Kelly writes in:

For the first time in my life, I have a daily commute to work. I drive about 45 minutes each way to work each day of the week. According to my math, I’m going to be spending about $125 a month just on gas, let alone maintenance, upkeep, and so on. When I look at it that way, my new job isn’t as awesome as I thought it was! What can I do to trim that amount?

Here are ten things I would suggest for anyone who is seeking to optimize their commute and minimize the financial cost of it.

1. Start (or join) a carpool. I wrote an article recently on how to start a carpool, but if you can find one that already exists, join that one instead. It not only reduces the number of days per week that you have to drive, it also allows you to use the more efficient HOV lanes during the commute.

2. Properly inflate your tires each month. Few things damage your gas mileage than poorly inflated tires. Think of a bicycle and how much extra effort you have to exert when your tire is even a little bit flat. The same is true for your car – it might be plenty inflated to make the trip, but if it’s even a bit under the recommended maximum level, your car is working harder to go the same distance, and that eats gas.

3. Find the optimum route. Unless the route to your job is incredibly straightforward, there are several different routes you could potentially take to your job. Spend some time to figure out the optimum route – the one that eats the least amount of gas, in other words. Use Google Maps to help you in this regard. Finding a more efficient route will simply shave transportation costs (and possibly time) off of your daily commute.

4. Identify the low-priced gas stations along your route. Take note of the gas stations available to you along the route and identify the ones that consistently have the best prices (if there is variance – usually, there is). Then, make that station (or stations) your regular stop to fill up your tank.

5. Use a “gas card” for that chain of stations. Once you’ve identified the inexpensive station, sign up for their gas card. Use it just for gas – nothing else – and pay the card off in full each month. The rewards on such cards are often quite nice and can add up to a free tank of gas every few months or so.

6. Examine public transportation options for all or part of your commute. Just because there isn’t a train straight from your home to your place of employment doesn’t mean public transportation isn’t an option. Perhaps you can drive to a nearby station and take a train/bus combination to your place of work. If there is a combination that can strongly reduce (or even eliminate) your commute, you should take it.

7. Use your A/C and heater less. Just use them to get your car to the right temperature then turn them off. You don’t need to leave them running during your entire commute – they just eat fuel. If you find the temperature getting uncomfortable again, just flip the A/C or heat back on.

8. Ask about subsidies at work for commuters. Some places of employment offer benefits for commuters, such as reimbursement for miles driven. Don’t be afraid to ask your human resources contact about it, just to see if it’s available. If it is, it’s cash in hand for you.

9. Leave a bit early to avoid the rush and to avoid the need to speed. In the morning, get in the swing of leaving a little bit earlier. This way, you can avoid speeding (which conserves gas and also helps to ensure you don’t get a ticket) and also potentially avoid the worst part of the rush hour traffic.

10. Look into telecommuting. If your job allows it (and the workplace allows it), consider telecommuting a day or two a week. Those are days where you’re not commuting at all, which means a nice net savings for you.

Beyond these tips (which are things you can do right now), I would suggest car shopping with fuel efficiency in mind when you go car shopping the next time. It’s okay to pay more for a more fuel-efficient car. For example, let’s say your commute is 40 miles each way, which totals up to 2,000 miles a month. Assuming gas is $3 a gallon, if you get a car that gets 20 miles to the gallon, you’ll be spending $300 a month on gas. On the other hand, if you buy a car that gets 40 miles to the gallon, you’ll only be spending $150 a month on gas. That’s a $150 savings each month, more than enough to make up for even a sizeable difference in car payments.

Good luck with your new job!

Jenny writes in:

I work at an office park about forty five minutes from where I live. I live in a highly populated suburban neighborhood.

In order to save some money on gas and wear and tear on my car, I want to start a carpool, but I don’t know anyone who lives near me who works in the office park. I don’t mind stretching my hours a bit to make this work, as I could go in with them a bit earlier and do some busywork (email and the like) to start the day or read a book at the end of the day.

The only problem is I don’t know how to get this kind of thing started and I don’t have any obvious people to ride with. Any ideas?

Carpools are a tremendous way to save money. My wife is in a (semi-functional) carpool with a coworker and often has a ride to work two days a week. We estimate that it saves us at least $100 a month in gas and maintenance costs. It would be truly great if she could get another person or two into the carpool.

How can Jenny get a carpool started in her situation? Here’s the game plan I would use.

First, I would make up a very clear flyer that stated my first name, my cell phone number, and the fact that I wanted to start a carpool from the neighborhood or city where I lived to that office park. I’d probably make some “tear-off” tabs on the right hand side of the flyer so that people could yank the number off and put it in their pocket. Put “car pool” above the number.

I would then take a copy of this flyer to each office in the office park. There may be a lot of offices there, so you may need quite a few copies. Ask for permission to hang the flyer on the office bulletin board in each of those offices. Given your situation, I would imagine most would let you do this.

Ideally, you’ll get a few calls within the next few days. You’ll need to get some key information from each person, so you may want to carry a notepad with you.

From each caller, get the following:
+ their name
+ their cell phone number
+ their address (so you can map their location)
+ their approximate work schedule (so you know when they would need to depart/arrive)
+ any “special” days they have (like my wife’s carpool, where it doesn’t happen on Fridays due to a special need of her carpool mate)
+ what types of vehicles they have and how many it can seat

Once you have this information from a few callers (give it a few days), set up a schedule. Figure out a departure time (both from your town and from the office park) that works for everyone (or at least for the largest number of participants). Also, figure out a rotating driving schedule.

Once you have this information, call each person in the pool back and let them know when the pool will begin. I highly recommend you drive the first day.

When you do the first day, pick up the other people on the route and give each person a list of addresses, phone numbers, and schedules for everyone in the pool. I recommend that you make the schedule as simple as possible, even if it inconveniences you. The best way to do this is to say that Person X drives on Mondays, Person Y drives on Tuesdays, Person Z drives on Wednesdays, and Person A drives on Thursdays, with Fridays handled on a rotating basis. If you have five people, this is really easy. If you have three people, have Thursday and Friday rotate. If you just have two people, have each person drive two days and have Friday rotate.

Yes, this is a lot of set-up work. But you’re the one who has the initiative to start the carpool and you will save a lot of money on it. It may take a bit of extra effort in setting it up and an occasional headache when someone is sick, but it will be worth it in the large savings you get, especially with a four or five person carpool.

Good luck!

This is part of an ongoing series about how to trim the budget of the average American. As this series focuses on such broad-based tips, some will work for you and some will not. You’re invited to mention in the comments the tips that you found to be the most useful for inclusion in a comprehensive budget trimming guide at the conclusion of this series.

Transportation – gasoline, motor oil – $2,384

The average American family drops $200 a month on gasoline and motor oil – and that’s at early 2009 prices for gas, which were significantly lower than prices today.

However, this is one of the easiest numbers to trim in your entire budget. There are several simple steps anyone can take to reduce their gasoline usage without making radical lifestyle changes. Here are twelve options.

Form a carpool (or join an existing one). Even if this is an irregular carpool – my wife, for example, carpools with a friend two days a week, saving her one day of driving – it still saves you signifcant fuel costs on your commute and wear and tear on your car. In some localities, you also gain the option to use HOV lanes, which can add to the fuel efficiency of the drive.

Use public transportation. If you have easy access to public transportation, it is almost always a fuel saver, particularly if you can use such transportation routinely. Even if you can just occasionally use the bus system or the subway, it still leaves gas in your tank.

Use a bicycle – or your feet. Alternately, use a bicycle – or your own feet – to reach nearby locations. I often walk to the post office instead of driving there – it takes substantially longer, but if I use a brisk walk, I can get a moderate workout from the situation, making me healthier, while also saving money on the fuel.

Buy a more fuel-efficient vehicle. If gasoline is $3 a gallon, moving from a 20 mile per gallon car to a 25 mile per gallon car saves you $360 a year (assuming you drive 12,000 miles a year). If you’re buying used, such a savings can make it well worth your while to invest a bit more in a more fuel-efficient car.

Change your own oil. Not only will you save on the maintenance costs if you’re not paying someone to do it, but it also gives you much more control over the actual oil that goes into you car – and much more power when it comes to comparison shopping for that oil. Study up on the type of oil that’s truly best for your car, then shop around for it. You’ll find a great price on the best thing for your vehicle – a win all around.

Drive the speed limit, especially on the interstate. Stick in the slow lane and stick with the speed limit and you’ll find yourself saving quite a lot on gas. “But everyone’s going 90!” If that’s the case, and you still choose to drive there, then you’re paying a substantial amount to drive at that pace.

