Car Lite. I like that phrase. My husband and I just did this - we sold both of our cars (one of which wasn't entirely paid off) and bought a new Honda Fit. I can walk to a train station to get to work, and he can bike the 7 miles to work. There are days when our one car just sits because neither of us uses it.

There are sacrifices involved. On rainy days I no longer have the option of driving the 1/4 mile to the train station. My husband gets up early when he rides to work, and I know there are days when he'd rather sleep in. Rainy days when I need the car, I get up early to drop him off at work. Yes, it's going to be difficult when the car goes in the shop but we bought a plan from Honda that gives us a replacement car for any service that's needed.

There are benefits as well - we no longer have a car payment, our insurance and all other costs have gone down too. Maybe this is how you can convince your wife to take the plunge. Put the savings towards something you both want - like a nice vacation or a home improvement or something like that.

And if being Car Lite is too much, there's no reason why you couldn't get a second car in the future. I have this in the back of my mind if it truly becomes inconvenient. But it's been 2 months and I don't miss the second car.