The Safe Driver

If driving has got too expensive, you need to read this

**A contributed post as written for The Safe Driver.

Driving is a necessity for most people. Without it, they wouldn’t be able to get to work on a daily basis, and could end up feeling cut off from most people who they regularly see in their day to day lives. However, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t always expensive. In fact, some recent studies have shown that the cost of driving seems to be slowly increasing year after year, which is causing some issues for those drivers out there who aren’t very well off.

Thankfully, though, there is no reason for anyone to be forced to give up driving just because of its associated costs. There are some ways to reduce the expense of having a car, some of which might not be quite as hard as you think. Do you think it’s time you tried to make driving a bit more cheaper for yourself? Here are some of the things you can do to ensure your car doesn’t drain your bank balance too much.

Switch Where You Park

 One of the biggest costs that drivers have to face these days is parking. There are hardly any free car parks anymore, and most of the charges are often extortionate. If you need to park up in the center of a city one day, you will find that it will be a huge strain on your wallet. In fact, it could end up being the biggest expense of the day! However, if you look around at the different car parks available, you should find that some are cheaper than others. So, switching where you usually park could save you quite a bit of cash over the space of a year. Generally speaking, car parks that are just outside of a city center tend to be cheaper. It’s worth parking slightly further out of the city and then walking into the center, or jumping on public transport.

Shop Around Before Filling Up

 It’s also a good idea to research gas stations before you fill up your tank. Just like car parks, all gas stations will choose their own prices, so it’s always best to try and find the cheapest one in your local area. Don’t forget that the price of gas and diesel can fluctuate every day, so the station that was the cheapest one day, might not be the next. Generally speaking, it is usually cheaper to fill up at gas stations that are owned by supermarkets. These often offer the best prices and, more often than not, also provide customers with loyalty schemes.

Consider Better Car Financing

 Of course, there is no bigger expense than actually buying a car. Even if you decide to purchase a second-hand vehicle, you might still end up paying a lot more than what you would have wanted to in the first place. To help finance the purchase of a car, most people nowadays end up using some form of used car finance, such as loans. If you do need to take out a loan or a similar form of finance to make it possible to buy a car, you will need to take a look at a few different options to make sure you go with whichever is the best deal. The main thing to watch out for is the interest that you will be charged on the loan – if one financial product comes with high interest rates, it’s best to walk away from it as you will only end up re-paying a lot more than what you had borrowed.

Join A Car Club

 Sometimes, pooling all of our resources together can help to reduce various costs and expenses. This is also the case when it comes to owning a car. For instance, you might want to sign up to a parking app. Most of these will show you where all the free spaces are in the middle of a city, but the best will also inform you of the cost, so you have an idea of where the cheapest place to go to is. Don’t drive all that often? If not, then you might want to join a pay as you drive car club. These are groups that own cars and will let you use them for a small fee per hour. It could help you save a lot of money that you might end up wasting on tax and insurance. There are also carpool clubs for those who do drive regularly but would like to split the costs with others who are making the same journey as them. By carpooling with a passenger, you can then split the cost of petrol, for example.

 Know The Law

 Driving laws and the rules of the road are regularly changing and being updated. Ideally, you need to stay informed about them so that you don’t accidentally get a fine for failing to follow a new rule that you weren’t aware of. There are thousands of motorists getting caught out every year for failing to follow new rules and regulations that they weren’t aware of. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to use a plea of ignorance in caught, especially if you were caught on CCTV camera. So, make sure you keep yourself well informed of all the rules and laws that come with driving, so you don’t end up being slapped with a hefty fine.

 Shop Around For Cheaper Car Insurance

 Another big expense that many drivers struggle with is car insurance. Thankfully, though, if you shop around, you should be able to find some reasonably priced deals that you can take advantage of. There are a few other tricks you can use to help you lower this cost, such as buying a car that is considered safe and installing it with a variety of safety features. It is usually cheaper to pay your annual car insurance all in one go rather than in installments, so that’s something to bear in mind.

Once you use all the tips in this blog post, you should start to notice the average price of driving starts to reduce!