I don’t know how some families only have one car.  I mean, if I had to share a car with my husband, I don’t know what I would do.  We will never be a one car family, but I (we) do certain things to keep our car spending down.

1.     Buy used instead of new.  There are a ton of great used cars out there.  When you drive a new car off the lot you automatically lose a certain percentage of what the car is worth.  Plus, who has $30,000 laying around to buy a new car.  And wait, you’re not planning on having car payments, are you?  Then, the cost of the car goes up even more with interest. Crazy.

2.     No matter what kind of car you want to purchase, you may want to do some research on what the car insurance payments are going to be.  You don’t want to buy a car that you can’t afford the car insurance!

3.    Keep up with car maintenance.  Regularly scheduled oil changes, 100,000-mile checkups, state inspections, etc.  It will all help keep your car in running order and help elevate any big costs.

4.    Such an easy thing to do is to make sure that your tires are properly inflated.  You will save money on gas.

5.    Drive better.  Sounds strange doesn’t it?  But seriously, don’t speed and then have to apply your brakes suddenly.  See that you are coming to a red light, let off the gas pedal and coast to the red light.  Saves on gas as well as on the wear and tear of your brakes.

6.    If you have an older car, see if it pays to drop the collision insurance.

7.     Increase your deductible on your insurance.

8.     Use gasbuddy.com to get the lowest prices on gas in your area.

9.     In the summertime, it pays you to have the air conditioning on rather than opening the windows.

10.    Wash your car at home!  This can really add up.

11.      Drive less and plan your route!  I am very fortunate that I work from home.  However, when I do have appointments, I try and get my errands done that are in the part of town.  We live in a city where a river divides it.  I had a work appointment on the other side of the river, so after my appointment I did all my errands on that side of the river so that I would waste gas going over at another time.

Every little bit does add up.  Be smart.  And remember, Saving Money IS Making Money!