Lowering Your Car Expenses
One of the largest line items in most household budgets is vehicle cost. In fact, they typically run second only to housing. The good news is the expenditures associated with your car can be more flexible than they might appear at a glance.
The following tips have proven useful for lowering your car expenses.
photo/ Michael Jarmoluk via pixabay
Choose Your Car Carefully
The best way to reduce your car expenses is to choose a vehicle with low operating costs. Look for one that runs happily on regular fuel as opposed to premium. Investigate service intervals and reliability reports before you buy to find a car that’s long on both.
Moreover, you should do everything possible to ensure the price of the car falls well within your budget. Stretching to get a car you can barely afford is a recipe for financial disaster. You can’t really afford a given car if you must finance it for more than 60 months to make it fit into your monthly budget.
One of the ways to make a car more affordable in the short run is to lease rather than purchase. Searches to lease a car near me routinely turn up deals that will cost less on a monthly basis than purchasing. However, this should only be considered a short-term solution, as leasing can cost more in the long run.
Revisit Your Insurance Policy
Are you taking advantage of all of the discounts to which you might be entitled? Defensive driving courses can get you a cost reduction. Tailoring your coverages more finely can result in savings as well. Going with a higher deduction will also reduce the monthly cost of your car insurance policy.
Putting insurance companies in competition with one another for your business is also a good way to get a lower rate. Shop around and let agents know you’re doing so. Just be careful to compare avocados to avocados. In other words, make sure the coverages and benefits are exactly the same with each quote before you decide one company is more affordable than another.
photo supplied, courtesy of guest blogging network
Do Simple Maintenance Yourself
Checking your tires to ensure they’re properly inflated can make them last longer and reduce the amount of fuel your car uses. Windshield wiper blades and headlights are pretty easy to change on your own. You’ll save money when you buy those items at an auto parts store and you won’t pay labor costs to get them installed.
YouTube is an exceptional source of tutorials for just about anything you might need to do to your car. Avoid biting off more than you can chew though. Be realistic with yourself in terms of the projects you choose to take on, lest you wind up costing yourself more money instead.
Plan Trips Carefully
Think errands through when you have to run all over town so you can determine the most efficient route. Most experts recommend going to the most distant destination first and working your way back home. This gives your car more time to warm up and operate at peak efficiency, which can save fuel. A lot of short stops might not allow it to do so.
Another benefit of this approach is it helps you avoid going in and out several times over the course of the day. That will garner savings in time and money as well as wear and tear on your car — and yourself.
These four strategies will go a long way (no pun intended) toward lowering your car expenses. Another thing to consider is adjusting your driving style. Operating your car smoothly and at moderate speeds reduces fuel consumption as well as the stresses your car must endure — both of which make your car more affordable to operate.
Author: Amara Etter
