Tip #5 How to Save Money on your Car

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Over the years we have owned several vehicles. We have four of them right now and six drivers (12 people living in our house) and with all the work and sport schedules it is sometimes difficult arranging the car schedules, but it is better than buying another car for right now. Well, our 25 year old son has a car for his two jobs and our 23 year old daughter has one for her 2 jobs, hubby has a car for work, and we have the family tuckster (We call this our BUS!) It is sometimes a struggle arranging the car schedules but it is better than buying another car for right now.

This is our BUS!

This is a tough tip! A lot of people won’t be able to do this tip, but there are more people out there than you think that can. If you read on you will see how much you could real be saving.

Tip #5 Sell an extra car!

What is an extra car? Extra could be a car that is not in use, a car that is seldom used, or a car that could be eliminated by making some lifestyle changes.

Cars are expensive to own. There are several expenses that really add up and could save a lot of money if one of them could be eliminate.

It is hard to say how much would be saved because there are too many variables but we will show you what others have saved below.

Think about how much you spend on each of the items below and see how much you would be saving if you eliminated one of your cars.

Insurance: Hundreds of dollars a year

Gas: If you only had one car you would plan more carefully the errands that need to be done.

Registration: (vehicle stickers) I don’t know about your city, but all the towns we have lived in, charged a yearly fee.

License Plates: We pay over $100 a year per vehicle for this.

Oil Change and other maintenance: Hundreds of dollars a year.

Car Payments: If you have them, I am sure they are over a $100 a month.

You may be thinking “How can we do this?” You Can! We know of several families who have. They have been able to reduce their debt by 10’s of thousands of dollars. Amazing! Everyone’s situation is different but if you are in debt and need to get out, you may be able to make it work.

Here is a list some ideas:

Car pool to work or school

Take the train or other public transportation

Run your errand all at one time in the evening or on the weekends. It will save a lot of gas and time (you may find you don’t need to have an extra car.)

My husband will stop for me on his way home from work for quick errands and even full grocery shopping. This saves on gas and time. (My time! LOL! I Love him!) Just make sure he has a list to work from.  

Now think if you took the money you got from selling the car or by eliminating the monthly payments and expenses, and put that money towards a credit card bill. In another post we will show you how to pay down your debts. But you have to be thinking about all the savings that these tips offer. The money saved should be going towards paying your debt down. It will add up faster than you think.

Savings:

Based on the families we know who have made this work for them:

$330 - $375 per month or $3,960 - $4,500 per year. That is amazing savings!

Previous tips:

31 Days of Tips to Get Out of Debt! Explaining our journey.

Tip #1 to get Out of Debt: How to Find Excess Spending

Tip #2 to Get Out of Debt: How to save Money on your Energy Bills

Tip #3 How to Save Money on Lunches

Tip #4 How to Save Money Eating Out

Follow us over the next 31 days as we share tips on how we keep our spending in check and still be able to have fun, enjoy ourselves, have quality family time, and keep ourselves debt free.

We love to have comments. Let us know how you are doing with your check list. If you have any questions, comment below.

See you tomorrow.

Doug and Sharon

(Parents of a Dozen)

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