Keep your windows closed – or your air conditioning off. If you’re driving in town at low speeds, keep the windows down and your air conditioning off. However, if you’re out on the open road, do just the opposite. The wind drag when you go at higher speeds becomes significant, exceeding the fuel costs of running an air conditioner. Alternating between the two will save you the most money.

Minimize the “stop and go” when you’re driving in town. Instead of gunning it out of a stoplight then just slowing down again to a complete stop at the next stoplight, accelerate more slowly out of a stoplight and slow down gradually well before the next one. You’ll maintain much more momentum (and thus retain fuel) by slowing gradually rather than slowing quickly, stopping, and then accelerating from a stop.

Re-evaluate your routes. Are you taking the most efficient route to your regular destinations? Many people lock themselves into the first route to their destination that they discover, not bothering to investigate further and discover shorter routes. Doing so saves on fuel costs, wear and tear, and your valuable time.

Keep your tires properly inflated. Ever tried a bicycle with partially deflated tires? It’s hard work to pedal. Improperly inflated tires on your car cause your car to burn a lot more gas to get going. Given that it’s really easy to properly inflate your tires at your local gas station, you should take advantage of the free air to save yourself some cash.

Remove excess weight. If you’re carrying items in your car without a good purpose, remove them – they’re just slowly milking your fuel efficiency. Go through your trunk, your back seat, and the bed of your truck and look for items that don’t need to be there. (The same goes for fuel itself – you’re better off refueling when you’re close to empty than when your tank is mostly full – though the effect is tiny.)

When you’re stopped, turn off the engine. Whenever you’re going to be idling for more than fifteen seconds or so, turn off the engine on your vehicle. Idling just causes your car to burn gasoline without providing any forward motion for you – and even just a few seconds’ worth of idling eats more gas than is eaten during ignition.

I want your help! In the comments, please let me know which of the tips you find most useful for trimming these costs. I’ll include the top choices in a comprehensive budget trimming guide at the conclusion of the series.

This is part of an ongoing series about how to trim the budget of the average American. As this series focuses on such broad-based tips, some will work for you and some will not. You’re invited to mention in the comments the tips that you found to be the most useful for inclusion in a comprehensive budget trimming guide at the conclusion of this series.

Transportation – other expenses and transportation – $3,130

This unlclearly-defined category includes vehicle finance charges, maintenance and repairs, vehicle insurance, public transportation, vehicle rental, licenses, and so on. In other words, besides buying a car and putting fuel in it, every automobile expense goes into this category.

With such a varied caetgory that speaks to the wide variety of lifestyles people have, there are many ways to save money within this category that really work well for some people – and don’t work at all for others. Thus, use these tips with that in mind – look for the ones that work for how you transport yourself.

Learn how to do basic auto maintenance yourself. Changing your oil and checking your fluid levels isn’t that hard. Your car’s manual explains how to do all of these things. Instead of paying someone else a ridiculously high hourly rate to do it, spend that time teaching yourself how to do it. Once you know how, it’ll take you less time than dealing with taking your car to a maintenance shop.

Don’t skip the maintenance. Follow the maintenance schedule in your car’s manual to the letter. Why? Skipped maintenance inevitably leads to more repair costs and a shorter lifetime for your vehicle over the long run. The fluids in your car don’t last forever, and when they start to become dirty with wear, they can cause real damage to your car. Take care of business.

Get a bus or subway pass. If you find yourself dropping coins or bills into the till on the subway or the bus every single day, get a pass. Yes, it looks expensive, but if you’re riding every day, do the math. The pass is almost always far cheaper than the cost of paying the fee every day.

Shop around for auto insurance. This means more than just using Progressive and their “comparisons.” Actually get yourself a quote from several different insurers and study their customer service and reputation a bit. You might be with the insurer that was the cheapest a decade ago, but now it’s one of the more expensive ones.

Raise your auto insurance deductible. Honestly, over the last ten years, how many claims have you made on your insurance? Instead of paying more to have a $250 deductible (for example) only to find out you’ve only made four claims over the last decade (the average of the people I polled), bump it up to a $500 deductible or even a $1,000 deductible. Then take the savings on your premiums and put it in your emergency fund. Over the long run, you’ll almost always be cash ahead.

