Is Your Car Draining Your Bank Account? 4 Ideas to Help you Control Costs
For some people, owning a car is an absolute necessity. Whether they are commuting to school or hauling the kids to soccer practice, the convenience of a vehicle certainly makes traveling a lot easier. Unfortunately, a car can also become a financial headache. Between monthly payments, insurance, repairs, and annual checkups, these costs can start to pile up on you. Although there are many components that contribute to the cost of your car, there are a few things you can do to control the costs.
Practice Efficient Driving Techniques
A vehicle’s gas mileage has a major impact on the overall cost of ownership. One of the most effective ways to curb fuel consumption is to decrease highway speeds. By simply decreasing your average highway speed from 70 mph to 55 mph, you can improve the vehicle’s gas mileage by 20 percent. To save even more fuel, minimize the pressure that you place on the gas pedal when accelerating. The most efficient way to accelerate is to avoid exceeding 3000 rpm on the tachometer.
Rent Out Your Vehicle
If you are the type of person that rarely drives, renting your vehicle out to other motorists is a very viable option. In some instances, you can make enough money to cover all of your yearly maintenance and gas costs. Before renting out your vehicle, be sure to obtain comprehensive insurance coverage. Comprehensive insurance coverage insures that you will be reimbursed for the value of your vehicle in the event that it is in a crash or stolen. You may have friends that only need a car on certain days of the week, and you could easily work out a deal to keep the costs of your car from weighing you down.
Perform Your Own Basic Repairs
Working on your own vehicle is not as complicated as it may seem. Many tasks can be completed with just a few hand tools. In preparation to make repairs, the two most important purchases will be a quality tool set and a Chilton’s auto repair manual. The repair manual will help guide you through the entire process with detailed instructions and illustrations. Auto professionals who work with Subaru SVX parts suggest that you always use quality OEM parts when doing your own repairs to ensure that the component fits correctly. Only perform these functions on your own if you are confident in your ability to fix the parts or figure it out, or you could be doing more damage than help to your car.
Adjust Your Insurance Coverage
If you own an older vehicle that has high mileage, you may want to consider dropping collision coverage from your insurance policy. The cost of collision coverage may be exceeding the value of the old clunker. If you crash your vehicle, you can use the savings to purchase another ride. Talk with an insurance agent about the ways you can lower your monthly payments. There may be ways to discount that you aren’t aware of yet, but all you need to do is ask.
Although owning a vehicle can get to be expensive, the costs can be kept to a minimum by taking advantage of these frugal ideas. If your car expenses are getting out of hand, it may be time to evaluate your costs piece by piece. Examine what you are paying for monthly payments, repairs, insurance and other costs. This will help you determine areas where you can bring the costs down a bit in order to help you make payments for other bills. Don’t continue to pay too much if you don’t need to—do your homework and get saving!
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Category: Family Finances
