Each year Australians spend $78.4 billion on their cars. After housing, our biggest expensive is our cars. It makes sense. After houses, cars will be one of the most expensive purchase you can make in your life and you want to look after them properly. Fuel, insurance, cleaning and maintenance all contribute to the costs of car ownership but what can you do to reduce the costs of your vehicles?
Cleaning
Cleaning your car regularly increases resale value and reduces the chances that your car will become riddled with rust. Rust is a serious problem for cars and can be expensive to repair. Investing the time to clean your car well on a semi-frequently basis reduces the repair costs you could face in the future to remove rust and repair the paintwork.
Windows
Drive with the windows up this summer. Windows being down increases drag and amount of fuel your car uses trying to reach higher speeds. Using the air conditioning as necessary decreases the amount of fuel you use. Over an entire summer this can make a big difference to your overall fuel bill.
Don’t be a hoon
Taking off slowly and steadily rather than accelerating hard and fast will save you petrol and money. Aggressive driving has the potential to use 33% more petrol.
Driving calmly will not only save you petrol but spare the wear and tear on your tyres and brakes. These are important but costly parts that you shouldn’t be putting off replacing when they start to reach the end of their life. Keeping these parts in good condition will increase the time between needing to purchase new brakes or tyres and save you money.
Regular servicing
Keeping on top of your vehicle’s servicing schedule means that your car is in top condition. A healthy car is less likely to require major repairs that end up being very expensive and can seriously blow your budget out.
Allowing room in your budget and time in your month to care properly for your vehicle means you will still be able to make all your debt repayments rather than be forced to miss payments due to a massive bill from the mechanic.
If you need help to resolve your debts and get your finances back on track Life After Debt can help. Contact us here or phone our friendly team on 1300 237 669.