Figuring Out a Monthly Budget? Car Expenses to Account For

Manage your money well, and you’ll wonder how you ever lived without a budget. Your spending will dictate how much money you have leftover for emergencies, savings, and discretionary fun.

A monthly budget is a great way to help you stay on track and focused on your financial goals. It’s an essential tool for anyone who wants to keep tabs on their money and make smart financial decisions. 

Following a budget will help you stay on track and help you feel accountable for your spending. It’ll also help you avoid making money-eating mistakes and set realistic spending limits. 

This article will go into depth about car expenses to make sure you include them in your monthly budget.

Petrol and Diesel

The average person will spend $2,783 on petrol and diesel each year. This equates to $8.67 per gallon of petrol and $4.39 per liter of diesel. 

However, this doesn’t consider taxes, fees, or additional costs associated with operating a car. If you’re a higher-end driver, you may spend even more. To put this in context, the average car in the U.S. costs $30,000. 

That means, on average, you’re spending about $4,000 more per year on petrol and diesel compared to the price in your own country.

Insurance and Registration

The average person will spend $1,919 on car insurance every month. This equates to $8.62 per gallon of petrol and $3.25 per liter of diesel. What’s more, this exceeds the price of car maintenance by far. 

You could easily pay $1,000 or more for the privilege of driving your car. If you need to take someone to court, their car insurance will likely cost you more than your monthly budget.

Brake, Tire, and Servicing Expenses

These are the majority of the costs associated with maintaining a car. Break these down, and you’ve still got yourself a healthy monthly budget. 

For example: brakes cost $84, tires require $96, tire recommended $40, servicing fees $36, tire replacements $36, brake maintenance $318, etc.

Now that you’ve got a better understanding of how your monthly budget works, it’s time to take action. Make a plan and stick to it. Make small adjustments each month, and you’ll see results. 

There are many ways to go about this. You could look at your monthly expenses as a percentage of your income or look at them as a dollar amount. Whatever way you look at it, you can still make it work.

3 Expenses You Might Run into as Your Car Ages

No matter what kind of car you drive or how well it is built, it will naturally become more prone to certain kinds of damage over time. The protective coatings on metal parts begins to wear away, making them more susceptible to rust. 

The rubber that hoses and belts are made of also becomes more brittle with age, which makes them more susceptible to breakage. In many cases, the wearing down of one part can create a chain reaction that can have an impact on entire systems. Here are three expenses you might run into as your car ages.

Timing Belt

The timing belt or chain controls the timing of the valves in an internal combustion engine by connecting the crankshaft to the camshaft. Some cars will have a timing chain while others will have a timing belt. 

Timing chains generally do not need to be replaced, but timing belts generally need to be replaced every 100,000 miles. It is also important for car owners to be aware that there are two kinds of belts that work on different types of engines. If your car has an interference engine and your timing belt were to break while driving, it can have severe repercussions on the engine itself. 

If you don’t have an interference engine, however, and your timing belt were to break, your engine would just stop running but there would not be much damage. It’s always better to get a timing belt replaced before it breaks, but it is critical on a vehicle with an interference engine.

Windshield Replacement

No matter how carefully you maintain your car, over time your windshield is likely to become covered with a constellation of microscopic cracks, pits, chips and dings. Each of these small imperfections weakens the overall integrity of your windshield. 

Small cracks and chips can be temporarily sealed with a special sealant to keep them from spreading, but eventually, you are simply going to need to get your windshield replaced. The good news is, many auto glass replacement services will come right to you and can even replace your window while you are at work or doing other things.

Brake Replacement

Brake pads are essentially like disposable linings that help to protect your actual brakes. Brake pads should be replaced roughly every 50,000 miles, but some may need to be replaced as frequently as every 25,000 miles. 

Some signs that your brake pads need to be replaced are a squealing or squeaking noise when you brake or your car becomes jittery. Getting your brake pads checked and replaced as necessary will help extend the life of your drums and rotors but even those will need to be replaced eventually.