Besides all of the maintenance our cars require and the gas that they guzzle down, we’ve also got to carry another big expense: car insurance. Even though this is a mandatory expense that everyone needs to deal with, it accounts for hundreds of dollars deducted from our annual income, so no one really welcomes it with open arms. It is worth it to “shop around” for the best deals out there even though you may get a lot of emails, calls and letters from agents after inquiring about quotes and services. Not all car insurance needs to be a draining expense though, and there are a lot of ways to reduce your car insurance costs…you just need to know where to cut back and what you can do to lower your rates!

Seek out discounts.
Many insurance companies reward you with discounts for being a safe driver, a new driver, alumni of a certain affiliated university, member of an organization or group, or even for being a “low-mileage” driver. When you request quotes, be sure to ask about these discounts and present the agent with your clean driving record, the university you graduated from, or even the amount of miles that you put on your car per month. If you’re part of a carpooling program, many insurance companies offer policyholders who carpool to work or drive a lower-than-average number of miles each year a significant discount. If you’re the parent of a teen driver who gets good grades in school, also mention this to your agent. Teens who maintain good grades and pass an approved drivers’ education course usually can qualify for reduced rates too.

Combine your policies with one company.
If you have other items to insure, like your house or your apartment, consider taking out those policies with the same company that you have your car insurance with. Many offer “bundle” or “combination” packages to policyholders who have multiple coverages with one company and will offer a pretty decent discounted price for both items.

Purchase a “low-profile” car.
We’ve all seen those reports that list the “Top 10 Cars Most Likely to Be Stolen” and sign when ours is near the tops of the list. Insurance companies sigh at this list too, and often have to hike up your rates when you are the owner of a car that is high on the theft list or is expensive to repair. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety often has the reports listed on their website, so it might be a good idea to see if your car (or the one you want to buy) is considered high risk.

Only buy coverage you really need.
If your car is an older model or one with low market value, you might want to consider dropping expensive coverages like collision or comprehensive to save a few bucks overall. These coverages are often not worth it because any claim you make probably won’t exceed the cost of the insurance and the deductible amount, but be sure that it’s worth the risk by checking your car’s current value at Edmunds.com or Kelly Blue Book.

Request a higher deductible.
The deductible, or the amount of cash you have to hand over before the insurance company comes to the rescue, often determines the amount of premium that you have to pay. By bumping your deductible up a little, say from $200 to $500, you could lower the cost of your collision and comprehensive coverage by 15 to 30 percent. If you feel like you have the cash ready to put forth in the case of a repair, you may want to consider bumping up your deductible.

The most important thing to remember is to shop around for different quotes and be sure to ask for any and all discounts that may be available to you. Hopefully these tips help bring your car insurance costs down a bit!

The glove compartment and middle console of our cars usually looks a bit like that “junk drawer” we all have in our houses. You know, it’s the place to stick things when you don’t otherwise know where to put them. It’s a convenient storage space for things like receipts, CDs, papers, old maps, those ponchos you never used, or maybe even *gloves*, as the name implies. It’s a good idea to keep things in there organized though, so you might want to take some time to tidy it up. But don’t leave it completely empty! There are three things you should consider keeping room for in your glove compartment: your official car manual, some of those promo pens everyone seems to collect, and a small notebook to record any important information regarding your car.

The official owner’s manual that comes with the car from the factory has a lot of important information about your vehicle and is useful for your general reference and for mechanics who need to work on your car. Some cars, especially if it’s an older model that may have had many owners, do not have the original manual. Depending on the age of your car, you might be able to buy a manual, and though you will probably have to pay for it, it will be worth the convenience of having it at your side. You can usually go to a dealership to order one or you can check online to see if there are some available for a discounted price. If your car still has the manual stashed away somewhere, you’re in luck because it provides a lot of good information for your reference. Have you ever tried pushing every button on the radio incessantly to try to reprogram your stations or the clock to adjust for a time change without any luck? Have you ever wondered what that warning light on your dash that just popped up represents? Or what about if you wanted to know all of the technical details about your car? Having easy access to the manual would eliminate all of the stress and inconveniences that sometimes come with answering those questions.

The next two things you need to keep in your glove compartment – some pens and a small notebook – can work together as one but are equally as important by themselves. I often make use of all of those promo pens I have lying around by keeping them stashed in my car. Keeping a pen or two and a small notebook handy is a great idea because if you ever need to write some information down quickly or maintain a record of your car’s maintenance schedule, you can have all you need right there and stay organized. I know that I could never keep track of the last time I had the oil changed, had the tires rotated, or even the last time I took it to the mechanic for a routine checkup if I didn’t have a small notepad and pen in my glove compartment. Keeping it in this spot makes it easy for you to remember to keep good records and you know right where to find it when you need it. If you visit the mechanic or the dealership to have something fixed or added to you car, be sure to write down the date and location of the garage, the person who worked on it, a description of the work that was done, and possibly the price.

