Save money on cars | Are you the crazy gas-guzzling type?

Many people want to save money on cars and as a busy mum of a nearly three-year-old and an eight-year-old, who also lives in her car, I am one of them! This is particularly true now, since I just moved to a neighbouring city and much of my life is still stuck 20 minutes up the freeway in the opposite direction to my life-to-be. Work, schools, and even my favourite op-shops are all still there.

Can I save money on cars at present? I’d like that!

Right now, I need to put petrol and general car savings back on the agenda. Though I’ve unpacked all our boxes, checked most jobs off my moving house list, my kids and I are burning up that freeway like toddlers on tricycles down a hallway.

And I’m not talking about losing our lolly money. Currently I’m forking out $70 per week on petrol as opposed to the $70 per month I was spending before the move.  Yes, this figure is really hurting my purse, along with the new mortgage payments!

Now ‘burning up a freeway’ is actually doing the speed limit for me. This is because I drive like my mother-in-law. Usually I keep about 5-10 kms under the speed limit because I am one of these paranoid, super-careful drivers who likes life in a car, in the slow lane, mostly so I’ll have money left over to buy shoes.

Just ask my husband, he’ll happily vouch for me and also his mother too, but I digress…

So since moving to my new city, my goal, which is to save money on cars each month of the year, has been difficult to achieve.

Mornings have included pit stops at Maccas, coffee on the run and last week I did something criminal for a mummy blogger. I stopped at 7 Eleven and purchased my eight year old lunch! A sausage roll and a donut was on the menu and he was stoked! Not only was lunch fantastic, but he was the envy of all his friends in the school yard. So all power to him. I told him not to tell Daddy, which of course he did.. Daddy’s been on the warpath about donuts and chips lately, so I got in trouble. What a naughty, naughty mother and wife….mmmm

Saving money on cars is back on the agenda

Before moving however, I was careful. Careful about getting stuck in the middle of those traffic lights designed to catch you. I had learnt this lesson due to a fine I received one fine spring morning.

There I was sitting innocently in the middle of the road on a green, waiting to turn, when an equally stretched-for-time driver took the end of an orange light. Suddenly, innocent little ole’ mummy-me was left, stranded, in the middle of the road with the light turning red. There was a flash in my rear vision mirror and snap! As my photo is taken, and as I finally made my turn, all I could do was picture the fine being printed and posted from some dodgy little money-making office somewhere.  That sinking feeling of monetary doom set in.

Who would be so cruel as to send innocent little ole’ me a $350 fine? Who cares? I got one! Three weeks later, after I had forgotten about my crime, a hefty fine arrived in the mail in a crisp, white, official looking envelope.

Why I’m now even more careful about my driving habits

I’ve mostly been careful about my driving habits for the obvious reason; the safety of my family. But secondly, the fact is, that being a crazy gas-guzzling freak is expensive and the nanna in me tells me to stay a nanna for money’s sake. So all power to my mother-in-law and me!

Luckily last year, in one of my crazy writing frenzies, I created a highly practical money-saving cheat sheet for myself and now you! Previous to ‘that’ incident and my recent house move (during which time I’ve broken every rule in my book), this cheat sheet saved me stacks of cash. So saving money on cars is back on my agenda – big time!

Here are five tips for saving money on cars

• Drive at a constant speed
• Turn your car off if caught in a major traffic jam
• Slow down at orange lights and avoid those snap-happy cameras
• Downsize your car and switch to a more economical one
• Take public transport if possible and if it is cheaper to do so

So how does my cheat sheet save money on cars?

Using the cheat sheet below you can save money on car insurance, vehicle maintenance, auto accessories, cleaning your car and more. Grab saving tips on buying your next car too!

Are you ready to save big money this year on your car?

Drum roll….here it is!

180+ essential tips for saving on cars and petrol

Read more and grab every cheat sheet and printable in my store for just $35 for the year. Keep a copy in the kitchen and in the car. Laminate the sheet if you can so it won’t get dirty and when you stop at lights have a little read.

If you don’t learn how to save while driving, you might as well pull some money out of your wallet at those lights and throw the cash out the window. Take driving lessons from the Savings Room and save big dollars this year!