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Hello Dear Reader,
This Sunday, I will be with Tracy Wilson on Radio Cornwall sharing ideas about cutting the cost of transport. Like food, rent or the mortgage, we can not get away without paying a huge chunk of our incomes transport. Obviously, the most expensive and most convenient is to own our own cars. If that's our choice, then we have to tax, insure and maintain them as well as paying for wear and tear. I'll start with the ways I save money on my car tonight and then move onto as many other forms of transport as I possibly can over the next five nights.
If you have any money saving ideas about getting from A-B frugally then email them into tracy.wilson@bbc.co.uk and we'll share them with listeners on Sunday. I will of course put the listen again link on Frugal Queen after the radio programme has been transmitted.
Frugal Car Ownership
Cheap Petrol - Really? Well hear me out. I buy 33 litres of fuel a week - every chuffin' week!
Find the cheapest fuel - I buy my diesel in Plymouth for £1.35 a litre, instead of £1.39 locally and save £68.42 a year.
I pay for my fuel with my cashback credit card (I PAY IT OFF BY DIRECT DEBIT IN FULL EVERY MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!) and get 3% back on my fuel purchases and get £72 back every year.
I use my Tesco clubcard and get 780 club card points a year - I treble them by using them for a meal out and turn £7.80 into £23.40.
By shopping around, using my cashback credit card and saving the 'points' - I get £163.82 back, which I consider to be a saving each year. I effectively get 3.6 weeks transport for free. It might not seem much but if you found £163.82 down the back of the sofa you would feel very rich.
Cheap Car insurance - It is possible to cut hundreds from the cost of car insurance by shopping around. to start, I use all of the price comparison websites until I find the best deal. I want the least excess and the most cover for my money. If I whittle it down to two or three deals then I closely scrutinise the small print, which one offers free car hire if my car is undrivable? Which one offers free legal services with the price?
Next, I get a quote and store the quote number as it will be valid for a period of time.
Finally, I purchase through a cash back website such as Topcashback or in my case, Quidco - I usually get £50 back.
This year, the lowest quote I could find was £177 and got £50 back so my car insurance was £127, fully comprehensive, £100 excess and free legal cover/car hire if needed.
Cheap Car Servicing - We use fixed price servicing and shop around. We try and find one with free car hire for the day, or a collection and delivery service in with the price. We get the car valeted in with the price and then ask for a discount if we return. Every year, we haggle a discount from a main dealer as they shut the local branch and we have to get the car serviced in Plymouth so we get a 10% discount on top. As we bought the car from new from the same dealer we haggle for the service we always used to get in the price that they no longer provide. So, we still get the free car hire for the day, the car is valeted and we get to drive a swish new car for the day.
Cheap Breakdown cover - How much cover do you really need? We decided to go for basic cover. If we break down, then the AA will tow us to the nearest garage. We rarely go very far and felt this met our needs adequately. We used the AA this time as their basic cover was £28 and we secured a £10.50 cashback via Topcashback (I'm signed up to all the cashback sites) which reduced my cover to £17.50 a year.
Cheap Tyres - Take advice and do your research. Our car is sporty and has low profile tyres. They cost a fortune! We don't use the main dealer discount tyre retailers such as Quickfit or ATS but our locally owner tyre shop. It does mean we have to queue up behind dumper trucks and tractors, it does mean we have to stand in the yard in the snow but we pay for what we get not a fancy waiting room with piped music. We don't economise and buy cheap tyres as we rely on them to save our lives on an icy road so we buy good tyres for less. We save about 25% on tyres, fortunately we don't do enough miles to have to buy new tyres every year.
Drive Economically -
- Watch your speed - keep at a steady speed and drive smoothly.
- Keep the car in good condition.
- Ensure you have the correct air pressure in tyres.
- Remove any excess weight - don't carry anything you don't need.
- Cut down on air con - it's Britain for heaven's sake not the equator!
- Plan long journeys and take food and drink
- Car pool or share the cost of the journey.
Finally, if you don't need a car - don't own one. Personally, I liken car owner ship to setting fire to a huge amount of money each month!
I will be back tomorrow, and the rest of the week giving you other money saving transportation ideas. If you have any money saving ideas for car use or any type of transport, then send them to tracy.wilson@bbc.co.uk and we'll read them out on Sunday morning. If you would like to be on the programme and would like us to call you (UK only I'm afraid!!!) then send me an email and I'll take your details to the studio and we'll get you on air.
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxxxxxxxxxxx