5 Car Hacks That Can Save Your Time, Health, And Finance

91% of the people in the United States have access to at least one vehicle. However, probably less than 10% of that group, is taking full advantage of the best car ownership hacks and tips that you can follow.

By implementing these yourself, you can make your life much easier and save yourself a ton of time. Not to mention, most of these strategies are very inexpensive if not completely free.

I just have to make a quick disclaimer here, that I am not a financial advisor, and none of these hacks are any kind of financial advice. But you can use them according to your situation.

1- When Is The Optimal Time To Buy Gas?

Most people including myself, have never really thought of this. Because we tend to go fill up our gas tank when our tank is empty. But did you know that you could potentially save money by timing these trips to the pump?

There’s actually a proven best time to get gas that relates to not only your bank account and how much it’s going to cost you but also the quality and life of your vehicle over the long run.

So, first of all, let’s cover for your wallet. When is the cheapest time to get gas? Well, as we all know, gas prices fluctuate based on several different factors.

Most people think the best time is in the morning because colder fuel is denser. Well, this is true, the price difference there is minimal. So that’s actually kind of a myth. And actually, the worst time to purchase gasoline is going to be on the weekend.

Station owners realize this is the time when most people are traveling. So oftentimes you’re going to see higher gas prices around the weekend. As a general rule of thumb here, gas is usually going to be cheaper between AM and noon on Wednesday.

So if you’re a very routine-oriented person, maybe put that on your calendar revolving every single Wednesday. So, that’s the best time of the week and day to be filling up your gas tank.

Health Effects On Your Car

Let’s talk about, when is the actual best time to fill up your car? I actually know quite a bit about cars, myself based on owning a lot of older vehicles that needed a lot of random repairs here and there. And I remember one of my friends telling me, never let your gas tank get below one-quarter full.

And the whole idea behind this was based on sediments that could potentially get into your engine. However, this was mostly a problem in the 90s, when gas tanks were largely made out of metal. Essentially, over time that metal gas tank would rust and sediment could enter your engine and cause damage.

However, these days most new vehicles have gas tanks that are made of plastic. So, this is no longer an issue for most new vehicles.

However, there’s still a good reason here not to let your fuel tank get below one quarter. And that is because at this point even if you do have a plastic tank, the fuel pump might be pulling air instead of gasoline. And essentially this creates a lot of heat and it’s likely going to lessen the long-term reliability of that fuel pump.

Essentially, you wanna make sure that the fuel pump is always fully submerged in gasoline by keeping your tank above one quarter at all times. Not to mention, it’s always good to have some amount of gas in your car, in case you have an emergency, you don’t wanna run out to your driveway and find that you have no gas and you have to go somewhere in a hurry.

Basically, it is generally good advice to keep a quarter gallon or more in your tank at all times. And if you want to try to save some money, you may choose to time your fill-ups and track those prices.

2- How To Boost Your Remote Productivity?

As remote work becomes more and more common in this day and age, we are often finding ourselves outside of the office environment. So, why not take full advantage of this mobile workspace that you can create around you?

For example, let’s say you’re waiting for a client for a meeting and you have 30 minutes to spare. Well, most people would sit in their car and scroll social media or waste money on some purchase at a coffee shop or something like that.

Well, instead what you may want to consider doing, is turning your vehicle into a mobile workstation. And to be honest with you, this can be a very frustrating experience if you’re just stuck idling in a parking lot somewhere or pulled over on the side of the road and there’s nothing that you can be doing.

Well, if you plan ahead, you can simply work at any possible free time that becomes available. So by making just one purchase, you can significantly increase your mobile productivity. And that purchase is a mobile LTE hotspot. For under $100, you can buy a high-quality mobile hotspot to keep in your car, or some cell carriers offer this as part of their packages as well.

However, once again, that mobile hotspot, is of course for passengers only while the vehicle is in operation. So, no texting, accessing the internet or checking emails while you’re driving(PLEASE). That is not cool and not safe too.

However, if you’re not operating the vehicle and you’re sitting in a parking lot, that is an entirely different story where this is a great use case.

3- Stocking-up Tools For Emergencies

Spare Tyres

One of the most important things you want to make sure you have with you at all times is the all-important spare tire. One thing that a lot of people don’t do is, regularly check the pressure of that spare tire on a regular basis.

Even if you have a spare tire, you’re also gonna make sure that it is at the right PSI, and in case of an emergency, you would be able to use it.

What I personally do is every fourth time when I fill up with gasoline, I do a quick check on my tire pressure including the spare tire to make sure that all of these tires are at the appropriate pressure especially that spare tire in case there was a roadside emergency.

