Reduce the Costs of Keeping Your Car Moving

Travel isn’t something you can avoid and buy later when you’ve saved up – we all need travel to get from place to place. The problem for most of us is that the costs to keep your car on the road are rocketing. Insurance, tax, fuel, and cars themselves continue to increase in price at an exceptional rate,  

It’s not all doom and gloom, though! If you’re clever about it, there are a lot of things you can do to save money on your car bills. Below are some quick tips to save money and reduce the cost of keeping your car moving:

1.       Drive a fuel-efficient car: Driving a modern, fuel efficient car is a lot easier than most people think. One of the more cost-effective ways is to lease a new car. The monthly costs of leasing a car can often be lower than the costs involved in other car finance options, because there’s not an option to buy the car at the end of your lease.  Besides the initial rental (which is sometimes cheaper than a finance deposit), there aren’t any extra charges and it means you can drive a new car, or a more expensive and better-equipped car, for less money than you might expect.
2.       Shop around for your insurance: One of the easiest ways to cut motor costs is to use price comparison sites when buying car insurance. This will help you to get the best deal possible – while still getting the level of insurance cover that you need.
It may be worth bearing in mind that a few insurers don’t let their products appear on comparison sites, so check their prices separately.
3.       Cut the cost of fuel: Saving just 5p a litre on the price of petrol or diesel could save £100 a year for the average driver.  
Supermarkets will often give you a discount at their petrol pumps when you spend a minimum amount in store.
4.       Improve your Fuel economy: You can save a surprising amount of money by simply changing the way you drive. Making the most of the fuel in your tank is a key step in keeping costs down, and there’s plenty you can do before you even start driving. Check your boot and put away anything you don’t need: unnecessary weight means your car has to work harder.
You should use the car’s air conditioning sparingly too as this can increase fuel consumption by as much as 10%, but opening the window won’t help either: this increases aerodynamic drag which can affect fuel economy by a similar amount.
5.       Check your tyre pressures: As insignificant as it may seem, tyres under inflated by just 15psi – a difference you may not notice from a visual glance – can use 6% more fuel.
That’s the difference between averaging 40mpg and 42mpg. Or, to put it another way, an additional 26 miles from a 60-litre tank of fuel. Check your tyres atleast once a month to ensure you are not cutting yourself short with every drive!

Take on board these 5 tips and you’ll soon cut down your travel costs.