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Book I: Taking Charge of Your Finances
Paying less for transportation
After the cost of housing, the cost of getting from place to place may be your
second-biggest monthly expense. You may already have found ways to trim
your transportation budget since the cost of a tank of gas has been rising, but
you could well find some new ideas here.
Use public transportation, ride your bike, walk, or carpool to work, if
possible. If you use public transportation or carpool, you may be able
to read and enjoy the passing scenery. If you ride your bike or walk, you
may even lose a few pounds.
Shop around for the best deal on gas. Driving a little farther to fill up
your tank for less may be worth the extra miles and time.
If your vehicle is a gas guzzler or is expensive to maintain, consider sell-
ing it and purchasing a reliable, less-expensive used vehicle.
Change your own oil, and do your own simple car repairs. Your local com-
munity college or an adult education program in your area may offer a
class in basic car maintenance, or maybe a neighbor or friend can show
you the basics. Also, the Car Talk guys on National Public Radio feature a
humorous but down-to-earth do-it-yourself guide to car repair and main-
tenance at their show's Web site, www·cartalk·com/content/diy·
Pump your own gas and wash your own car. Also, don't buy a higher
grade of gas than your car really needs.
Just how much do your vices cost?
You may find a silver lining in your cash crunch
if you're a regular smoker or drinker. Not having
the money you need to pay your creditors and
cover your basic living expenses may convince
you that it's time to become a nonsmoker, or to
give up that glass or two (or three) of wine you
sip at the end of each day, or that six pack of
beer you throw back each evening.
Let's assume, for example, that you and your
spouse or partner enjoy a $15 bottle of wine
with dinner each night. In a week's time, your
nightly bottle of wine costs you $105. That's
$420 a month and more than $5,000 a year!
Now that's a lot of money to spend on the fruit
of the vine. Just think what you could do with
that money instead.
Now let's look at how much you may be spend-
ing to smoke. Let's assume that you smoke half a
pack of cigarettes every day and that you pay $5
for each pack. More than $900 of your money is
going up in smoke each year, which doesn't even
take into account how much extra you're paying
for life insurance because of your unhealthy habit.
If you give up the habit, you can reduce the cost
of your premium by as much as 30 percent. You'll
probably pay less for health insurance as well.
