Choosing Your Car
Things to consider when selecting a car are the manufacturer warranty, the miles per gallon you can achieve and the price of road tax. Remember, the cheaper it is to run your car, the more likely it will have to pay less for the road tax. With the rising price of petrol in the last decade, a high MPG can really make a difference when trying to run your car on a budget.
Ensuring you get the best Insurance
The cost of insurance for your selected car is also something you should take into consideration. If you are a newly qualified driver, the price of a new policy can be expensive, so check out quotes before making a final decision on which car you are going to purchase. After all, you don’t want to choose and purchase a car only to find the cost of insuring it is well outside of your budget!
Luckily, there are many websites available which make it relatively easy to find the best insurance policy for a new car. This includes price comparison sites which compare prices across the entire market to find you the best quote for your new car, and also shopping around individual insurers to check there are no deals that havent been missed by the price comparison sites. Usually you are able to save quotes for up to 30 days (or even 60 days in some cases), so it doesn’t hurt to do your research in advance to get the best deal. Don’t forget, if you can afford to pay your car insurance in one lump sum, this tends to work out cheaper than paying for it monthly. However, you should only do this if it’s within your budget.
Get paid to insure your car
To save even more money on insurance, you can also check cashback websites to see if particular insurers are offering cashback incentives for signing up with them. Cashback is not always guaranteed however, so whilst you can use it to help choose an insurance company, you should think of cashback as a pleasant bonus if it does come through, but don’t depend on it to make it the lowest quote.
Purchasing your vehicle
Once you have chosen your car, and have an idea of what your insurance and road tax will cost, it will be time to purchase your new vehicle. You might be a cash buyer, in which case the transaction should be straight forward. But there are other methods available for car purchase, including hire purchase agreements or interest free finance agreements which stagger the cost of the car over a number of years. If those options aren’t available, you could secure a loan to pay for your car, but try to ensure you keep the APR as low as possible whilst also ensuring the monthly payments will be within your budget.
Yes, some might say that taking the budget route on such an expensive and important purchase might be a risk, but as long as you do your homework and follow the rules above, you should come away with a happy with your motor and happier with your wallet.
