Monday we talked about how buying a car is an expensive purchase. However if you take your time by comparing and considering all your options you can save a lot of money on your transportation cost.
The first possibility you have is using alternative transportation by using a bike, going on foot or taking public transportation. Depending on your priorities and distances you can combine these options and ban the need for a car. This can be supplemented by sharing a car for the moments that you can’t go without. That being said it is not easy for this to work. Although it is advisable to try it out, personally I’m not able to keep it working due to higher distance transportation.
A budget tells us what we can’t afford, but it doesn’t keep us from buying it. – William feather
When you decide you can’t get rid of having a car you have to be considerate while looking for a car. Firstly decide between a new or a second hand car. If you want to save money from not spending on the car then consider going for a used car.
Depending how much you would like a newer car you can go for a 2-3 year old car. This way you save the amount a new car would decrease in the first years. If you don’t need the feel of a new car and can go with a older model it’s better to choose for a 5-8 year old car. The highest decrease in price is already over, meaning you have a car holding more of it’s value. If you want to pay even less and take the risk of having some trouble in the future you can even take a 10+ year old car. If you plan on doing this, do some research for low maintainance, reliable cars.
By buying an old car you can run into some problems or you can hit the jackpot. It’s possible to be driving the same old for many years without major problems. This way you will have saved enough money for buying a newer second hand car in a couple of years. When you don’t have a new car you can’t get a full insurance coverance against totaling your car. The money you save here can be used for your next car.