Do you find it necessary to own a vehicle if your a stay home mom?

Question

whose husbands works out of town and your home all day with the kid? I am trying to get him to buy me a vehicle (as was promised while I was pregnant if I stayed home) My son is 2 and going anywhere special is not worth it on the bus as it takes 45 or so minutes to just get there!
Do you have a vehcicle if you are stay home mom?
Plus the busses here are dangerous, I live in Edmonton and ppl are always getting stabbed or beaten up...2 days ago someone got killed!

Answer 1

Yes, I have a SUV I actually have the more expensive vehicle out of the two of us. I would never get to all our apts w/o one.

Answer 2

Heck ya, I used to live in Wetaskiwn which is way smaller then Edmonton and a dangerous town too. I didnt' have a vehicle for the first 2 months. It was terrible. Walking, carrying groceries. Getting rides. Paying for taxies (we dont' have buses like Edmonton). But still for a bus you need to wait for the arrival time and theleaving time. If your kid has a tantrum in the store.. you can't just go home. If he swallows something.. you have to wait for an ambulance or a bus or a taxi to go to the er. I can't imagine not having a vehicle! What if he is out of diapers.. do you have to wait for a bus while he is wearing one so wet that he is now peeing his pants? I can't believe your husband won't 'allow' you a vehicle. If that was my man, I would make him get a ride to work and use his. Hide the keys.. whatever. You dont' need permission to get a vehilce.. when you NEED it.

Answer 3

Yes. My son was a preemie and he had a lot of doctors appointments his first year. I take him to play groups and I run the errands like paying bills, grocery shopping, etc. We live up a steep hill with no sidewalks so it can be dangerous to walk down the hill to downtown to get to the bus. My van is broken down right now and my husband is taking his sweet time fixing it and it is really getting frustrating being stuck at home with a 2 year-old all day everyday. My husband also work over an hour from home so it's not like I can drive him to work so I can have his truck.

Answer 4

My husband has always made sure that I have a nice new vehicle every two years even though I stay home. Whoever coined the term stay-at-home-mom didn't know what they were talking about! The children like to go to the park and extracurricular activities, we do volunteer work once or twice a week, we love to go shopping while everyone else is at work/school, and it's nice to do the grocery shopping before my husband gets home. A decent vehicle is essential to every stay-at-home mom!

Answer 5

Hi, we had one car until my son was 2, but then my inlaws helped us buy the 2nd one. I used to do transit all the time until then, even taking the bus to children's hospital...not fun or cool. If my husband and I could have afforded it, we would have had a 2nd vehicle sooner.
When you have to take the bus, try and sit or stand right near the front by the driver and door for a quick exit...or was it the driver that was killed?
Edmonton is going to the dogs..if your hubby works out town anyways, why not sell and relocate to cowtown:)

Answer 6

I lived in Lac La Biche, 220 kms north of you, and though you could walk the entire town in10 minutes, it was far too cold to take my kids out!!! Alberta is too flippin cold You need a vehicle in order to take your baby out. Who wants to wait for a bus when its -50 and risk your child getting sick? I know what its like to live in a big city (I'm from Vancouver and live back here in Vancouver now... I hated Lac La Biche) and though it isn't really hard to get around onpublic transit, it definately isn't fun, or time-friendly and it can be dangerous. I take the bus now but mde sure i had a vehicle when in Alberta. Good Luck with gettign hubby to follow through on his promise (my hubby was a logging truck driver so I never saw him either)

Answer 7

It's not a neccessity, but it sure helps. Emergency's, or normal doctor appointments, library for story time, grocery shopping, go visit a friend, family, go to the park....or just window shop at the mall to get out of the house. When child in school, they might get sick or hurt and need to come home. I have one and some days we don't even use it. But I can get all the shopping and errands done before he gets home from work.

Answer 8

I have my own car and I'm a stay at home mom. I don't even think we have a bus system here (population is only 30K). I guess that I wouldn't HAVE to have my own car (hubby works just 3/4 mile away), but I always have so it would be hard not to. If you're financially able to afford another car without it being a burden I think you should get one.

Answer 9

Yes, you need one... I needed one desperately when I was raising my daughter, and we couldn't afford a second vehicle. Because of this, my daughter could never attend any after-school activities, join Girl Scouts, go to birthday parties, or any event that happened while my husband was at work. This doesn't even count the countless times I needed to go shopping for something, or get to a doctor's appointment, or any of the other needs in life. I didn't have a car for 16 YEARS, believe it or not.
As soon as my daughter turned old enough to get her license? My Mother-in-law gave her a BMW. True story.

Answer 10

if you can afford it you should have a vehicle, in case of emergencies if nothing else. Being a stay at home mom is a job too, and as someone who has lived in an inner city area, having a car is good for security purposes.

Answer 11

I totally understand your concern. I too am a stay at home mom in a bad neighborhood. I believe you need a vehicle for emergencies, running errands and just to get out. There is nothing wrong with that.