Saving Money – How to Cut Back on Vehicle Expenses

Cut Your Vehicle Expenses

It’s no secret, maintaining a vehicle can be very expensive. Add in the cost of gas and auto insurance, and you’ll see that we pay a hefty sum in exchange for the convenience of owning a car. Fortunately, as you will see in this post, there are several ways to cut your vehicle expenses without making drastic changes to your everyday routine.

Vehicle Maintenance

You can save money on car maintenance if you invest in a few tools and learn how to do some basic maintenance yourself. For example, you can:

• Rotate your own tires.
• Do your own oil changes.
• Even change your own brake pads.

All of these tasks are fairly simple to do because they only require a few basic tools and just a little bit of training. However, if you don’t feel comfortable doing them yourself, you could also try to find a friend who knows how to do these things. If you pay them for their time, they might be willing to do these basic maintenance tasks for you, helping you to cut auto expenses.

Find the Best Prices

Gas is another item that can make the cost of owning a vehicle sky rocket. To offset this you can take advantage of sites, such as gasbuddy.com to ensure that you find the best gas prices in your local area.  If you have a smart phone there are mobile apps that compare gas prices, as well.  Additionally, members-only clubs often offer gasoline to their members at reduced pricing.  Another tip is to avoid speeding. The faster you go, especially over 60 mph, the more fuel it takes to keep you going at that speed.

Cut Back on the Mileage You Put on Your Cars

Carpooling works really well if you commute to work on a regular basis.  If you can find a small group of people who all head in the same direction as you, you can start a car pool together.  By allowing you and your fellow car poolers an opportunity to take turns driving you can drastically cut back on your driving.

Another option that can help you reduce your overall mileage is to use public transportation. If your school or job is near a bus route you can enjoy the ride and pay just a fraction of the gas prices that you ordinarily would pay if you drove to the destination yourself.

Do you have any tips or resources that you’d like to share on cutting your vehicle expenses?  We’d love to hear them and encourage you to leave a comment below.