Five simple ways to save money on the road

Fed up of your car costing a fortune? Why not give these tips a try and save some serious cash?

Cars aren’t cheap to run, and if you live in a two-car household you’re doubling those expenses. Ouch. Fortunately there are some simple things we can all do to save ourselves hundreds of pounds every year.

Fuel

If, like me, you’re shocked at the cost of fuel, make an effort to pay as little as you can for it.

By choosing where to fill up carefully you can save a few quid each time, which all adds up over a year. Sign up to sites such as Petrolprices.com – it will email you each week with the lowest priced petrol and diesel in your area.

Don’t forget to take into account the areas you pass through on your commute to work – but don’t drive miles out of your way for cheaper fuel as you may use more than you will save.

Supermarkets

And don’t forget the supermarket offers – Sainsbury’s recently issued vouchers giving a 10p/litre discount if you spent £60 or more in-store, which must be used within two weeks.

Tesco is currently offering 5p/litre discounted fuel coupons with the purchase of certain items in-store - useful if you’d buy the products concerned anyway.

And if you always pay for your fuel with a cashback credit card, you could make a little back, too.

Reduce usage

How many trips do you make each week in an empty car?

By arranging to travel with three other colleagues who live relatively close (sometimes called a car-pool) you could drive just one out of every four days, significantly reducing the wear and tear on your car, as well as fuel and parking costs. Plus it would help reduce the number of cars on the road, and pollution levels, too.

Ask around at work to see if any local colleagues would be keen to car-pool - or register with websites such as Liftshare (although obviously use your common sense and exercise caution if arranging to travel with people you don’t know).

And car-pooling is not limited to commuters – if you regularly meet up with local friends in the evening, why not take it in turns to drive?

Stay-at-home-mums who meet up each week could pick each other up. Parents could offer to collect and drop-off their kids’ friends who attend the same ballet/football/rugby session.

And why not offer a lift to someone travelling in the same direction as you at the weekend and split expenses?

Frugal driving

If you can avoid leaving home during the rush hour you can greatly reduce your journey time, saving fuel (as you won’t be queuing in stationary traffic) as well as reducing stress levels!

Smooth and gradual acceleration, driving in the correct gear, slowing down early and regularly servicing your car can all save on its wear and tear and improve your fuel economy (you could even try hypermiling).

Tyres that aren’t properly inflated can wear down unevenly, cause you to use more fuel and may even be dangerous, so check them regularly.

And emptying out any unnecessary clutter and removing the roof rack/tow bar when not required will make the vehicle lighter, and improve fuel efficiency.

Maintenance and Insurance

Garages vary widely in labour charges, especially if you maintain your car at a main dealership.

Ask for recommendations from local friends and compare labour costs to your current garage. You may be amazed at how much you can save.

And as always, shop around for car insurance quotes – insurers love to tempt us in with low prices, only to increase them dramatically the next year in the hope we’ll just accept it.

Alternative transport

A few years ago my husband took my car for its annual MOT and was amazed to see it had barely driven 800 miles in the year. Being used only to drive to and from the railway station meant it was clocking up pitifully few miles each week, as we used my husband’s car for most journeys. Not great for the car, or our finances!

So, we worked out that I could walk to an alternative railway station if I simply left a bit earlier and made the decision to sell my car. Not only did I get a bit more exercise, we saved a fair amount of cash by not having a second car to run and insure, too.

If you have a car that is barely used, could you manage without it? Could you walk, cycle or use public transport instead? Could your partner drop you off on the way into work? Or could you arrange to use your partner’s car when he/she works from home? Could you lift-share with a fellow commuter/shopper? Does your office provide a shuttle bus?

Create a spreadsheet listing all of the costs involved in owning your car (insurance, MOT, fuel, running costs) and compare this to alternative modes of transport. Is the saving worth the inconvenience? What could you do with that cash?

Car Clubs

If you only really need a car a few times a year, hiring one when required could be a far cheaper alternative.

But if you need to make a couple of trips in a car each week, could a Car Club be the solution?

Car Clubs offer the opportunity to rent a car for as long as you need it – even on an hourly basis. Depending on how often you need a car this could save you a considerable amount of cash as compared to owning a car.

So there you have it, a number of tips to help you reduce your car costs. Take some time, put in a little effort and you could save yourself some serious cash.

Happy motoring!

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