Saving Money tips by the way you use your car, pay bills, save money, sales, travel and holidays!

26 – Car Efficiency

Inflating Tyres
By ensuring your tyres are fully inflated will save you money! If you increase the circumference of the tyre you will gain that every time your wheel rotates! I.e. when you inflate your tyres you gain 1cm, so ten rotations of the tyre you gain 10cm and 100 rotations you gain 1 meter! It does not take long for you to be reducing your fuel bill by getting further on one tank of petrol. Check your tyre pressure regularly at least every two weeks!

The diameter of your tyres can also be reduced if your tyre thread is worn, so check your thread regularly. You can purchase new ‘Eco’ tyres but I do not know much about them, ask you tyre dealer for details.

Weight and Shape of your Car
The manufactures of your car have tested your car under perfect conditions, and given the best fuel efficiency your car can achieve, which is written in your handbook.

The tests were not done with a roof-box on or a bicycle rack hanging on the rear window. The whole shape of your car is built to be aerodynamic. Unfortunately even having an open window can reduce your fuel efficiency by making your car less aerodynamic.

By removing roof-racks, etc also reduces the weight of your car, which again increases the fuel efficiency of the car. Do you carry a heavy tool box in the boot, or a two ton jack! All this additional weight reduces the performance of your car, and hence reduces the fuel efficiency.

Air Conditioning
Having the air conditioning on will make your engine run less efficiently, and hence make your car less fuel efficient.

Driving
Predict the road, look at what everybody else is doing and drive smoothly. Do not speed up to 40 MPH just to break heavily at the end of the road. This costs fuel, wears brakes and tyres and reduces the life of your engine. By driving at 28 MPH braking gently will save you money in tyres, brakes and fuel! It can increase your vehicle performance up to 30%!

If you are travelling at speed, try and move up to a higher gear as soon as possible, the higher gear will not put as much strain on your engine and increase your fuel efficiency. A car travelling at 37 MPH in 5th gear is 25% more efficient that a car using 3rd gear travelling at the same speed. I.e. If a journey costs you £8 it will only cost you £6 to make the same journey in 5th gear.

When starting your car, drive off immediately, don’t start playing with the radio, doing your makeup or having a telephone conversation. Drive gently as your engine is still cold and not as efficient as when it is warm.

Switch off your engine
If waiting for short periods it is properly more efficient to keep your engine running, no longer than it takes for a traffic light to turn green.

But when waiting for the children to come out of school, or the wife to do a quick errand around town, switch off your engine!

Maintenance
By simply looking after your car you can save money, checking your oil is topped up and changed at regular intervals, ensure you spark plugs are also changed regularly, checking water coolant and cleaning/changing the air filter will help your car run more efficiently and need less expensive garage repairs.

Your owners manual will tell you when the basic mechanical items needs to be checked or replaced, this will include type of oil to be used, spark plug gaps etc.

Ensure you when you have your exhaust changed you purchase the right one, often garages will fit what they have in stock and not the exact exhaust for your car or engine! The wrong size a bigger or smaller silencer size effects on the MPG of the car. Although the standard size exhaust may be cheaper, it will cost you allot more in the long run than. Look in your owners manual or see your car dealer for your exhaust specifications.

Buy a new car
A major investment, which should not be done without thinking about if you need a newer car first.

Once the decision has been made, look for a car with high fuel efficiency website like What Car and Auto Trader will give you MPG (Miles Per Gallon) for most makes and models of car! The car dealer will also have valuable information on a specific model!

We were thinking of purchasing a Chrysler Voyager, second hand of course. We talked to the Chrysler Dealer who said model manufactured after a certain year were better fuel economy than older models. So spending a little more now with save allot more in the future!

Consider what you want the car for! Small cars are generally more fuel efficient. I save £10 - £15 a week by travelling to work, just by using a small car instead of an average family car. That equates to over £520 a year! Road tax is also cheaper for small car saving up to £80 a year!

Look at Hybrid vehicles, manufacturers are developing more and more hybrid cars, Honda is a particular manufacture that is developing car that will travel longer, using less fuel!

Diesel
Car that run on Diesel fuel run are generally more fuel efficient, 1 gallon of diesel will get you further that 1 gallon of petrol, so it is worth considering the diesel option!

Try to purchase a new ‘common rail’ diesel car as these are approximately 10% more efficient that older diesel engines.

Save 100% fuel
The only way to save 100% of your car fuel costs is to leave the car at home and walk, cycle or catch public transport! We tend to forget to walk to the corner shop, or walk to a friends house we automatically pick-up the car keys and drive!

Three quarters of all journeys made in the UK are less than two miles! You can add a walk or cycle ride to your exercise regime, keeping fit and saving money at the same time!

Some useful links:
Car Fuel Data

27 – Paying Bills

Look at your regular bills, gas, electricity, insurance etc and ask these companies the best way to pay!

Many fuel providers will give you a discount if you pay by direct debit, so they automatically take the money from your account each month.

Insurance companies prefer you to pay the whole amount in one lump sum (1 year premium), rather than monthly instalments.

Just by asking your service providers the best way to pay can save you at least £100 per year!

Some useful links:

28 – Just Save

Placing savings in a tax free ISA’s will allow up to £3000 (values may vary) tax free. Most banks offer ISA’s you just need to look at the best offer! For the more financially savvy try the stock market (Note: shares go up as well as down), averaging a return of around 11% a year, look at shares that pay a dividend (a share of profits given to investors on an annual basis), See
Making Money - Share Tips

. So if you have any savings or spare cash make it work for you.

Some useful links:

29 – Travel and Holidays

Consider what you want from a holiday and shop around to get the best deal, Travel Agents will lower their prices if you give them a valid reason. For instance, I went to Greece on holiday and the same package was at different travel agents, so I played one off against the other. Even added extras, like car hire. By booking direct over the internet with the car hire company in Greece, saved pounds! Even if you do not book, return to the travel agent and tell them how much money you could save by going elsewhere. One hours work saved me about £300, well worth it.

Booking early can also save you money, low-cost airlines often sell flights for as low as £0.01, if you book early. Myself and my wife flew to Barcelona, Spain for £52.50 return (including taxes), the couple next to us paid £150 EACH! Simply because they booked last minute! Great for romantic long-weekends!

Look into attractions while on holiday, the Guinness factory in Dublin Ireland, gives a discount if you book online, vouchers are also available online for a various attractions worldwide.

Remember, everybody is different and like doing different things, so why should your holiday be any different, by researching what you get with a package-holiday and what you can organise yourself, you can save money and get the perfect holiday, giving you the freedom to do what you like. Planning the holiday yourself, means you do not have to stay in the same hotel every night, allowing time to explore further a field.

For a larger family or friends holiday why not rent a villa, look into the savings!

Some useful links:

30 – The Sales!

The sales are a valuable source of savings, but only purchase items you want and need, think about the future, buying your child’s next years winter coat at 75% discount has to be bargain! Also remember birthdays and Christmas, purchasing your mother some winter gloves for next Christmas at a knock down price will only save you money. Wrapping paper and cards are also good to purchase after Christmas. The only problem is finding the place where you stored the gifts when you need them!

Some useful links: