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As a car owner, are you starting to wonder why you even persist with that thing you’re driving around? It can often seem like a real waste of your time. Lots of people are now starting to rethink their devotion to their cars. Instead, they are looking at the alternatives. By seeing what other options are out there, and whether they’re realistic, they can save money, time and stress. Your car really can weigh you down and make life that little bit harder if you let it.
It doesn’t have to be that way, though. Rather than dealing with the finance-draining and health-damaging effects your car can have on you, you could change your lifestyle for the better.
Embrace Cycling or Walking for Small Journeys
When you’re trapped in your car whenever you need to go somewhere, it’s not good for you. Many people have jobs that involve sitting at a desk all day. If you are also sitting down when you travel to and from work, your lifestyle will probably be very sedentary indeed. This is one of the main things that doctors and health experts are linking to the rise in obesity and the health problems that it causes. Cycling or walking are two great alternatives to getting to work by car. Even if you only choose these options once or twice a week or just during the summer months, it will have an impact on your health and fitness.
Drive Less by Sharing Cars
You can cut down on your driving, not to mention your carbon footprint, by sharing driving responsibilities. This usually happens in the form of a workplace carpool scheme. People will share cars, meaning that only one car will have to carry people to work rather than four or five people driving themselves. From a green perspective, this is a massively positive move. But you don’t have to even think about that side of things because it will certainly save you money, and that’s what’s most important. Talk to people in your workplace or your boss about whether this is something that they would be interested in setting up with you. It has the potential to benefit everyone.
Calculate How Much You Pay for Repairs and Upkeep
When people think about the costs of running a car, they normally focus on fuel costs and insurance premiums. But there are so many other costs that you should factor in as well. There are costs associated with the basic upkeep for the car. And there will normally be repairs that have to be carried out during the lifetime of the vehicle as well. These can often be very expensive. They come about at the worst times too. Sometimes, there is no obvious reason for them. Then other times, a car accident can cause them. Either way, they’re going to be costly for you. Calculate how much you pay for these things, and then ask yourself whether it’s worth it.
Ditch Your Aversion to Public Transport to Save Money
Many people just have a real dislike for public transport. They don’t like being near other people as they commute to work, and they don’t like hanging around at stations, platforms and bus stops waiting for that late train or bus to arrive. It’s understandable that you would think in this kind of way. But if you really want to get ahead and save money, you should stop hating public transport so much. In reality, it’s probably not as bad as you think. In most cities, it’s now affordable, punctual and easy to access. If that’s the case, drive less and ride more. What have you got to lose? Your fuel costs will almost certainly be smaller than your ticket fees.
Think About the Impact of Unreliability
If your car is not the most reliable vehicle in the world, you could have problems with keeping things affordable. And when they’re not affordable, they’re not sustainable for you either. Unreliability is not just about paying for repairs, though. It’s more about the impact those breakdowns and problems have on your day to day life. If you can’t make it to that meeting or keep being late for work, your dodgy car might even cause your career to stall. I’m sure that’s not what you want to happen. Think very carefully about this issue before deciding which step forward to take next.
Look for a Cleaner and Cheaper Driving Experience
There are so many advances pushing forward that are making it possible for us to drive in a way that is cleaner and cheaper. This is all about renewables and clean power. Many cars now don’t even need fuel to motor along. Instead, you can drive an entirely electric car. These cars plug in, allowing a battery inside the car to charge up. These cars are improving all the time, and many people see them as the future of driving. If that’s the case, why not embrace the future right now? It could be one of the smartest moves you ever make. You’ll spend less and pollute the environment less too.
If You Carry on Driving, Learn How to Drive in a Way That Cuts Costs and Breakdowns
It’s possible that you will decide to carry on driving your car. Even if you decide to drive it less, that doesn’t mean you have to drive it in the same way. And the way in which you drive your car does matter a lot. There are good ways and bad ways to do it. If you want to drive in the right way and you want to make sure that you don’t use up more fuel than you need to, you should take a driving course. By braking more smoothly, accelerating more steadily and approaching turns in the road differently, you can conserve fuel. On top of that, you will also be able to avoid accidents and breakdowns when you drive more carefully.
If you take all of the points above into account, you should be able to avoid many of the problems associated with driving.
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