Don’t rule out the economy car option. Many of us cannot afford to have an extra vehicle to drive around in (and the additional maintenance and insurance costs can make it prohibitively expensive), but if you are driving a lot of miles, you might be amazed at how quickly you can recover your costs.
The only way to know for sure is to grab a pencil and paper and start adding up the columns. Don’t “estimate” what you are spending now. You have to tools to track this and can put a precise, “real world” number down. Exactly how many miles are you driving per month? Just how expensive is your Jeep to drive? When I drove for a living, I could put an accurate “miles per dollar” number on every week. I had to do that to measure profitability. It’s tough to start, but easy to do once it becomes a habit.
When you have your numbers, go online and look at what you could buy. Call your insurance agent and ask what making a “primary vehicle” change would do to your rates. Consider what impact a used, economy car might have on your bottom line. You won’t look as cool driving down the road, but you might be a little richer at the end of the year, and still be able to get to work while you finish a project on your Jeep.
No one I have spoken with is excited about rising fuel prices, but everyone can make some small improvements in what they are doing about it. Hopefully this column has given you a few ideas to make a change today. Just like successfully driving a challenging trail…attention to lots of little details is the secret. Yes, a moment of driving finesse and a timely bit of luck help, but the preparation and practice are what got you there in the first place! Now get out and work on those fuel saving details.
Iron Range Offroad is Minnesota’s only offroad driving school. The classroom setting is the spectacular Iron Range OHV Park, 3 hours north of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The classes are geared toward entry level Jeepers, stressing safety and environmental responsibility. Trail riding is broken up with class modules that cover trip preparation, vehicle maintenance and repair, driving skills for different terrain, extraction techniques, vehicle upgrades, and much more. Customers who register for classes also receive a copy of Jim Allen’s book, Four Wheeler’s Bible, Second Edition, an amazingly complete and detailed volume that incidentally features some fine photography of the Iron Range OHV Park and one of the offroad driving classes. To sign up for a trip or request additional information, log onto www.ironrangeoffroad.com.
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* Published by JPFreek Adventure Magazine – The leader in Jeep and adventure enthusiast publications.