Money saving advice

duffman13

I've just been offered a new job which has a daily commute of 260kms in total. The job don't cover fuel or expenses so I'm just wondering does anyone have tips to save money as my biggest outgoing now will be to the get fuel. I'm driving an 05 Avensis 1.6 petrol, so just trying to figure out where I can save money to ensure I'm actually benefitting from the new job.

Are personal fuel cards an option in Ireland, any other tips appreciated.

colm_mcm

Drive slower.
A different car would save you a lot. Maybe see how the job goes.

artanevilla

If you're doing that mileage everyday, the first thing you need is to get a diesel.

Other than that there's not much you can do, make sure your tyres are at the correct pressure, don't run aircon, gentle acceleration and breaking, windows closed etc...

Mr McBoatface

Campervan ? Move closer to the job ?

colm_mcm

Aircon makes practically no difference to fuel economy on modern cars.

duffman13

It's a straight spin on a motorway so an hours drive each way against the traffic. Might look into getting a diesel so!

Mr McBoatface

duffman13 wrote: »

It's a straight spin on a motorway so an hours drive each way against the traffic. Might look into getting a diesel so!

You might want to do the journey during peak time's . An hour journey on motorway off peak is not the same.

duffman13

Mr McBoatface wrote: »

You might want to do the journey during peak time's . An hour journey on motorway off peak is not the same.

I've done it, its against the traffic both ways so not too bad at all, probably an hour and 15 max at its worst

listermint

Get a Prius.

Get rid of that 1.6.

Ignore the diesels.

And drive slower.

Mr McBoatface

duffman13 wrote: »

I've done it, its against the traffic both ways so not too bad at all, probably an hour and 15 max at its worst

Good stuff but just to point out if you've done it in the last week or so that schools have been off and that can affect things. Until recently I travelled from Dublin to Athy , against the flow of traffic. School run traffic added another 15 mins to the journey compared with summer. Motorways are grand , it's the towns and village's that get affected.

Edit : Personally I'd stick with the current car for a while. See how you get on, no point in wiping out any pay increase by buying a different car. I wasn't messing about moving either, sometimes it's a cheaper option and you gain the time lost to travel. Obviously that depends on a number of other factors

JBokeh

I've an 80km each way commute, not nearly as bad as yours, but a good 20 mins is back roads before reaching a main road. In winter I use my car, in the summer I wheel out the motorbike and make the most of the good days. Don't give a hoot about economy on the bike, and it still returns decent enough milage.

In the car I find the enemy to fuel economy is standing still. I have the facility to start and finish work whenever, once I'm there for the important stuff, so I leave quite early and come home early, and manage to avoid most of the sitting still. Get a diesel with a decent size engine, I often drive to Naas from Cork for work, get paid mileage so it's 140KMH the whole way, but if I'm traveling on the motorway in my own time on a weekend to see family i'd tip away at 110 KMH on the cruise control and there is a huge increase in MPGs.

Ubbquittious

Check if there's a filling station nearby that sells LPG. Might be worth getting the conversion, buy tyres with a good energy rating

The camper van isn't that bad a suggestion either. To be honest I'd be trying to bypass the commute altogether rather than becoming a hypermiler, see if you can work from home some day, try to condense your hours into fewer days. Once you're in the job for a while start asking around if anyone knows someone with a spare room closer by that you can rent for a reasonably cheap rate.

Del2005

duffman13 wrote: »

It's a straight spin on a motorway so an hours drive each way against the traffic. Might look into getting a diesel so!

That means that you are hitting 140 on the motorway, to get good economy you need to drop below 100. That's going to add a few minutes to the commute.

oppenheimer1

duffman13 wrote: »

I've just been offered a new job which has a daily commute of 260kms in total. The job don't cover fuel or expenses so I'm just wondering does anyone have tips to save money as my biggest outgoing now will be to the get fuel. I'm driving an 05 Avensis 1.6 petrol, so just trying to figure out where I can save money to ensure I'm actually benefitting from the new job.

Are personal fuel cards an option in Ireland, any other tips appreciated.

Electric if you can charge at work. Diesel if you can't.

A Prius won't be any more efficient than a similar petrol on the motorway.

Atlantic Dawn

Keep your speed below 100km/h on the motorway in the highest gear you have, use cruise control, that could save about 25% from a 120/130 km/h pace.

