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Are Your Driving Habits Costing You?
We all know that driving is one of our biggest expenses. But it’s also one of the most necessary tools at our disposal when we don’t live within walking distance from home.
We tend to treat our things well when we’ve spent money on them, but it’s one of those weird things in life that we treat our smartphones like gold but our cars like they don’t matter. Sure, a car will depreciate the second that you drive it off the lot, but choosing not to look after your car can end up costing you a lot of money.
A big part of taking care of your car is taking care of your driving habits. There are some driving habits that obviously cost you extra cash, like driving too fast and building up parking fines (you can read about common violations to understand how not to treat your car on the road).
But what about the actual vehicle? What is it that you are doing that is costing you money when you drive?
A Cold Car
Back in the day, it was very much the morning routine to sit and shiver in the car while you waited for it to warm up. The oil had to get to all the right parts of the engine to be able to run correctly.
And while our modern vehicles are all heated seats and have less of a need for being looked after, it doesn’t mean you should jump in and go in the morning. Give your car a little time to warm up in the cold weather.
Getting Brake Happy
That middle pedal isn’t a footrest. If you’re constantly touching the brakes while you drive, you’re going to wear down the brake pads and cost yourself cash.
The Wrong Gear
First gear should never be stretched to breaking point when you drive a stick shift. As soon as you start driving you should be getting into second as soon as you can. You also don’t want to go too high in your gear because otherwise you end up ‘lugging’, which is basically riding around in a low speed but too high a gear. It’s so bad for the engine and you could end up needing repairs a lot faster than planned.
Ignoring The Flashy Lights
You cannot drive around and ignore the oil warning lights or the flashing dashboard warnings. The lights tell you all about the system failures that are happening to your car. Ignoring them until the car stops working is a baaaad plan.
There are plenty of other bad driving habits out there, but any of these could be costing you money that you simply don’t have to spend.
Don’t put more money than necessary into your car when you can conserve the engine and conserve your cash all at the same time. Savings matter and you shouldn’t be abusing your car just because it begins to depreciate.
Pay attention to the way that you drive and save your purse from ruin!
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