Don’t buy cars on a payment plan. This was somewhat covered in the “buying a car” part of this series, but some of the money lost to making car payments is categorized here as well. Instead of making a down payment and shelling out cash out of pocket for the payments, pay cash for the whole thing up front.

Never sign up for a car rental at the airport. Doing so puts you completely at the mercy of the rental agencies – and you will pay for that. Take the time to reserve a car in advance.

Shop around on car rentals, too, even after making a reservation. When you’re considering making a reservation in advance, spend some time shopping around for the best rate at your destination – and keep doing it when you have a few free moments, even after you’ve made a reservation. You can always cancel the first reservation if you find a better deal – and more often than not, you will.

I want your help! In the comments, please let me know which of the tips you find most useful for trimming these costs. I’ll include the top choices in a comprehensive budget trimming guide at the conclusion of the series.

This is part of an ongoing series about how to trim the budget of the average American. As this series focuses on such broad-based tips, some will work for you and some will not. You’re invited to mention in the comments the tips that you found to be the most useful for inclusion in a comprehensive budget trimming guide at the conclusion of this series.

Transportation – vehicle purchases – $3,244

The average American family spends almost $300 per month simply on car payments. What’s stunning is that this is the average, since $300 per month would be roughly the payments on a brand new car without a down payment.

This is a number that can easily be cut with some careful planning and foresight when it comes to buying vehicles.

Focus on the cost per mile. If you’re looking to minimize the impact of a car purchase on your family’s budget, the real factor you need to focus on when making a purchase is minimizing the cost per mile of driving that you get out of the car. This means that a $2,000 car that you think you can get 30,000 miles out of is a far better value than a $20,000 car that you think you can get 200,000 miles out of.

Buy used – or at least include them in the search. If you’re focused on minimizing cost per mile, quite often, this means purchasing a used car, and that’s where most car purchases should begin. You might not necessarily wind up with a late model used car, but such cars should absolutely be an essential part of your search.

Drive the car you have for longer. Instead of trading in regularly for something better, drive your car for longer. Ideally, keep driving it until it reaches a point that the consistent problems are causing excessive financial strain and personal stress. That’s the sweet point for getting rid of a car, not the moment where you’re in thrall with the new features of the latest models.

Make your car payments to your bank account – in advance. While you’re driving that car for longer, start making the payments on yoru next car now while you don’t have a real car payment. Set up an automatic savings plan with an online bank account to keep withdrawing the amount of your car payment when your car is paid off. Keep driving for a few years while you have no car payments. Then, when you go to buy, you’ll have a fat wad of cash with which to buy plus the interest accrued in savings. Alternatively, you could buy a car on payments and then pay finance charges straight to the dealer. One of these options puts you in a better financial place – can you guess which one?

Start shopping long before you buy. Never rush into a car purchase. Start considering what your actual needs are, researching those needs, and looking for automobiles that match those needs lnog before you buy. The person who pays the worst price for a car is the person who is up against a deadline to make a purchase.

Never buy a car during your first visit to a dealership. Sure, you can negotiate, but the number they give you is never the bottom line. Walk away. Leave your number with the salesperson. Unless the car is sold quickly, don’t be surprised to get a phone call from that salesman in a few days “reconsidering” the situation and giving you a better price.

Never be afraid to walk away from a deal. If you’re simply not getting the price you think you should pay on a particular car, don’t be afraid to walk away. If you’ve given yourself plenty of time for a purchase, you’re fine. There are plenty more fish in the sea.

Hit your social network. If you’re shopping for an automobile, mention it to your friends and family and see what they’re aware of. They might just know of someone who has a car for sale by the owner or some other arrangement that takes place far from a car dealership. These types of arrangements usually provide the best deal for both the seller and the buyer.

Avoid leases, even if the sticker price seems good. Leases do allow you to drive a shiny new car for a lower price than a full car payment, but at the end of the lease, you’re left with nothing (except for perhaps an opportunity to buy that leased car – that is, after you pay plenty of fees). Avoid that rat race and focus on actually buying a car for yourself and keeping it until well after the payments run out. It’s those payment-less months that really make buying a car into a much better deal.

Know your needs (distinct from your wants) and be open-minded. You might know the exact model you’re looking for, but be open-minded about it. Keep your eyes and ears open for strong deals on other models. Be aware of a long list of models that you would find acceptable and don’t be afraid to jump on bargains that appear from that list.