Outside your fuel use you should learn how to service your own car, changing the oil, filters, plugs to begin with and then as you get the knowledge learn how to change brake pads/discs, doing these jobs yourself could save you the cost of 2 services a year at a dealer, might save €250-€300 over 12 months.

marketty

Once you're settled in the job ask around if anyone is interested in car pooling. Potential for great savings and not enough people doing it, in my opinion

bmwguy

1300km a week in your Avensis which I suspect will be about 9 litres per 100km (low 30s mpg) will cost you

13 x 9 = 117 litres per week @ 1.40 per litre which is approx 170 Euro a week

I don't think you will quite get double the mpg in a modern diesel but think you could probably do it for 60% of the cost which saves you approx 70 a week which is 3500 a year fuel saving, which is significant and I think you should change to an efficient diesel.

However, anything newer will be depreciating faster closing that gap, especially since you will put 60k kms on it in a year. You will get caught out badly here.

Since your main concern is saving money, I would buy a diesel that has done the bulk of its depreciation (in around 2008 car I would suggest). Don't buy anything small and underpowered though at your mileage it would be uncomfortable, tiring and soul destroying.

Traveling that distance does not come cheap no matter what you do.

duffman13

Cheers everyone, some great advice on here. I don't want to move as I've only moved into this place and missus is still working here. I have however looked at accommodation which is relatively cheap, even for 2 or 3 nights a week would save a few quid on fuel.

I think the diesel in 2 months or so would be next port of call, if I could even drop the cost by 30% id be very happy and a diesel seems to offer that. I even got it in my head about possibly getting a new diesel but it's a non runner. I'll have a search for a decent 08/09 diesel in the next few weeks

Idbatterim

I wonder would a nissan leaf get you 130km? Saves all the potential diesel issues, electric is way cheaper than diesel and also no servicing costs...

if you are driving the toyota for time being and its motorway driving, just cut speed, down to 100kph... will cut fuel bills a bit...

goochy

You need comfortable car or else you will destroy your body and mind.

biko

Google hypermiling
Take out everything from the car you don't need, stuff in boot etc.
Inspect and maybe change air filter.
Do the brimming method to find you actual mpg.

slave1

bmwguy wrote: »

1300km a week in your Avensis which I suspect will be about 9 litres per 100km (low 30s mpg) will cost you

13 x 9 = 117 litres per week @ 1.40 per litre which is approx 170 Euro a week

I don't think you will quite get double the mpg in a modern diesel but think you could probably do it for 60% of the cost which saves you approx 70 a week which is 3500 a year fuel saving, which is significant and I think you should change to an efficient diesel.

However, anything newer will be depreciating faster closing that gap, especially since you will put 60k kms on it in a year. You will get caught out badly here.

Since your main concern is saving money, I would buy a diesel that has done the bulk of its depreciation (in around 2008 car I would suggest). Don't buy anything small and underpowered though at your mileage it would be uncomfortable, tiring and soul destroying.

Traveling that distance does not come cheap no matter what you do.

I just sold my 07 Avensis 1.6l petrol, for my work commute of 60kms I was getting just shy of 800kms on a fill, 43MPG consistently at 100kms/hr on the car speedo, rarely in traffic, straight run.

Del2005

duffman13 wrote: »

Cheers everyone, some great advice on here. I don't want to move as I've only moved into this place and missus is still working here. I have however looked at accommodation which is relatively cheap, even for 2 or 3 nights a week would save a few quid on fuel.

I think the diesel in 2 months or so would be next port of call, if I could even drop the cost by 30% id be very happy and a diesel seems to offer that. I even got it in my head about possibly getting a new diesel but it's a non runner. I'll have a search for a decent 08/09 diesel in the next few weeks

With your mileage it might be an idea to pick up a high mileage UK car. They'll mostly be lease and have maintenance on the button and usually spend their lives belting up and down the motorways. Should be able to get one cheap and then drive it into the ground.

listermint

Left Field...

But is the job worth it ?

As in really worth it.

Is there work closer or less far?

It really needs to be worthwhile otherwise what's the point only depressing yourself and costing you a fortune

Henry Ford III

I'd check out B&B's near the job tbh. 2 nights a week maybe.

unkel

Buy an EV. Will cost you less than €2 to fill up at night at home. Then plug it into any socket while at work (or charge for free at any fast charger on the way back. Will take 30 minutes of your time though). Drive home, rinse & repeat

Will cost you €10 per week in electricity. And €120 per year in motor tax

tabby aspreme

Would you consider converting the Avensis to LPG

bmwguy

slave1 wrote: »

I just sold my 07 Avensis 1.6l petrol, for my work commute of 60kms I was getting just shy of 800kms on a fill, 43MPG consistently at 100kms/hr on the car speedo, rarely in traffic, straight run.

