Quit Making Dents In Your Budget By Cutting a Few Corners
August 31, 2006 | Personal Finance

What’s the biggest dent-maker in your monthly budget? If you’re like most people, it’s the one-two punch of housing, followed by your wheels. Face it, all those monthly car payments, insurance costs, gas fill-ups, repairs, and car-washes can really add up. So, here’s how to cut a few corners. This is at MSN’s Money Central:

  1. First, skip the premium gas. Only high-end, high-performance, high-price cars need it, like the Dodge Viper or Aston Martin. Unless you’ve got a pricey car, it’s safe to stick with regular.
  2. Next, when it comes to oil changes and repairs, steer clear of the dealer. Why? Because they always charge more than a local garage. You can find a list of approved repair shops the website at the National Institute of Automotive Service Excellence.
  3. Another automobile money-saver: Don’t be over-insured. Of course, you should always have plenty of liability insurance – to pay for whoever you hit. But as your car gets older, you may want to lower your collision and comprehensive insurance. To figure out whether it’s time, take your yearly bill for collision and comprehensive coverage, add on your deductible. If it’s more than half of the Blue Book value of your car, it’s time to talk to your insurance company.

There are times when spending EXTRA on your car is the key to saving money in the long-run:

  1. For example, have your brakes checked when they start to squeal. If you wait until they start grinding and screeching, it’ll cost you a lot more cash to fix the problem.
  2. Also, learn to do little repairs yourself! In other words, why pay your mechanic to replace windshield wiper blades, headlights, tail lights, and air filters, when it costs you nothing more than a little time once you buy the parts?

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