I want your help! In the comments, please let me know which of the tips you find most useful for trimming these costs. I’ll include the top choices in a comprehensive budget trimming guide at the conclusion of the series.

Jim writes in with an interesting question:

I’m in the market for a late model used car. I’ve narrowed my desired model down to a handful of choices, each with different gas mileage data. How can you really figure out how much fuel efficiency is worth in terms of dollars and cents? I know how to do the basic math, but it seems artificial. How would you do it?

It’s pretty easy to see how better fuel efficiency saves you money. If gas is $3 a gallon and you have a car that gets 30 miles per gallon and a car that gets 40 miles per gallon, over 100,000 miles, the more fuel-efficient car will save you $2,500. That’s real cash in the pocket.

The only problem with that is the number of variables in the question. How much will gas cost in the future? How long will you drive the car? Does your personal driving habits have anything to do with it?

Let’s look at each factor and see how it affects the importance of fuel efficiency in a car purchase.

How Much Will Gas Cost?
You can usually get a solid estimate of where the price of gas will go over the next year by paying attention to the short term energy forecast from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, but anything beyond that is basically tantamount to gambling. Even within that year, unexpected events can disrupt the price of gas – like 9/11.

So what can a person do when it comes to figuring out the future price of gasoline?

My first piece of advice is to estimate high if you’re in doubt. A high estimate of future gas prices simply means that you’re putting a bit of extra value into fuel efficiency. If fuel prices really are high, you’ll be glad you did it – even if they’re not, you’ll still reap some rewards from fuel efficiency. This is a better scenario than estimating low and being stuck with a gas guzzler if prices spike.

Beyond that, I would assume the trend in the one year forecast will continue for several years. Since it’s the only real “future” number you have to go on, just assume that trend will continue for however many years you intend to own your car.

So, let’s say you’re buying a car and you intend to drive it for about seven years. The fuel estimate report says “crude oil prices contribute to an increase in the annual average regular-grade gasoline retail price from $2.35 per gallon in 2009 to $2.83 in 2010.” That means that a one-year increase will be about $0.48 per gallon.

So, if you’re going to own the car from 2010 to 2016, you’d assume $2.83 a gallon for 2010, $3.21 a gallon for 2011, $3.69 a gallon for 2012, $4.17 a gallon for 2013, $4.65 a gallon for 2014, $5.13 a gallon for 2015, and $5.61 a gallon for 2016. This averages out to $4.17 a gallon over the time you’d own that car. That seems like a high-end calculation to me. However, recall that in 2000, gas prices were often below $1 per gallon, for comparison’s sake.

How Many Miles Will You Put On The Car?
This is a fairly personal calculation, but we’ll stick with the above premise that you’re intending to drive the late model used car for seven years. This is comparable to how long I’ve driven my truck – and it’s very near the point of needing to be traded away.

How many miles do you put on a car in a year? If you have some mileage data, that calculation becomes much easier. Look at your own records and see if you have some data from a year or two earlier that indicates your mileage on a specific date. Calculate how many years ago that was – for example, you might note that the number came from 1.3 years ago – and then subtract that mileage from your current mileage. Divide the difference in mileage by the years since that number and you have a rough yardstick of your annual driving needs.

For the sake of calculations below, we’ll assume that you’re going to be driving 12,000 miles a year. Over seven years, that’s 84,000 miles on the car. Again, this may change based on your own plans and your own auto usage.

How Is Your Driving?
You can use FuelEconomy.gov to find out the fuel economy of nearly every make and model sold in the United States over the past decade or two – it’s an invaluable resource. However, the government uses certain standards to minimize the variation in fuel efficiency from car to car, and your driving is almost assuredly different than those standards.

Here’s a quick test. Fill up your car as much as you can, write down the mileage, then drive it normally for a while. Fill up again and write down how much gas you put in. Fill up again and write down how much gas you added, plus your current mileage. Add up the two gas totals. Subtract your old mileage from your current one. Divide the difference in mileage by the amount of gas you put in, and you’ll get a good estimate of your real world mileage for your current car. It’s not perfect, because it doesn’t vary across seasons too much, but it at least provides some variance for your use.

