When it comes to owning a car and driving, one of the best ways that you can save money is to stop driving a car altogether. I’ve seriously considered that. Since I stopped teaching, I don’t drive that much anymore and to me, it hardly makes sense to be paying for road tax, insurance, and MOT when my car is mostly parked on the drive.
For many of us though, how practical is that really? You could use public transport for a lot of journeys that you have, but it won’t always be possible, depending on where you live and where you are planning on going.
The thing is, there are quite a lot of things that you can do that can help you to save money: from driving more smoothly to save fuel to driving without any harsh braking. When you use less fuel, then it can also be something that is good for the environment as well. Did you know that one way to use less fuel is to make sure you are not driving around with unnecessary weight? Get out of the habit of having ‘stuff’ in the boot of your car that you don’t need. I’ve been guilty of this a lot and trust me, over the years, I’ve ended up paying more for fuel.
Car maintenance is important in cutting down on the costs of driving
When you look after your car well it can be a great way to save money too. Maintenance on the car can keep it working well, meaning that costs are kept down in the long-term. So here are a few things that you can be thinking about if you’re looking to drive a car, but want to keep the costs down.
Don’t forget to keep up with the servicing schedule for your car. This will allow problems to be seen and dealt with before it is too late. You also get a better price for your car when you are ready to sell it on if you have proof of full service history.
Car Insurance is also a consideration in cutting down on the costs of driving
One of the biggest things that can add up and cost a lot of money is your car insurance. But as it is something that you do need to have (don’t ever drive without it), then it is best to look at how to cut back the costs of it all. Some of the things that you can do to cut the costs of your car insurance are things like:
- Make sure that you are driving well so that you can avoid getting anything like driving convictions. If you have a ticket and get points on your license, then it needs to be declared to your insurer, and it can hike up the cost
- Each time you drive and don’t make any claims, then you will get a ‘no-claims bonus’ for the next year. This does add up to keeping costs down, as it shows to an insurer that you are reliable. So don’t claim on something unless you really need to
- If you are looking for your insurance policy, then you could look to choose a higher excess on the policy. This is the amount of money that you will pay to your insurer if you need to make a claim. The higher the excess, the lower your insurance policy can be. All different costs can be incurred when you don’t have insurance, especially if you are involved in an accident. From things like finding a firm focused on vehicle accident law, to insurance and even health care. So you need to think about what you could theoretically afford if you did need to make a claim
- If you have a garage or a place to keep your car secure, then you need to declare it and make sure that you use those spaces. Keeping your car secure can keep insurance policy costs down
- Make sure to not allow any unauthorized persons to drive your car
Buying a new car
If you are planning to buy a new car, and you want to keep the costs of things down, then one of the major things that you need to think about is fuel consumption. Also, the emissions of the car and the kind of road tax bracket that the car falls into are considerations.
When there are low fuel emissions and low fuel consumption, then it makes the car something much cheaper to run. There are some vehicles that can cost less, such as electric cars. You wouldn’t have the diesel or petrol costs involved, as they run on electricity, and there would be no emissions either. So that could be something to really think about considering.
Did you know too, that a smaller car costs less for road tax? This is generally speaking of course.
Driving to keep car costs down
Believe it or not, the way that you drive is something that can impact costs, as well as. If you can drive in an ‘eco-safe’ way, then it can keep costs down, and make sure you are doing more for the environment, as we all should. You can make your journeys become much more comfortable when you drive in a safer and steady way, as well as reducing fuel bills.
When you don’t speed off and then slam on our brakes, then you will use less fuel, which is better to save money and then to be better for the environment. So saving money can also help you to reduce extra harmful emissions that aren’t necessary. Driving with filled tyres is a good idea too, as it helps to keep fuel costs down and driving efficiency.
There are so many ways to keep the costs of running a car down. I’m sure you can think of .a few others which I am hoping you will share with us in the comment box below.
When you talk about price, should I be asking for the price of the car after tax and other state fees to see if it falls under my budget/wanted cost?
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