These items also come in handy if you have an unfortunate event like a break down or an accident. If you’re caught in a rush hour fender-bender or a more serious accident, you will need to take down the contact and insurance information of the other driver involved. Having a pen and paper at-the-ready will be extremely helpful to you so you can get the information you need quickly and without the stress of having to find something to write on (or with!) on top of all of the other stresses that are happening at the moment.

It’s hard to keep our cars clean and organized with all of the things going on in our lives, but I hope that if we learn to keep these three key things in our glove compartment at all times, we can make our lives a little bit easier.

A lot of budget-conscious drivers are finding alternatives to driving, insuring and maintaining their own cars as the price of oil and gas continually rises. Pubic transportation and carpooling are two of the most popular options, but there is one more option that is catching on quite quickly: car sharing programs.

Car sharing is really a great idea; it allows you to have access to a car whenever you need one but significantly reduces the costs associated with owning your own set of wheels. All you have to do is  reserve and pay for a car to use for a set number of hours or days. There are special parking lots around the area where they are stationed, and you can pick up and drop off your reserved car at any one of the special spots. Prices vary by date, time and location, and each company has different mileage or time limits.

There are some really great perks of car sharing that can reduce your costs of owning a car. With larger companies like ZipCar, you don’t have to worry about paying for gas because there’s a gas card in each of their cars that you can use to fill up your tank. Insurance is also not needed – with ZipCar, comprehensive insurance is included with their hourly rate. It is a good idea, however, to keep your medical records with you when you are using car sharing programs. Many physicians now use electronic medical records, or EMR,  so your information can be accessed outside of the office. In the event of an accident, the car’s registration or insurance cards will not have your information, so any medical crews will not be able to easily identify you or your medical needs if you are unable to speak with them.

And not to worry, these car sharing programs don’t hook you up with a junky, dented car from the 60′s. Most programs offer cars that are no more than 3 years old and are often hybrids or eco-friendly, fuel-efficient vehicles. Car sharing can now be found in most large cities in the U.S. and in Canada and are gaining popularity at hundreds of University campuses. This concept is really popular in Europe, and will likely keep gaining steam here in the Americas.

Companies like ZipCar, Connect by Hertz, UCarShare by U-Haul, and WeCar by Enterprise are some of the larger, nationally-run companies that offer this service. There are also a number of city-sponsored car sharing programs too. Take PhillyCarShare in Philadelphia, PA, eGoShare in Boulder, CO, Mint in New York City, or FunRide in San Louis Obispo, CA. They all follow the same basic rules and standards and are quickly gaining in popularity as more and more people realize the benefits of car sharing.

On nearly every car advertisement on television, the auto company must get all of their important information conveyed to the viewer in just about 30 seconds. That means that besides all of the flashy clips of the car driving through rivers and streams and racing through the desert, they must also show the price, features, and – what everyone wants to know these days – the miles per gallon, or MPG.

With new technologies coming out to increase MPG, more auto manufacturers are releasing more fuel-efficient vehicles onto their product lines. That’s good news for consumers, but bad news for those of us who can’t afford to buy or lease a brand new car every year or so.

If you are one of the lucky ones that can afford to buy a new(er) car, these are some of the newest cars that have come out with great ratings for fuel-efficiency:

Toyota Prius IV
SmartCar
Honda Insight EX
Volkswagon Golf
Volkswagon Jetta
Chevrolet Volt
Honda CR-Z
Ford Fusion Hybrid

But for the rest of us who want to keep our current car, here are some tips to increasing your car’s MPG:

Drive at a Constant and Moderate Pace – Use cruise control if you have it to help eliminate unsteady speeds. Edmunds.com found that the best way to improve fuel efficiency was to accelerate slowly and to brake over a longer distance. Aside from purchasing a new vehicle, this is the single most effective step you can take to reduce your costs.

No More Lead Foot – According to FuelEconomy.gov,  “As a rule of thumb, you can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.20 per gallon for gas. Yikes!

Keep Your Vehicle Well-Maintained – this means checking that the tires are properly inflated, checking the oil regularly, replacing dirty air filters, and getting the engine checked to ensure optimal performance.

Find the Best Gas Price – Download an app like GasBuddy to check all of the nearby gas stations for prices of gasoline. Saving just a few cents per gallon can really add up! You might also want to try buying gas from a wholesale club that offer pretty significant discounts on gasoline, like Sam’s Club or BJ’s.

