For a fact, owning a car may cause variety expenses. If you have a car, you probably know a certain portion of your paycheck will be paid for fuel, insurance, taxes and other miscellaneous expenses.

Did you know for a vehicle driven 15,000 miles a year, it costs up to 704 USD a month and 8,469 USD a year for a car payment, according to AAA (2017)?

Even so, cars have become the most prevalent mode of transportation in so many countries because of its conveniences and comfort.

If you could use your car wisely, you can literally save a large of money each year without frustrating on unnecessary extra cost.

There are a lot of things you can do to cut the cost of driving.


Vehicles have become increasingly efficient over the last 100 years due to technology advancements such as downsizing the weight of vehicles, a shift from rear-drive to front-drive vehicles, more efficient transmissions, more gears, the advance of fuel injection and engine control integrated with computers and decreased of aerodynamic drag.

However, technology is only a part of saving fuel on vehicles, the other critical part is driver performance. Fuel economy is always a top concern for any car driver.

Don’t neglect about these things below, you definitely can save a large amount of money a month!

Maintain a steady speed

The fuel efficiency will be decided by your driving style. The best way to drive without wasting too much fuel is to keep your car as highest gear as possible.

Revving up your car and crawling along on high gear could waste more energy and also, accelerating or stamping on the brakes instantly can affect fuel economy as it turns kinetic energy into waste heat.

A test conducted by AA New Zealand have shown that only by changing few habits, you could go maximum one-third further with the same amount of gasoline in your tank.

Control your gear, mind your brake, accelerate and decelerate gently, you might be impressed by the overall fuel used within a month.

And there is one thing can help you maintain a steedy speed, cruise control. It not only helps you to control your driving speed in difficult roads but also avoids speeding penalties when driving in crowded areas.

Avoid over speeding

Also, either driving too fast or too slow means you are wasting gasoline. If a normal car drives faster than 60 mph on the highway, it costs extra 24 ¢ per gallon for gas for each 5mp over 60 mph (

Then the simplest way to save money on petrol is slow down, the recommended moderate driving speed is around 50 mph. Well, and it’s safer too!

However, there is a fact that fuel efficiency does not depend on the speed of car but rather it would depend on the speed of the engine (RPM).

Diesel engines have been known as the most power efficient engine energy efficiency of up to 41%) while gasoline only takes up to 20%.

Some of cars even could get up to more than 40 mpg on the highway such as Mazda 6.2.5L 6MT, VW Golf 2.0L TDI Diesel 6AT/6MTor even 45 mpg like Ford Fiesta SFE 1.0L 5MT. Choosing the best fuel-efficiency vehicle might be a good way to save gasoline on your tank.

Roof racks

You might think that it’s trivial, but actually, it’s all to do with your money. A car without fully loaded roof rack can use less 30% of fuel consumption.

It’s an unnecessary item when you’re commuting to work, and it even adds aerodynamic drag to your car. Therefore, if you are not going out for hiking or biking, get rid of it!

Avoid idling

Technically, idling is the fastest way to run off gasoline on your car. Even restarting is better than leave your car idling in 10 seconds (California Energy Commission Consumer Energy Centre).

It is noteworthy that always shut your car off when you are parked, turn off your ignition if you are waiting more than 10 seconds.

A test from California University showing that it takes approximately 3 billion gallons of fuel a year when leaving a car idle 6 minutes a day.

No matter how long you’re idling–but even switching it off while you wait in a parking lot can add up to pretty big savings.

Don’t carry too much

Before going anywhere, make sure that you only carry what you need, an extra 45 kg in your vehicle could reduce your MPG by 2 percent.

Lighter your car by getting rid of heavy stuff and sundries could reduce the fuel costs and some more, it even helps the tires last longer.

Keep tires properly inflated

Check your tires every time, not only for safety but also for fuel consumption and mileage.

The under-inflated tire is one of the components creating poor fuel economy, it wastes average 3 million gallons per day (tested by U.S. Energy Information Administration).

Be aware of TPMS Warning light in your car, it shows the pressure condition of one or more tires, changes or fills up your tires if you see any TPMS warning light.

Make sure there is enough clean oil in the engine

To protect your engine longevity and save gas mileage, you should change your oil regularly, oil change routinely can improve fuel efficiency by up to 2% in average.

Clean oil help to lubricate your engines and minimize the friction that will result in saving energy and therefore the amount of gasoline.

This would create a big improvement later in your fuel economy as well as your car’s system.

Fill up petrol in the morning

The actual density of gasoline is actually not measured by gasoline pumps but the density derived from flow-rate.

Gasoline is a kind of fluid, its density was affected by temperature.

So, if the gasoline is colder you will get 10% more gasoline. The best time to refuel your car is the early morning or late at night.


