Costs of Owning a Car

One of my goals for the next month is to post each day of July about a List of 10 dealing with a personal finance or money saving idea topic.

Buying and owning a car is one of the larger expenses in most peoples financial lives.  Here are 10 expenses that come with owning a car and things to consider when buying a car.

1)      Monthly payments – If you are financing consider what the payment will be including interest charges.  Some people suggest not borrowing more than you can repay within 3 years.  The payment may not seem like a lot, but if you have monthly payments on multiple items make sure you don’t over extend yourself.

2)      Insurance – get an idea of how much the insurance will be for the car you are looking at. 

3)      Deductible- when researching insurance consider the different deductibles and amounts of coverage.

4)      Car registration tags – when you buy a car you will need to pay registration fee and renew it each year. 

5)      Gas expenses – consider the gas mileage of the vehicle and how much you usually drive.

6)      Oil changes and maintenance – the more you drive, the more often you will need to change the oil.  It will be helpful to have money saved in case repairs are needed.  Another expense is new tires, the more you drive the more often you will need to replace the tires.

7)      Depreciation – when you buy a brand new car you lose a lot of value right away.  here is a calculator to figure the true cost of owning a car.

8)      Where you live – extreme weather conditions can affect the life of your tires, batteries, etc.

9)      How much you drive – can affect your gas mileage and can also affect your insurance premiums

10)  Try not to owe more on a car than it is worth if it is totaled in an accident.  Also, it is recommend not to trade in a car that you still owe on.  Some dealerships will wrap the balance of the old loan into the new one.  Then you will probably owe more on your new car than it is worth.

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