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Maggie Whitley

joy in motherhood, homemaking, faith & simple living

You are here: Home / lifestyle / simple living / Surviving (thriving!) as a one-car family…

Surviving (thriving!) as a one-car family…

June 4, 2018 · 7 Comments
Filed Under: inspiration, mamahood, simple living

We’ve definitely spent a lot of time at home this year. If you remember, Zack was in a scary car accident in January which left us AMAZED at the protection of God. Even though his car went under a semi truck while traveling on the freeway, Zack walked away with just a small cut on his forehead. However, his car was so damaged that we had to leave it at the scrap yard. Since it was winter we decided to not purchase a second car just yet, but now that we’re about two weeks away from having our fourth baby we are mid-process of saving for another car. We easily have six weeks before I’ll be going anywhere during the day with ALL of my little ones, but I know that time will go by fast so we’ve already begun saving.

So while we have been a one-car family for the entire year (which Zack takes to work 99% of the time), it’s based on  reactions received that I know this concept is unbearable to many! I wanted to share a little more about how we are making it work in case your family needs the extra encouragement as you find yourself in a similar situation ;)

My first thought, once my heart settled down a little from his January accident, was to think about all the positives with where we live. Here are a few: we live in an adorable neighborhood with sidewalks, a fenced-in back yard, and many friends who live nearby / are able to visit US for play dates and coffee. During the warmer weather months, we have two parks we can easily walk to, not to mention an ice-cream shop. We also have a finished basement for playing, outdoor games, craft supplies, and a house full of books.

I decided to put all of these positives to the test and keep my focus on all the fun (and learning) we can experience right here at home (or in our neighborhood) to encourage our family WE CAN THRIVE as a one-car family.

During the winter we played outside as often as we could (which was way more frequent than I had anticipated), so that when we were inside we were able to focus on “inside only” activities. I also moved our furniture around a lot during the winter months ;)

Once winter had nearly passed I began homeschooling Maxwell (and including Natalie as often as possible). This gave us even more fun to focus on as we could try new activities based on what I was teaching. I tried to take all our past experiences living in Minneapolis and Los Angeles, both of which taught us so much about transportation possibilities and creative living.

It feels really good to take all of our experiences and ask myself, “what did I learn from that season, and how can I apply this to my current season?”

Almost every day we would bundle up and go on a walk, again because of our past experiences living in other cities with much different weather compared to Michigan. During this time I also purchased a few new craft supplies for us all to enjoy! Spending just ten bucks brought us a lot of new crafting ideas. It encourages me to remember it doesn’t take a lot of money to have a really great time with my children. I also spent a few days organizing the kids toys and book collections, clothing, and rotated what wasn’t being used with other items held in storage. Oh, all the new possibilities this brought!

Now it is late spring, and summer is just a few weeks away, our “stay at home” options are growing once again. (Hang in there, mama!) Again, time to think about all the positives about where we live: we have a really nice backyard swing set for the kids, a patio table to use for more than just serving meals: crafting, learning, mud pie making. And we recently planted flowers outside, which has been like WOWZA, LOOK AT ALL THE EXTRA COLOR, I LOVE HAVING FLOWERS PLANTED IN OUR YARD! Ha.

This is not to say it’s been hard some days to be without a second car, but I don’t think it’s been any worse than being stuck at home because of bad weather, a sick child, or some other unpreventable reason.

It has been extremely helpful to remember our WHY for not having a second car. If you are in a similar situation, review your WHY. Also make a short list of uncommon activities you can share with your kiddos to make the day a little more fun or rewarding. And then lastly, this is not a forever thing for us. It’s a short-term choice with a great long-term goal in mind (continuing to stay out of debt).

Even if your family lives in a more rural area I’m positive there are special activities you can create for your children to make the time pass until you’re able to purchase another car. If you’ve been wanting to spruce up an area of of your yard, this could be a great time to make it happen! Maybe you create an outside snowball fort for the winter or transform part of your garage to a cold-weather hideout? Maybe you invest in a raised bed vegetable garden and assign responsibilities to everyone who’s able to help? Maybe you are intentional about organizing Saturday morning library visits (when you’ll have your car) based around a child’s specific interests or school lessons being taught? Maybe host a morning book club and hire a mommy’s helper to look after your kids? You can serve lunch to your guests before everyone leaves for nap time.

This has been an exciting challenge for our family! And if you find yourself in a similar situation I hope you feel the same way, too! Do not be discouraged, mama!

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7 Comments
Filed Under: inspiration, mamahood, simple living

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Comments

  1. Grace says

    June 4, 2018 at 2:33 pm

    We’ve been a one-car family for over 2 years. My husband takes the train into downtown Minneapolis and if a need arises, he takes an Uber. We’ve saved over 25k by doing it this way and we’re never looking back- including saving the environment!!

    Reply
    • Maggie Whitley says

      June 4, 2018 at 3:16 pm

      Yes!!!! So good. When we lived in Minneapolis we went about a year without a car at all! We took the bus or light rail everywhere, we were sans kiddos though!

      Reply
  2. Kimberly says

    June 4, 2018 at 3:15 pm

    what’s your grocery shopping/errand running strategy? would love to hear how you make that work!