Now, go look up your current car on FuelEconomy.gov and see what average fuel efficiency your model should get. Then, subtract your calculated fuel efficiency from the government-estimated efficiency and then divide that difference by the government efficiency. That’ll tell you by what percentage your driving habits – plus the conditions you drive in – vary from the government tests. Subtract that from 1 (or from 100 if you’re using percents).

Then, look up the models you’re considering buying and multiply that by the fuel efficiency percentage you just calculated. That new number should get you pretty close to the fuel efficiency you should actually expect to get from the car on the road.

Why do all this? A person who drives aggressively will simply be less fuel efficient than a person who drives conservatively. Thus, an aggressive driver gets less benefit from buying a fuel efficient car. Doing this just calibrates things based on how you drive – and the conditions in which you drive (as winter driving often has a negative effect on efficiency).

So, let’s say that ol’ lead-footed Jim finds that he only gets about 80% of the government numbers out of his car.

A Calculation Example
Jim is looking at a 2007 Toyota Corolla and a 2006 Ford Focus, for example. He looks them up on FuelEconomy.gov and finds that the government estimates that the Corolla gets 31 miles per gallon and the Focus gets 26 miles per gallon. Jim estimates that he drives at about 80% of that efficiency – he drives on the interstate a lot and is a bit aggressive – so that modifies things to about 25 miles per gallon for the Corolla and about 21 miles per gallon for the Focus.

Jim wants to drive the car for seven years and puts about 12,000 miles on it per year. As above, he calculates that the average gas price will be $4.17 a gallon for those years, and he’ll put 84,000 miles on each car.

So how much will the Corolla save him?

In the Corolla, Jim will total up about 3,360 gallons of gas used. At a cost of $4.17 a gallon, that’s $14,011.20 spent on gas over the period. In the Focus, Jim will total up about 4,000 gallons of gas. At $4.17 a gallon, that’s $16,680.

The Corolla would save Jim $2,668.80 in fuel costs over that period, using the estimates we came up with above.

Wait, I Don’t Agree With That One Assumption, So Your Entire Post Is Bogus
The real challenge in making such prediction-based calculations is that they’re based on assumptions, and almost all assumptions about the future are up for debate. The best anyone can do is rely on the best data available and make reasonable leaps based upon that data – and have a rational reason for explaining those leaps.

If you don’t agree with one of the assumptions – or two of the assumptions, or more – change them. Just be sure that you have a valid, intelligent reason for changing it that’s based on some real data or logic. I’ve done my best to explain the logic behind the calculations and information I’ve shown here so that you can use it in your own calculations, or at least have a good starting point for finding your own assumptions.

Good luck.

As Christmas approaches, my wife and I will be doing quite a bit of driving to visit various people for the holiday season. With winter conditions and three young children in the car with us, we’re going to be quite cautious about our trips.

The first step in that journey is to make sure that we have everything we need in the car in case of an emergency of some kind. These supplies are the ultimate form of insurance – they help ensure that we’ll get through a real emergency safe and sound. Here are fifteen things that go into our automobiles in November and stay in there until April.

Blankets are the most important thing you can possibly have with you. If you bury your car in a snowdrift and it won’t start, the ability to keep yourself warm is going to be absolutely vital. Blankets are the best way to do this. I also keep a few hand warmers, too.

A spare charged cell phone will allow you to call 9-1-1 in a pinch. Keep this wrapped up in the blankets so that it’ll be likely to survive a crash without suffering irrepairable damage.

Flares will help rescuers see you. If they’re searching and all they can see is white, a flare will make all the difference in your discovery.

A wind-up radio lets you keep tab with the weather regardless of whether or not you have electricity in your car. A simple winding will do the trick and let you know when conditions have improved and what the state of roads are.

A first aid kit will be vital if someone is hurt in an accident. Perhaps just as important is knowledge of how to use it, because knowing how to apply a leg splint can be very, very important in such a moment.

Extra winter clothes will help you keep warm, especially if you need to leave the vehicle. Layers are key – the more layers of clothes you can put on, the warmer you’ll be down at the surface of your skin.

Jumper cables come in extraordinarily handy on cold mornings when your car doesn’t start. Quite often, it’s the result of a battery that became overly cold overnight and can be started with the help of another vehicle and some jumper cables.

A bag of sand not only adds weight to your car (improving traction) but can be spread to help you get traction if you get stuck in a bad position.

