Tips
Cut fuel costs - There are a number of ways to cut down on your gas expenses. Maintaining your tire pressure, turning off your AC, driving a little slower and avoiding idling all improve your fuel efficiency. Maintaining your vehicle will also help to keep your fuel costs down. Next time you are getting your vehicle serviced ask your technician about ways to save fuel costs on your specific vehicle.
Buy monthly bus passes - Buying bus passes on a monthly basis instead of paying each time you ride can save you a lot of money. For example, if your child takes the bus to and from school every day and pays the full fare each trip, the cost would be roughly $720.00 for the school year. Ten monthly bus passes would only cost about $490.00 for the year. You save $230.00 each school year.
Carpool - Sharing driving responsibilities for the trip to work or school will save you money and improve the life expectancy of your vehicle. Having fewer vehicles on the road also means less pollution!
on the road
Your family may use different methods of transportation in daily life. Whether you take a bus or drive a car, there are always ways to save some money getting to and from the places you need to go.
Activities
Talk about the costs
Children may not realize the expenses associated with getting to and from school or driving to the supermarket. Next time you are on the go, take a few minutes to talk about some of the expenses that go into transportation. Take a look at this example.
Let's say you drive a $25,000 family sedan, your annual costs might be:
| Car loan payments | $ 5,200.00 | |
| Gas | $ 1,700.00 | |
| Insurance | $ 1,200.00 | |
| Maintenance | $ 1,000.00 | |
| Total | $ 9,100.00 |
That's about $760.00 a month! Even if your vehicle is paid off, owning the car will cost about $325.00 per month! And don't forget, older vehicles require more maintenance.
What if you take the bus?
A year's worth of monthly bus passes for an adult is about $855.00 or about $71.00 a month. For youth, a year costs about $580.00, or just under $50.00 a month.
Try doing a quick cost comparison...
A family of four who drives a new car will pay about $9,100.00 a year.
A family of four who takes the bus will pay about $2,870.00 a year.
That is a savings of $6,230.00 a year, or about $520.00 a month!
If you decided not to drive your car for four years you could save about $25,000.00 and that does not include the interest you would earn if you invested that money. Talk about an easy way to save for your child's education!