Lighten Your Load - Don’t fill up your trunk with unnecessary equipment if you’re not going to be using it in the near future. BankRate estimates that “For every extra 250 pounds your engine hauls, the car loses about one mile per gallon in fuel economy.”

Reduce Drag – It’s super convenient to have ski racks on your car when you and the gang goes snowboarding, but it may not be ideal to keep them on your car all year round. Anything that causes wind resistance – like racks for skis, bikes, or luggage – can reduce your the miles you can get from a gallon of gasoline.

Be Sure Your Gas Cap is on Tight – Advanced Auto Parts reported that “Improperly seated gas caps allow 147 million gallons of fuel to vaporize every year in the U.S.”

Drive Less – Instead of hopping in the car to go to the nail salon 5 minutes down the road or across the street to the Red Box for a movie, take a nice walk. You’ll save some gas and get some exercise.. it’s a win-win!

T o fix or not to fix. Is it worth your money? Is it worth your time? Will your car ever be the same again, or is it just time for its retirement?

Your car was involved in a fender bender.

What an awful way to lose a car. Provided you get through without injuries, and don’t go crazy over insurance and medical billing phone calls, you are still without a car. That’s a car that could have very well lived on to a ripe old age if only that stop sign hadn’t existed. So can you fix it? Should you even try? Here are some things to consider when trying to decide if your damage is worth the money to repair:

-How many miles are on your car? If your car has low mileage, it’s almost painful to think about scrapping it. It could still run for years and that could well be worth the money to fix it. You bought it, after all. You don’t want all that purchasing money to go to waste. It’s even worse if you financed it and still have payments on it. However, if you figure that it was going to give up on you in a few years anyway than the amount of money involved in the repairs would be better off saved for buying a new ride.

-How much will repairs cost? Of course to determine whether the mileage is worth your money would mean knowing how much money that is exactly. Can you find new parts to replace damaged ones? Can you do the work yourself? Being able to do the work yourself saves a ton of money. Determine how much work is necessary. If you are on a budget, look at what parts of your car needs to be fixed in order for it to be able to run, be safe and be road legal. Skip the new paint job, it’s not really necessary. If your car is older anyway, having it look flawless isn’t worth it and the imperfections will make you less tense about hail storms or your neighbor’s 16-year-old driver.

Your car has routine wear and tear.

The same checklist can apply to a car with any sort of problem but you have to remember that basic car part wearing is inevitable with the age and the miles on the car. You can’t expect a car to run perfectly forever, but be conscious of who you’re putting behind the wheel. If the car were to break down, do you want your teenager sitting on the side of the road or your wife with your 2 small children?  If you’re air conditioning is broken, you might want to get it fixed before you let your 85-year-old grandfather get a ride in the dead of summer.

With the proper care, research, and a bit of luck, you can get a car to run for many good years, despite what problems may arise. It’s just up to you, whether that hole is worth patching.

So you need a car. Maybe you’ve only ever had used cars or maybe you’ve been spoiled by the luxury of driving a sleek, nice, newer car. Either way, you need a car now and you have to decide whether you should go new or used.

One point you have to consider is that the money you save on buying a used car will probably go back into fixing that car, replacing parts, or just more maintenance in general. This can be a negative or a positive. Really, it is a gamble with the car that you choose. A newer car could have an expensive problem, even if it is after you’ve had it for years or an older car could have several small problems. The gamble for a used car can be quite worth it, however, if you are skilled at fixing cars yourself. It even makes things easier because there are more parts available at junkyards, as opposed to having to order a part new. You can also save money by not bothering to fix any small dings or scratches that you would want to polish out of your attractive new car.

One of the most obvious reasons for buying a used car is that you may be able to afford it. I don’t know exactly how much money you have saved up, but I can guarantee that you can spare $2,000 a little easier than you can spare $20,000. The newer the car, the more likely it is that you will have to take out a loan and deal with years of car payments and interest.  Even if you can’t afford to buy a used car outright, you could still have a much smaller loan because it is obviously a cheaper car. Won’t it feel good to have your payments done with sooner, instead of getting that same bill in the mail for years?

In addition to the issue of loans, with used cars you don’t have sales tax, some dealership and transportation fees and lower registration and license fees. You even have lower insurance premiums. Along with insurance, you can save money on gas because the cheapest cars are often the smallest ones, which are great on gas. However, prices on used cars are not fixed like new models, so that gives you the freedom to shop around. This is especially true since you have such a broader selection of cars than just what came out that year.

If you’re concerned about the condition of the used car, you can go to a dealer who has Certified Pre Owned options. This will give you more quality security and usually an extended warranty. Most importantly, remember that new cars lose about 40% of their value within 3 years. They lose value just driving them off the lot. Let someone else pay that hot ticket price and lose that 40% first then you can pick up your ride at a price you can afford.

