A large portion of my monthly expenses goes towards my car. I'm looking for ways to save money. From what I see:
- Bike more.
- Combine trips with other chores.
- Reduce unnecessary driving.
- Do self maintenance on my vehicle such as synthetic oil and oil filter change, tire change, cabin and air filter change, light change, fuse change in fuse box (e.g., to fix cigarettes outlet), cleaning/detailing, made in Lithuania https://obdeleven.com/ OBD2 scanner to read and reset codes.
- Thrifting parts like tools to do maintenance and parts from junkyard.
- Consider alternative mechanics for better pricing.
- Carpool. Consider using carpool apps such as Kangaride or PopARide to reduce driving expenses.
- Brake less often and let my car roll more often when slowing down.
- Get a mechanic to fix rusting, and find quick and cheap DIY solutions if will wait a long time.
- Carwash at home sometimes. Even if just spraying with water, but not too often as to waste water.
- Avoid driving during rush hour.
- Find cheaper insurance.
- Cruise control on highways.
- Use point cards at gas stations, and credit cards that max cashback.
- Lighten car load.
- Don't rev the engine or drive in bad weather.
- Change spark plugs every 100k.
- Don't idle the vehicle.
- Always bring water when leaving the house. Bring food if driving far. Never buy snacks from gas stations.
- Buy gas from places when prices are low.
- Driving a few KMs farther to save a bit of money on gas is usually not worth it imo.
Not owning a car might be the best solution.
Firstly, figure out the fixed cost per day of owning your car for a year if it was parked all the time (including the cost of getting a replacement in X years time when this one is worn out), and a cost per mile/km of using it.
And then the biggest cost saving is basically use your bicycle or public transport whenever you can, assuming that you can't just get rid of the car and it's daily fixed cost.
You might also find that it's cheaper to just drive your car than use carpool apps with their internal overheads once you figure out the daily and per km costs. (Edit: especially for short trips)
The cost of servicing your car (minor stuff like oil/filters/plugs) generally is lost in the noise of everyday use, that is, fuel and tyres are the biggest cost.
Finally , don't forget that your time and labour is also a cost. Unless you really enjoy working on cars, "rent yourself out" at whatever your country's minimum wage is and factor that in when costing up doing servicing and repairs on your car yourself. This is basically an intangible number (it doesn't affect your bank balance, unless you service your car yourself and break it and then can't get to work!), but it's important to factor it in.
I saw stuff about renting your car out when not using it but I don’t know if I’d trust it
Wear and tear would increase, cleaning costs, plus the risk of theft or a crash (and needing to have third party insurance would probably push that cost up) so probably not worth it