Use public transportation
Public transportation is a great way to save money each month. Basically the cost to get where you need to go is high. You have to have a vehicle, you have to pay for gas, you have to pay for regular car maintenance, etc. However, if you take advantage of public transportation to get the places you need to go, you will save big. You do not even have to use it for everything, but if you were to use it for the places you frequent most often (such as taking a bus to and from work rather than driving, or to and from school if you are a full time student), the savings in the space of a year are huge.
Let's look a the kind of savings you can expect:
|
|
Cost of a vehicle: If you use public transportation full time, you do not need your own vehicle. For some this does not make sense, but if you live in the city, this could be a great option. The cost to own a vehicle is high. Let's say you buy conservatively, and your car payment is $200 a month. Your insurance is $65 a month. You do not have to pay for parking, etc. This means that by eliminating the need to buy a car, you could save $265 each month, or over $3000 a year. If not having a car sounds like torture, consider having one less car. For a family with two drivers, sharing one car, and using public transportation part of the time means you still get the savings mentioned above, but you also get the convenience of a car of your own if you do need it.
Fuel cost: By taking public transportation you could be saving a great deal in fuel cost to get the places you go most frequently. Granted you have to pay for a public transportation pass, but a bus pass costs less than a tank of gas, and if it saves you a tank a month it is worth it. If you are a student who commutes to school everyday, and say you spend $30 a week on gas, what kind of savings would you get using public transportation? If you took the bus, light rail, etc. instead, chances are you could get a pass for free because most transit authorities offer free passes or at least reduced rates to students. This could mean reducing the cost of your gas by half or more each week, which means that if you are in school nine months of the year, you would save $500 or more a year in gas. Apply the same idea to work, and you are looking at even greater savings because you work all year round.
Even if you have to pay for a pass, let's say you spend $10 a week for a public transportation pass. If it saves you $30 in fuel, your overall savings are $20 a week, or over $1000 a year.
Wear and tear cost: In addition, taking public transportation means saving your car wear and tear, and making regular maintenance spaced out a bit. If you drive half as much, it will take twice as long before you need an oil change, tire rotation, or tune up. This means big savings every year.
