, even though I could walk into town I felt I'd lost some of my independence as I've been driving since I was 17.
    Now that I have a car at my disposal every day I hardly drive it and choose to walk everywhere!! Petrol is so expensive and we can hardly afford for me to go anywhere exciting anyway! You'll be fine, the only thing I think I'd really miss it for would be big food shops and outings at the weekend! x
  • we have a car but i was unable to drive for 6 weeks following my section, it was really hard not being able to drive as we live out of the city, we fortunatly have a supermarket in walking distance and the doctors sugery.

    we could 'manage' if i became a SAHM but i travel down 2 lots of motorways to get to work and so does hubby and would take me over 2 hours on public transport (not good when you have to be there for 7am and dont leave until 8pm!) and hubby over 1. most of my friends are 30+ mins drives and most shopping areas are 3+ bus rides

    i think it really boils down to what your public transport is like and where you normally go x
  • at the moment we live in middx, but have our parents in essex,norfolk,east london! so we could survive without in the every day sense, but seeing family is a issue as it would 2 hrs plus a journey, the norfolk journey happens very rarely.
    oh is more worried about it when son gets older, ie- sports ect.he does have a licence but was recently involved in accident and has put him off. but we did hope to move out move outof london but worried without a car wont be a option.does anyone have family scatterd?
  • we went from 2 to1, as hubby's is essential for work, but I have managed fine, was a shock to the system at first mind you, as I have driven for 8 years and always had my own car!

    I just hitched lifts with friends who have been fab, catch the bus and use my legs! My parents are 3 miles away, but we have a big old Silver Cross pram and that walks itself there! got it down to 40 mins now!

    Hubby has just got another car so we are back up to 2, but so far I have only used mine once and that's because I had so much to do it would have been impossible, Money is still tight for petrol so I still have my little legs!

    Bets X
  • we couldnt survive without a car (we only have one between us) as we live in a very rural location and public transport is crap.
    I think if you live in a town its do-able, but I'd hate to try it here.

    xx
  • mrskc, the in laws live in belgium, so eys that is difficult without a car, we went over there last month but it was a pain to do, we had to get foot passenger ferry dover to calais (i live in kent), whcih in itself was not easy with enough stuff for a week for us +things for lo, pushchair etc, and then BIL picked us up in calais and drove us the 3-4hour drive, luckily MIL had been and bought a carseat, highchair, cot etc (we knew this before going) cos otherwise there is noway we would've been able to go, as wldn't have been able to get it all there without a car, we could've hired a car tho, but taking it out of the country drives the price right up, but for journeys within the uk hiring a car as defintaley an option...or (lol) u know those weekend testdrives on new cars, i had a friend that always used to do that for long journeys, even tho he had his own car...xx
  • thanks for all replies, we are going to play by ear really. i think we need one for visiting more than anything and someone once told me when you have kids its peace of mind should god forbid you need to dash to A&E or something, and when expecting another baby! which im not .x
  • Hi, I'm not driving at the min for health reasons and haven't been for 6 months it was awful to start with I was soooo depressed but you do get used to it and you just have to plan everything much better. You get lots of excercise from walking though xx
  • because i cant drive myslef i walk alot with LO anyway. we havent had the car a week so far,not long i no!
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