Tips like these helped us pay off $127K in debt. You can read our story in Slaying the Debt Dragon: How One Family Conquered Their Money Monster and Found an Inspired Happily Ever After.
Welcome to 31 Debt Free Missions! This year on Queen of Free, during each day in January, we will provide 31 concrete debt free missions or challenges for you to take on to #SlayDebt and take charge of your finances this year. Each mission will take you less than an hour (some will only require 15 minutes). Whereas, 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth (which I’m reworking this year and reposting in January, too) focused on some of the philosophical changes you need to make in order to be successful with money, 31 Debt Free Missions are action steps to put into place after you have your thinking straight. Even better, during the month of January, we’re revisiting each of these challenges in order to sharpen our money saving and debt slaying skills.
Are you ready? Your mission is as follows:
Day #15: Maintain Your Car
Vehicles can provide the biggest of unexpected expenses when you’re paying off debt. Most of us are caught off guard when our cars break down. We depend upon them running well on a regular basis. Believe it or not, regular car maintenance can help you save money in ways you might not expect. Here are some great practices to keep your vehicle and budget on track.
Check Your Tires and Pressure
Obviously no one wants a flat so checking your tires can decrease the probability of that unfortunate event. However, your car will actually run much more smoothly and get better gas mileage if the tires are inflated to the proper pressure.
Oil Changes
Getting your oil changed regularly ensures your engine runs smoothly. If you are uber handy, go ahead do the job yourself. If not, make regular appointments to keep your car in running order.
Buy Decent Wipers
You know I love a good deal but the cheapest isn’t always the best bet. There are areas where you should spend money. I think that wipers fall into this category. You don’t need to purchase the most expensive models. Find a good mid-grade product. Nothing can drive you battier or make you more at risk for an accident than a bad set of wipers.
Find a Local Shop
One of the very best things you can do is to research local repair shops (this is ours). Even though it might occasionally cost a little bit more and there aren’t coupons, we love taking our cars to the same repair shop on a regular basis for routine car maintenance. Having a high level of trust with your mechanic is incredibly important. Ours let us know when we can get away with delaying repair or finding a more affordable solution to our mechanical woes.
Don’t Fix Your Broken Window
This is kind of a ha-ha funny but a couple of years ago, the driver’s side window of my car quit rolling back up when it rolled down. Our very wise mechanic friends instructed us that it would be incredibly expensive to take apart the door to fix it. We opted not to fix it. This is a slight nuisance (especially last year when I paid tolls in Chicago in the snow, opening the door and throwing my change like a bank shot); however it has saved me hundreds of dollars by keeping me out of the drive thru.
Spending money on the upkeep of your vehicle might not be the most fun thing; however, it will save you big bucks later on down the road.
Did you see the previous Debt Free Missions? Knock them all out this month!
- 31 Debt Free Missions: Take the Restaurant Challenge
- 31 Debt Free Missions: Run Your Credit Report
- 31 Debt Free Missions: Set Up a Tax Box
- 31 Debt Free Missions: 5 Memberships to Ditch
- 31 Debt Free Missions: Adjust Your Withholdings
- 31 Debt Free Missions: Quit Using Credit Cards
- 31 Debt Free Missions: Go to the Library
- 31 Debt Free Missions: Eliminate Cable
- 31 Debt Free Missions: Pantry Prep
- 31 Debt Free Missions: 3 Phone Calls to Pay Off Debt
- 31 Debt Free Missions: The Bank Field Trip
- 31 Debt Free Missions: Make Your Own Laundry Detergent
- 31 Debt Free Missions: Hit Unsubscribe
- 31 Debt Free Missions: Stop Money Leaks
What regular car maintenance do you do to keep your vehicles running ship shape?
My book is now available: Slaying the Debt Dragon: How One Family Conquered Their Money Monster and Found an Inspired Happily Ever After. You can also check out Inspiration to Pay Off Debt: 30 Days of Encouragement from the Queen of Free
This post contains an affiliate link. That means when you get a great deal or maybe even something for free, you also help our family pay off our mortgage early. And for that, we royally thank you!
[…] For more on prolonging the life of your vehicle, don’t miss 31 Debt Free Missions: Maintain Your Car. […]