52 Money Save Ways: Week 6: Maintain Your Car

Another week, another new tip in our Money Save Ways series. Each week, a new tip will be added to help you save all the money you can this year as well as make it easier to have you add the deposit to your savings if you are following us on the 52 Week Money Challenge. This week, you should add $6 into your savings or $47 if you are doing it in reverse.

52 Money Save Ways: Week 6: Maintain Your Car

Everyone knows that cars can be a huge expense, especially if something unexpected happens to it. Car repairs can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars and not only can this drain a savings account, but many of them are extremely preventable with just a little bit of maintenance.

First, Change your oil on time, every time. This small cost is well worth paying attention to as it will not only make your engine run well and many of the problems that come from not doing it less likely to happen, but it gives you better fuel economy. You can even do it cheaper at home in most cases with only needing a couple “specialty” tools such as a filter wrench and a place to drain the old oil into.

Make sure to change out your air filter. A dirty engine is an engine that runs poorly and can cause massive damage. A clean filter prevents many issues.

Get a tune-up or even just a checkup on your car frequently. Do this at least every year on older models and every couple years on newer ones. Doing so can help you prevent major damage before it happens. Your mechanic can tell you what should be watched or parts that are wearing down.

Watch your alignment. If your car is not properly aligned, you are wearing out your tires much faster than you should. This can add up to costly tire replacements that are not necessary. Also, your car not being aligned properly puts unnecessary strain on your car’s joints, wearing them out dangerously fast.

While this is not as important as the other maintenance steps, you should wash your car regularly. Doing so can remove chemicals from salt on the road in the winter as well as grime that can wear off your paint and make it rust.

Make sure to join me for next week’s Money Save Ways tip!

You can find previous Money Save Ways Tips here:

• 52 Money Save Ways: Week 5: Reap the Rewards
• 52 Money Save Ways: Week 4: Practice The Waiting Game
• 52 Money Save Ways: Week 3: Buy Seasonings in Bulk
• 52 Money Save Ways: Week 2: Buy Your Clothes Used
• 52 Money Save Ways: Week 1: Make Lists
• 52 Week Money Challenge
• 52 Week Money Challenge Tracker (Printable and electronic version)

You can also do the 52 Week Money challenge in reverse- so be sure to get the printable for reverse 52 week money challenge.