For most of us, vehicle is one of the indispensable living things, and a car is the most convenient one for moving from home to work and back.

Usually, we do not think too much about the pressure of payments from maintenance and repair costs that come with it.

Frankly, it’s quite possible to save a big money on maintenance and repairs but still keep your car in a good shape; if you consider to some tasks below.

Check your transmission oil level and engine

Another reason to change your oil regularly, it saves your vehicle.

Oil is the lifeblood of all engines, without proper oil lubrication, all the moving parts like pistons, valves, and other engine parts will wear down dramatically and even make your car break down quicker.

Also, old oil will have a certain amount of debris and junk which damage internal part of your engine.

Maintain fluid levels is also important to prevent the risk of damaging the mechanics of your car.

Check the oil, radiator, transmission, power steering and brake fluid and also the air conditioning coolant to make sure that your car running right and prevent costly damage such as an engine seizure.

If you want to save money at the auto shop, a great way is to check the fluids yourself.

Don’t put repairs off until later

One of the most-costly mistakes is that people usually neglect about minor repairs and put off until later. A small noise in a wheel bearing can go from a $25 part into a $300 repair if pushed too far. So, if you don’t want to pay more repair fees later, let’s attend to all repairs in a timely manner.

Besides that, poor alignment not only causes tires to wear out more quickly but also forces your engine to work harder. Align your tires, and save up to 10%.

Don’t put repairs off until later





Carefully consider when buying a used car

Used car usually cheaper than buying a new one?! Well, if you are not counting the hidden maintenance/ repair and other fees later.

Obviously, the costs for maintaining an older car must be higher than modern cars. Let’s make a simple calculation, only sporadic costs for maintenance, repair, and fuel for a month is as double as buying a new one.

In addition, buy a new car from a well-known company can bring you various privileges, CPE Hyundai driver enjoys a 5 years/ 100,000 km warranty cover of the interior, material maintenance, and powertrain protection while Toyota guarantee to replace a new original body panel if any purchased car has problem with corrosion or rust.

In addition, driving a new car can give your mind a rest, let’s think about how risky to drive an old car.

And if you are a vintage car collector, make sure that your car is checked by a certified mechanic. Unless, think about it before purchase one.


There are reasons why car insurance is legally required in some countries.

Technically, you need to be insured when you start driving, it protects yourself and your finance from unintended accidents.

However reducing premiums in your insurance mean you will have fewer benefits and adequate coverages from the insurance company?

The answer may vary but absolutely there are always have variety of choices to help you save money on your car’s insurance without lowering your legitimate interests.

Here is something need to keep in mind before you buy your car insurance:

Do some research

You should take few minutes to consider the best insurance company for your vehicle.

Some companies offer multi-policy discounts and provide better benefits and flexible policies.

While shopping, get quotes from different types of insurance companies, using the comparison websites to get the best price; check the related costs to ensure.

Choosing the best company for your car insurance might help you save a large of money later.

Shorten the distance to shorten the costs

You should know a fact that those who drive less are also pay less for car insurance. Some companies even offer discounts to customers who have less annual miles counted.

If it’s possible for you to agree to a lower annual mileage cap than you did last time you bought insurance, you’ll definitely save your money.

Modify your deductibles

The amount of money that agreed in your car insurance to cover the expenses and related costs when your car get damaged by accidents is called deductible.

One noticeable thing should keep in mind is that the insurance companies will require you to accept the amount the deductibles when you buy auto insurances, and this amount will have considerable effect on your premiums.

You can take advantage of a lower costs later by upgrading deductibles.

So if you don’t need that much? go ahead and increase the deductibles if you think you can manage your driving and not get into any auto accidents. It eventually could help you save a bunch of money.

Higher Deductibles does not mean Lower Premiums

If you have a claim to an insurance company for paying the deductibles, any loss or damages of your car after that will be covered by the car insurance company, which means the higher the deductible, the less you have to pay later when any unintended things happened to your car.


Use your smartphones

In this advanced society, you can indicate your car fuel when taking a trip, find the nearest gas station in the area and can be sorted by price to you.

Use your GPS to find the right ways to go.

Also, some apps could help you save your fuel by counting the miles, suggest ways to avoid traffic jam and help you plan your errands before going.

Some apps can be considered are Gas buddy, Waze, AAA TripTik Mobile (iOS); Route4me; MyMPG (iOS) and that’s all free.

Make right turns only

When driving in the city, try to reduce miles you drive by running all your errands in one trip and avoid jack-rabbit starts and stops, it not only reduces loiter time but also saves gas.


Sharing car is obviously the most effective way to save money, you could save up to 200$ in gasoline a year. In addition, it could save your income from various costs of maintenance, repair and decorate your car.

Hopefully, these tips can help you to spend less and use your car more efficiency