Why Is Car Ownership So Costly?

Just why is car ownership so costly? Why does owning a car spend all of our money? It can seem like we hardly have any money for anything if we have a car and a house to pay for. Just where does the money go? Let’s take a look at the different costs we have to deal with when we own a car:

- Buying the car. It is not cheap to buy a car. It feels like it is cheap when we sign the contract, as we get six months interest free repayments with nothing to pay for a year. But when we finally start to make the payments, that’s when we realize the real cost and wish we had waited another year or two before replacing our old car.

- Paying for gas. The price of gas has increased by more than double in the last six years. This is due to a large list of reasons but the main ones are the lack of new oil fields that have been discovered, and also the higher competition for oil which has increased manifold because of the developing nations which need oil for their industrial growth, nations like China, India, Korea and Russia.

- Maintenance and repairs. There are so many things that can go wrong with a car, and all of them are expensive!

- Insurance. The cost to insure a car varies depending on a number of factors, but the key ones are age and your previous driving record, plus the type of car you drive and the location you will be driving in. You can make good savings on your insurance by looking into short term car insurance or (if you are under 25) getting young driver car insurance. The savings that you make can be put to good use elsewhere.