    Reply
    • Maggie Whitley says

      June 4, 2018 at 3:18 pm

      Good question! I grocery shop via local pickup, so I shop online and then we pick up once Zack is home (or he stops on his way home from work). For errands, I really despise them so I go as infrequent as possible. A couple months ago I thoughtfully planned out & bought a ton of household items that would store well in our basement and now I don’t have to run to Target for those empty items: toilet paper, shampoo, soap, tooth paste, lotion, etc. — this has been SO HELPFUL!!!

      Reply
  3. Betsy says

    June 4, 2018 at 5:13 pm

    Such a great strategy to pick up grocieries!! We had been a one car family for almost 2 years. We would take my husband to work then head off to a Mama/baby appt with the other three in tow, lay the kids down for naps then head out to pick him up in the afternoon. This was enough of a hassle for me to really begin enjoying being home when we were!
    In January my husband began using a work truck which was amazing, but then our car wasnt big enough for our now 4 children because baby was born in February. And today! Today is the day we spend our saved money for a van!
    Agreeing with you here that God gives grace in the waiting, and in giving great ideas in how to enjoy our season and the strength to enjoy! Bless you as you are close to baby #4!

    Reply
    • Maggie Whitley says

      June 5, 2018 at 5:09 pm

      Thank you Betsy :):)

      Reply
  4. Sarah says

    June 12, 2018 at 5:48 am

    Sorry to here about the car but at least he is safe. When my husband retired we decided to sell his car and be a one car family but after a month we realised it was kind of a pain so we ended up buying another one. Plus it is nice to have a second car as an emergency if you have to go pick up your other half.

    Reply

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ABOUT MAGGIE WHITLEY DESIGNS:
Maggie Whitley weaves her writings around joy in motherhood, homemaking, faith, and simple living. She homeschools her children, enjoys a quiet room while reading, and roars with laughter over the challenges & delights of motherhood. Maggie and her husband, along with their four young children, live in metro-Detroit. She has been writing online since 2008.
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maggiewhitley

JOY in motherhood & homemaking 🧺🌿💓✨

maggiewhitley
Reflecting on this today 💓🕊 When I reflect o Reflecting on this today 💓🕊 When I reflect on the moments I’ve felt my mind spinning, my emotions swirly, it’s almost always when I’m not feasting on the word of God. Not that reading scripture is the cure for anxiety —no! Rather, it’s hard to worry when we’re worshipping.
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#mothersofinstagram #tea #winterreading #hygge
I fought every internal comment I could think of a I fought every internal comment I could think of and took my kiddos for a looooong walk today before dinner. ❄️✨ There’s just so much work required to raise children! I’m feeling like a tired lady. But sunshine & fresh air are good companions to keep around. 

We came home and I made “the best dinner ever”. Max specifically announced, “it’s so great you’re launching new meals to the world”. LOL— kids! 🤣👏🏻💓
How about a little Wednesday night introduction? 😘Social media sure has changed over the years and we don’t always SEE who we’re following or remember WHY we’re following certain accounts. 

So, hello! As you can gather, my name is Maggie ;) 

I started writing online (almost 13 years ago) to share the handmade products I was sewing. My shop was called Gussy Sews. ✂️👛I love the community that has grown from sewing & sharing online.

Let’s FFW to today: Zack and I live in Michigan and have four young children (2 boys & 2 girls). I slowly left the handmade industry and walked right into homemaking, homeschooling, and encouraging women through writing. 💕📝

Motherhood has been very hard on me. (And not just because of how close in age our four children are.) It’s been hard for me because I fought for years to accept that *it’s supposed to be hard*. 

I mean, how do you effectively teach another person to know and love the Lord? Bc that’s how I think of motherhood: a calling to nurture others by studying the One who nurtures me. So I gotta make the first move: study the Bible and seek Him first. As my friend Autumn reminded me, vulnerability births transformation. 

(I’ve had to be really vulnerable!)

So, yes motherhood has fully transformed me. But even more so, Christ has fully transformed me. My list of “all that He’s done for me” is off to a beautifully long start.

Something else I want you to know about me: I stalled for years before acknowledging I have anxiety and depression. It’s hard to talk about this because of course this isn’t forever “my hardship”, but rather because acknowledging this means to heal I have to work through some really difficult things. ✨

But my friend Jesus walks alongside me. He’s already done a mighty work in my heart, including helping me process my anger in healthier ways. I’ve also adopted a heart for sisterhood, mothering, and Titus 2 mentorship.

Sometimes our greatest losses are our greatest gains? That’s what I’m clinging to!

How about you? Tell me something about yourself so I can get to know you on a deeper heart level. 🖤🖤
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It was the perfect opportunity to rearrange the fu It was the perfect opportunity to rearrange the furniture as we took the tree down Tuesday midday. Def one of my fav things to do.🎄👋🏻 We made it through our first week back to school since mid-December! It was rough to begin but ended with high fives. ⭐️✏️This morning I zoomed with a mama friend and I’m impressed with the many topics we covered. Sisterhood is sooooo necessary! ☕️👩🏽‍🤝‍👩🏼

Just a few cheery memories from my week! How about you?
Book reading! One of my best “Maggie” activiti Book reading! One of my best “Maggie” activities. I finished my last book moments before 2020 ended, which brought my started list to a close. Small joys add up to big joys ;)

What are you reading this year? Currently?

How many books are you planning to read? What’s your goal?

I’ll share what’s on my list for 2021 soon as I received some nice titles at Christmas. 📖✨🤍
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