Most new cars today do come with a spare tire as well as tools to replace that tire. However, it’s important to understand where these things are within the vehicle before you actually have an emergency.

Jumper Cables

Beyond the spare tire, let’s get into some other just-in-case items that I love to include in my cars. Number two on the list is none other than jumper cables. And I know a lot of people have forgotten about these because battery technology has improved. But if you’re somebody who happens to drive an older vehicle, this is going to be a very important item on your list.

For example, I still drive around a 1999 SUV, as a winter beater car, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to either jump that vehicle myself or help somebody out utilizing those jumper cables.

However, make sure before you jump a vehicle or operate any sort of jack for a tire, read all of the instructions and follow all of those safety procedures and do it safely outside of traffic if you are on the side of the road.

But jumper cables are an awesome tool to have especially because if you have a dead battery, it’s not gonna cost you anything to call a tow shop to come to jumpstart or tow your vehicle. So in my opinion, jumper cables are an absolute must.

Other Tools

Beyond that, there are a few other things that I like to keep in my vehicle. I like to keep a record book in the glove compartment of all maintenance, as well as oil changes. I also like to keep blankets in there because I spend some time in the Northeast. So, if you had a roadside emergency in the cold weather, you want to have blankets just in case. And I also keep things like ponchos and umbrellas and just general things that I feel I might need in an emergency.

So, I highly encourage you to make a list of things you might need and then organize that within your vehicle for those just-in-case moments.

4- Re-check Your Insurance Premiums

Especially for young people, car insurance premiums can add up quickly because you’re considered to be a high-risk driver. And this is especially true with younger males based on the general track record of these collective drivers.

However, there may be ways to lower your insurance premium. The first thing I’d recommend is shopping around for free insurance quotes every couple of years, just to see what other options are available out there.

For example, the company that gave you car insurance at age 20, may not necessarily be the best deal at age 25. Especially, if you have a pristine driving record. You should also make sure that you are filing insurance claims only when absolutely necessary because this is going to potentially affect the premium that you pay for years going forward. Keep that in mind, car insurance is something you should only use when it’s absolutely necessary.

Another cool way to potentially lower your insurance is by purchasing a dashcam. Essentially, this is something that could allow you to record video in case there is any sort of traffic incident. So, you wouldn’t be in this situation of your word against theirs, you would have actual video evidence of whatever ended up happening, which you could turn over it to the police or the insurance company if necessary. So dashcams are another excellent gadget that you may want to consider.

5- Make Sure Your Car Is Optimized For Safety

Like it or not, the truth is, driving a car is one of the most dangerous things that human beings do on a day-to-day basis. And it’s very important to make sure we’re not taking any more unnecessary risk above and beyond operating that vehicle.

Here are a couple of safety improvements that you may choose to make yourself:

1- First of all, I would highly recommend keeping a first aid kit in your vehicle in case of an emergency. And you can typically find these online for anywhere from $20 to $25, or they’re out a lot of different stores. Or if you’re looking to save even more money, you could simply make your own first aid kit.

You may not have a motor vehicle accident, but let’s say for example you’re out camping and somebody gets a bug bite or a scratch, having a first aid kit in your vehicle is almost always going to be an asset.

2- Another useful feature on newer vehicles that I love, is the backup camera. Unfortunately, a lot of older vehicles don’t come with this built-in. However, there are many different kits that you can purchase today that can add backup cameras or backup sensors to older vehicles to improve their safety.

It’s a really cool investment that pretty much has zero downsides. Also, one of the thing you may want to consider is backing into parking spots upon arrival, because believe it or not, it’s actually safer to back in when you get there and pull out with your car facing outward rather than backing out into a parking lot where there are other cars and pedestrians.

3- The last and final item I wanna add to this list, is a blind spot mirror or blind-spot monitor. There are two different options. The smaller one is just a mirror that you can stick to the existing mirror to see your blind spot potentially. However, you wanna make sure you follow all instructions as far as where that’s positioned so you’re not blocking the view of the normal mirror.

The other option is an installable blind spot monitor which can be super helpful if you drive in a lot of heavy traffic.

So if you have an older vehicle but you’re looking to bring some new safety features to it, you may wanna consider in addition to a backup monitor, take a look at a blind spot monitor too. And while you’re at it, maybe even a dashcam.

Bottom Line

This is a good mixture of tips that I think we can all get it’s something from to be safer or have a better experience on the road. Using these tips you can save some money but more importantly, you can save a lot of time and can enjoy a safer drive.