Driving your car every day can be an expensive cost, especially when you are trying to save money and mitigate your impact on the environment. However, this year more of us than ever before are choosing to shun public transport in favor of driving ourselves to and from work. Here are just a few ways you can save money on your daily driving activities.
Preserving petrol – One of the most significant car expenses is petrol. However, there are more careful ways you can drive to conserve petrol and get a little extra mileage. A little more bang for your buck. Keep low revs as revving high uses more petrol and use high gears wherever possible as, generally speaking, the lower the gear, the harder the engine has to work. Use high gears when driving downhill as putting the car into 4th or 5th and cruising without accelerating saves more petrol than going down in 3rd with a thousand revs. Avoid hard braking wherever possible too.
Buy economical tyres – Don’t just opt for the cheapest tyres because you think you’re getting the best deal as this can have a higher cost in the long run. Economical tyres can have a positive effect on miles per gallon and will generally last longer too. Spend an extra 30% now and you could be saving yourself months or even years before you have to change the tyres again.
Regular check-ups – Always keep an eye on your tyre pressure, keep your car clean to reduce unnecessary weight and just look after your car whenever you can. Do a little bit every day instead of a big clean out and inspection every month. It will make all the difference.
Self-repairs and maintenance – You might be surprised just how capable you are when it comes to car maintenance. It might be tempting to reach for the phone to contact your local mechanic if your motor is playing up but there are some jobs even the most hopeless petrol heads should have no problem with. For example, you could use an impact wrench to change the tyres of your car yourself. In fact, this will allow you to fit new economical tyres without having to pay a garage for service costs. If this sounds like a step too far, meanwhile, you could surely at least change the water and oil in your tank?
Use supermarket petrol stations – This might sound odd but you’ll often pay at least 5p less per litre at a petrol station pump than a conventional forecourt. Don’t ask us why though.
Don’t buy premium fuel unless it’s necessary – Find out what the recommended octane rating is for your car. Most common cars perform better with regular octane fuel, while mostly supercars operating better with premium higher octane fuel. It’s very unlikely that your car is a supercar. We’re not saying it’s impossible but let’s be honest here.