An ice scraper – preferably one with a brush to help remove snow – comes in constant handy throughout the winter. Without it, it will be very difficult to keep your windows cleared.

Dried foods like beef jerky and granola bars are perfect for this type of situation, as they’re energy dense. Don’t keep water or other liquids in your car – they’ll explode if stored below freezing for a long period and you can likely get plenty of liquid in a blizzard – just look outside.

Emergency tire sealant can enable you to get to the next twon in a pinch rather than being stuck beside the road with a flat tire.

Flashlights allow you to see what’s going on and also aid in signaling help. Although flashlights operated by human action exist, they’re not very bright – get one with a very bright bulb and make sure it’s charged.

A shovel will help you to dig out in a pinch. I used to keep one in my truck when I commuted – there simply isn’t room in the car, however (I wish we did have room).

A small tool kit can allow you to fix minor problems yourself on your car. Make sure you have everything you need to (at least) change a tire and loosen or tighten some bolts.

Extra batteries for the flashlight and the radio (assuning you don’t have a wind-up one) are vital. The last thing you want to do is to get stuck, pull out the radio or the flashlight, flip ‘em on, and find that they don’t work.

These tools will help you survive almost any winter weather accident, no matter how bad the storm. By keeping warm and safe and making sure that you can signal to help, you’re doing everything you can to ensure your future.

Over the last few months, I’ve been slowly shopping for a minivan to replace my truck. Since the truck will not seat three young children safely (I could jam them in there in an illegal fashion), I will have to replace the vehicle by April at the latest. That’s on top of the fact that the vehicle has a mountain of eminent repairs that are needed.

As I shop for the minivan, I keep coming back to one central question: what exactly am I buying here? On the surface, it seems obvious – I’m buying a minivan. But that’s not what I’m really buying.

First of all, I’m buying something that will get me, my wife, and all three of my children from point “A” to point “B”. The entire point of buying such a vehicle is for transportation.

That being said, I am not buying a status symbol. As long as it’s clean and safe, I really don’t care what it looks like. It doesn’t have to be shiny, new, or top of the line. I don’t really care what the opinions of the people around me are about the minivan I bought. Does it meet my needs? That’s what matters.

Is a status symbol a need for you? Probably not. Is it a want? Probably. The question you have to ask yourself is how much extra money you’re willing to pay for a status symbol whose luster will fade in a year or two.

I have three primary concerns when buying this car.

First and foremost, it must be reliable. Next April, I will have three children under the age of five. I don’t want a vehicle that has repair issues bubbling just under the surface. For me, reliability is more important with this vehicle than it was with my wife’s commuting car that we bought earlier this year, in which our priority was fuel efficiency. I’m using Consumer Reports as my primary guide for this, which is pointing me towards the Toyota Sienna or the Honda Odyssey.

Second, it must be safe. I require a vehicle with good safety ratings and a history report that shows that it’s never been in accidents. Again, my concern in this area is raised by my specific requirements – this vehicle will be used to transport myself and my children.

Third, it must have storage space. We often go visit family for a week two or three times a year. In order to accomodate two younger children, a baby, and two adults for a week, there’s going to have to be some significant storage space in the vehicle. On top of that, It’s this need for additional space which is pushing us toward a minivan instead of a large car.

Beyond that, fuel efficiency is a secondary factor, as is ergonomic seating (chairs that provide lumbar support and don’t result in numbness and back pain after a long drive).

I do not care about having a drop-down Blu-Ray player. I do not care about leather seats. I do not care about having a perfectly silent ride, nor a perfectly smooth one. If those features came for free, I would take them, but I’m not about to pay much for them at all.

I am the one buying the car. Because I’m buying early, I can wait until the right vehicle comes along. I don’t merely have to choose whatever is available on the lot. This enables me to look at other options, such as what’s being sold on Craigslist and other sources directly by individuals. Given what I want, I have the cash on hand to buy pretty much anything within those requirements.

What are you buying when you buy a car? Do you know what you want? Do you know what you don’t want and aren’t going to pay for? Have you planned ahead enough that you have the time and ability to explore lots of options to find what you want?

After all, the last thing you want to do when buying a car is to find yourself on a car lot needing to make a purchase and having no idea what you really want or need. Such a situation is delicious prey for car salesmen.