zdad – thank you for having some understanding here, the car issue is a tough one to explain to people. They can’t imagine having cars is anything but a luxury or something you can cut when the budget is tight.
we actually have three cars. two of them are from the 1900’s and are used for getting my husband to work and my daughter to college. the other drivers/kids have to get rides or walk to work and school so we have about 6-8 ‘carpools’ a day. there isn’t a cheaper option for us. even the schools bussing would have cost us more.