So you’re buying a used car. Remember, it’s a used car, so chances are it won’t be perfect (and, for the Dollarless Driver, it definitely won’t be).

Leather vs. cloth
While leather seats are certainly nice to have, are they really worth the extra money you’ll end up paying for them? Yes and no. Leather can be more durable than cloth (though it has been known to crack as well) and is looked at as somewhat of a luxury when it comes to your interior. And, though it costs more on the front end, leather seats will help your car or truck’s resale value in the long run. However, the bottom line is that when you’re pinched for pennies, there really isn’t a good reason to spring for leather.

Tires
While the salesperson will inevitably try to convince you that the tires on the car you’re looking at are in great shape, remember one thing: some salespeople lie. If you’re skeptical about the tires on a car (or even if you aren’t), keep in mind that replacing them will cost you hundreds of dollars.

What kind?
The most important factor to consider when deciding between an SUV and sedan is what type of activities you’re going to be using your vehicle for. For example, if you will be taking your your vehicle to college or plan on using it for tailgating at football games, perhaps an SUV would best fit your needs. However, if you don’t need as much space or are looking for a more inexpensive (and sometimes nicer) option, a sedan may better suit you. And if work in a field such as landscape or construction, a pickup truck may be your best bet. A car, truck, or SUV is a major investment, and the most important thing is finding what will best fit the needs that you have and the activities you’re going to be doing.

Fuel economy
For the Dollarless Driver, this is one of the most critical components to consider when purchasing a car or truck. With gas prices constantly increasing, the last thing you need is more money coming out of your pocket and into your gas tank, so be aware that which vehicle you choose can have a major impact on this. For example, while the SUV you may be looking at is a little nicer than the sedan, chances are the SUV has a much, much lower fuel economy. Will the money you’ll be spending on gas be worth it if you get the SUV? That’s your decision, but fuel economy should absolutely factor into the decision.

Accident history
It has become standard for used car dealerships to provide a CARFAX to customers, but reviewing it carefully is an absolute must. Take notice of when and where the car was serviced as well as if it was serviced for anything specific. Ask questions if you see a certain area of the car that was serviced more than once, and don’t be satisfied by just knowing that the car has not been in any accidents.

As a fellow Dollarless Driver, chances are the appearance of your vehicle could use some improvement. And, like us, you can’t simply send it to the shop for new paint and leather seats, so what’s a Dollarless Driver to do? Below are some low-cost tips on how to keep your ride looking good.

Wash it
This is perhaps the simplest form of car maintenance, yet it often goes ignored. Why, you ask yourself, would I wash a car that I know is basically a piece of junk? Simply put, it’s about having pride in what’s yours. Even if you only give it a quick wash, it will make a big difference in how you and others will look at your whip.

Wax it
Looking for a new car shine on your old sedan? You don’t need a new paint job, just give your car a good wax and check out the difference. The shine on the hood of your car will trick you into thinking you’ve upgraded your ride. Best of all, this large improvement in your car’s appearance comes a a very low cost, always a plus for the Dollarless Driver.

Check out the difference a wax can make

It’s a car, not a garbage can
Eventually, all of those sandwich wrappers, an empty water bottle, and gas receipts will pile up in your car’s trash compartments. Do yourself and your car a favor and make it a habit to empty them before they’re overflowing. Most gas stations have trashcans right next to the gas pumps, so while instead of holding back tears watching your paycheck melt into gasoline, clean out your car.

Small touches can go a long way
Do your tires look beat up, or does your upholstery leave something to be desired? There are ways to spruce up your worn out ride, especially when it comes to cosmetic issues like these. Products offered by companies like Armor All can help, such as wheel and tire protectants and shine products. Spray some tire cleaner followed by a shine product and your tires will be looking a whole lot better. When it comes to your upholstery, a simple monthly vaccuum can make all the difference in how the inside of your car appears.

The difference-maker: air fresheners
Smell is one of the most powerful human senses, and chances are that if you’re reading this website, your car doesn’t smell like a dozen roses. Investing in a simple air freshener can make a significant impact in the experience that you and your fellow passengers have in your ride. Pick a flavor you enjoy and turn that change in your center console into a way to make your car smell like vanilla!

Don’t overdue the “flair”
For reasons unknown to us, it seems like the cars with the most bumper stickers and magnets are often cars that would fit the “Dollarless Driver” profile. It’s great that you want to show your allegiance to so many causes or commemorate every vacation you’ve ever taken, but it really isn’t necessary to do so on the back of your car. Less is more when it comes to decorating your ride, so pick no more than two or three stickers/magnets.