Auto Budgeting issues

[bumbershoot]

\ We just pray that after we pay these off that we won't be in this situtation again!! ((unless of course we both get big raises ))

Well, once you're done paying them off, you could always keep on paying towards the next car, only this time you will keep the interest instead of paying it.

Also, if you bought GAP insurance and put it in the car payment, you're paying interest on that. Next time, if you didn't do it this time, check wtih your insurance company. Allstate's Gold program is only a few dollars more per month, and includes all sorts of extras including GAP insurance.



OP, people can only help if they know the specifics of your driving each month.

I mean, I *budget* $130 towards gas each month, but end up with a surplus in that fund (I just like overbudgeting there). I put aside just under $100 per month so that our yearly renter's insurance and 6 month car insurance can be paid in one sum. We use the car around town, mainly, because hubby has a free all-transit pass to his job in Seattle. My biggest gas-cost months are when I ignore the highway and take surface streets; that stop and go traffic just kills the mileage. We have a Grand Marquis, which is a bit of a tank and not very good gas mileage, but it's BETTER than the ancient, breaking down, compact car DH had before!

In opposition to that, my brother and sister in law keep FOUR cars gassed up with Premium, they drive in southern CA, and they are both speed demons. My brother takes off like a rocket from a stop, and waits to the very end to put the brakes on, hard. They go through gas, in whichever car is getting used (with only two of them they obviously don't empty all cars at once), like wildfire. I once drove from their place to Disneyland and back, and used less than a tank. My brother usually uses a tank and half for the same drive in the same vehicle ('93ish Durango) and thought I'd gassed up partially along the way, LOL. Our driving habits are just that different.


So things that can help ME out are going to be very different than thing to help THEM out. Tell us YOUR situation!

 

[mrodgers]

Start by taking a hard look at your driving habits; not how far you drive, but HOW you drive. Read about hypermiling; some of the things they do are a bit out there and in extreme cases may even be hazardous, but hypermilers have quite a few more ordinary habits that both save fuel AND wear and tear on your vehicle; it is worth looking at to see if there is a bad habit you've developed that may be costing you money.

Not always true. My wife increased her mileage by 3 mpg by being more aggressive. When she stayed at home and only drove to the grocery store once a week, she averaged 19 mpg. My car was being torn apart in the driveway, so I drove hers for about a month. I was averaging 22 mpg. I drove far more aggressive than she did.

Now since she's been back working, her driving has gotten much more aggressive on the long commutes. She now averages 22 mpg.

We live in north western PA, lot of hills. We drive faster and use momentum to get up the next hill (or in her weak car we do, mine is a turbo and has gobs of torque. I could run any hill I wanted in top gear and still accelerate to well over 100 mph if I wanted to as opposed to all the pokies in their "economy cars" putting along and needing to downshift and floor the throttle to get up the hills.) Low powered cars, aka economy cars, or cars that are designed poorly like my wife's, don't do well around where I am because they can't make it up the hills. You end up using twice the gas because you are trying to drive too easy to save gas.

(This time of year one of the most common is leaving the heat on when you start the car cold. Turn it off until the engine warms up, because otherwise you are just using gasoline to blow cold air around.

Might work where you are at, but I can't chip 2 inches of ice frozen on the windshield, nor can I wait until I'm driving and the engine is warmed up to turn the heat on with 2 inches of solid ice on my windshield. The car gets started for 10 minutes, then the scraper slices the ice right off the windows.

 

[DisneyLoverUSA]

My DH's truck is paid for and my car will be paid for in March.

But before his truck (GMC) was paid off he paid $350 a month and my car (Cadillac) costs $400 a month. Our combined insurance (full coverage) is $177 a month.

I fill up (about $55) twice a month and DH fills up about ($60) 3 times a month.

But after March we won't have any car payments and we will drive our cars for a few years (I will drive mine as long as I can until I start having major mechanical problems). DH plans on replacing his truck payment with a Harley payment.

When and if Cadillac ever comes out with a HYBRID CTS then I will get one of those for better gas mileage. Although I get pretty good gas mileage now. (About 27 mpg)

 

[bearzabout]

I've figured out a great way to save money on a car. Buy the best quality used car you can find and keep it for a very long time. My 20 year old Acura Legend still looks and drives like a new car.

Of course the other key to saving money is to drive as little as possible. The car only has 130K miles on it.

Insurance is cheaper on an old car. We pay about $500/year.

We take excellent care of the car and it has paid off for us. Only 5 more years and it will be considered an antique! I'm very proud of it.

 

[NotUrsula]

Not always true. My wife increased her mileage by 3 mpg by being more aggressive. When she stayed at home and only drove to the grocery store once a week, she averaged 19 mpg. My car was being torn apart in the driveway, so I drove hers for about a month. I was averaging 22 mpg. I drove far more aggressive than she did.

Now since she's been back working, her driving has gotten much more aggressive on the long commutes. She now averages 22 mpg.

We live in north western PA, lot of hills. We drive faster and use momentum to get up the next hill (or in her weak car we do, mine is a turbo and has gobs of torque. I could run any hill I wanted in top gear and still accelerate to well over 100 mph if I wanted to as opposed to all the pokies in their "economy cars" putting along and needing to downshift and floor the throttle to get up the hills.) Low powered cars, aka economy cars, or cars that are designed poorly like my wife's, don't do well around where I am because they can't make it up the hills. You end up using twice the gas because you are trying to drive too easy to save gas.


Might work where you are at, but I can't chip 2 inches of ice frozen on the windshield, nor can I wait until I'm driving and the engine is warmed up to turn the heat on with 2 inches of solid ice on my windshield. The car gets started for 10 minutes, then the scraper slices the ice right off the windows.

I never said anything about keeping your speed low all the time; driving more efficiently means taking in all the environmental factors that apply in one's particular case and using them to conserve fuel and wear and tear. Obviously, in hilly terrain momentum is your friend; you want to avoid stopping at the bottom of hills whenever possible. For instance, paying attention to light timing at stoplights in valleys so as to gently adjust your speed to try to hit them on green most of the time is a good tactic. Any time you have to gun the engine you are sucking gas, so maintaining as much as possible is more efficient, even if you are maintaining a fairly high speed.

As to the ice, you have 2 inches of ice on your glass every single day? (Do you live under a waterfall?) Obviously, when you have ice on your glass you need to remove it, but on days when ice/snow removal isn't an issue you can easily leave the heat off until the engine warms up. In my car I don't have to turn the regular heat on to defrost my windshield; I have a wired defroster in mine that heats only the glass (front and rear)with an element that doesn't use the blower. That, combined with windshield non-stick treatment makes it a lot easier to quickly get that windshield clear.