I wanted to continue to share information from Real Simple magazine on how to save on food, health care, entertainment, the home, transportation and apparel. Let’s look at some tips on saving on transportation.
According to the article, driving from place to place costs about $8,604 annually. Check out these ideas to help you save.
Be a Zen driver.
If you are an aggressive driver, you are using up tons more gas. Having a little road rage can guzzle up to 33 percent more gas on the highway and 5 percent more driving around town, says the U.S. Department of Energy. Here’s some interesting advice offered by AAA: pretend there is an egg under the gas pedal and make sure you don’t break it.
Take the quickest route.
Pay attention to the path to your destination. Does it have more traffic or more stop signs and lights. Traveling three miles with lots of stops versus four or five miles on empty roads can make a difference.
Ignore the tire manufacturer.
When adding air to your tires, fill them according to the pressure printed on the sticker on the driver’s side door. You can get 3 percent better fuel efficiency.
Get a checkup.
Make sure you do regular tune-ups on your car. The U.S. Department of Energy says it can boost your gas mileage by 4 percent.
Evaluate your insurance.
Check out Kelly Blue Book to take a look at our car’s current value. If it has a low resale value, you might want to get rid of collision coverage. Take your comprehensive and collision premium and multiply that figure by 10. If your car is worth less than that, get rid of the coverage.
Use two wheels instead of four.
You can save up to $240 per year by using a bike. Those who ride bikes to work three days a week can get a tax break of $20 each month from participating employers to cover equipment costs and storage, says the article.