Yeah those figures make sense on that commute at that speed. I could get close to that but not quite in my 2.5 petrol,maybe 37/38 on a motorway run if I kept to 100 which I never do really. His average including town driving will drop into the 30s.
In that case I can't see the overall financial benefit of OP changing that's good mpg from an Avensis, although he will have to change eventually of course.

unkel

unkel wrote: »

Buy an EV. Will cost you less than €2 to fill up at night at home. Then plug it into any socket while at work (or charge for free at any fast charger on the way back. Will take 30 minutes of your time though). Drive home, rinse & repeat

Will cost you €10 per week in electricity. And €120 per year in motor tax

Eventually the penny will drop to the folk doing this sort of mileage. €500/year fuel cost (tenner per week) vs. several thousands.

unkel

unkel wrote: »

Buy Will take 30 minutes of your time though). Drive home, rinse & repeattax

Thats a 120 hours a year waiting on a car to charge.
Thats 5 days of your life for the sake of a few 100 quid .

Royale with Cheese

If I had a 130km each way commute there is no way in hell I'd be adding another 30+ minutes to that journey to charge an EV. The extra few thousand a diesel would cost to run would be more than worth it imo. It only works if you can charge it where you park at work.

unkel

samih wrote: »

Eventually the penny will drop to the folk doing this sort of mileage. €500/year fuel cost (tenner per week) vs. several thousands.

It's about €98 per 10k km in a Hyundai Ioniq, based on 200km per charge (this is conservative, in practice you will mostly get more) and night rate electricity and never ever charging for free at any public charger. Otherwise it's even cheaper

BrownFinger wrote: »

Thats a 120 hours a year waiting on a car to charge.
Thats 5 days of your life for the sake of a few 100 quid .

Only if your commute is over 200km and you are not allowed to plug it in in work. Who falls into this category? In my car I could commute 100km each way and still only ever charge at home at night. Of course it is far from ideal to have to stop to charge in your commute. If that's the case you'd probably better off waiting another year or two until there are bigger batteries...

unkel

BrownFinger wrote: »

Thats 5 days of your life for the sake of a few 100 quid .

A bit more than a few hundred quid

260km times 200 working days = 52k km plus say 5k private km = 57km

EV: €500
Diesel: €4,300

And if you only need 60km more than the range of the car, with a convenient fast charger that will take not much more than 10 minutes. So about 30 hours

So €100 per hour of you sitting in your airconditioned car playing on your phone

I am all for EVs ,
BUT
For me (I dont buy new cars) its false economy .
Whats the base price on a hyundai ioniq?
28,30k

My 2.0 gti was 10k.
Costs me around 1200e in petrol a year.(Thats estimating on the very high side)
+700 tax
so 1900 a year to run.

So Im 20k better off with the with the gti to start and leaves me with 10 years of running costs for the price of the ioniq.

Obiously I understand your getting a new car thats cheap to own but its 30k euro.

People can be blind to the spending 1000s to save 100s .

unkel

BrownFinger wrote: »

People can be blind to the spending 1000s to save 100s .

For me it was cheaper buying a brand new Ioniq than keeping driving my worthless banger. Total cost of ownership, including depreciation. And my mileage is less than average. If you do a big mileage, the savings are huge. And that was what the OP was all about, wasn't it?

Yep,
Thats true

But is telling someone to spend 30 grand on a car good money saving advice?

Mc-BigE

Not sure if your an employee of the company your going working for, or a contractor ( sole trader/ltd director etc).

But if your the latter and doing that kind of mileage you might consider a van and claim everything through your company or sole trader expenses or maybe even the dreaded civil servants mileage and subsistance might be also possible. of course this is irrelevant if this a permanent position

punisher5112

BrownFinger wrote: »

Yep,
Thats true

But is telling someone to spend 30 grand on a car good money saving advice?

Wouldn't have to buy new.

Wait another year or so or buy a leaf.

The ioniq has a better range.

unkel

BrownFinger wrote: »

Yep,
Thats true

But is telling someone to spend 30 grand on a car good money saving advice?

It is if it would save him money

(not saying that it will - need to do the sums. I came from a high tax, gas guzzler, so an EV helps with savings there!)

Ubbquittious

I wouldn't be rushing into a new car of any form until I'd know I'm staying there for a good few years and not moving house

Cookie_Monster

listermint wrote: »

Left Field...

But is the job worth it ?

As in really worth it.

Is there work closer or less far?

It really needs to be worthwhile otherwise what's the point only depressing yourself and costing you a fortune

Honestly this; between the cost of fuel, increased servicing due to mileage and the amount of your own time you are wasting commuting is it really worth it?
Someone threw out a 170 per week figure in fuel cost, just over 8k a year, plus at least 2.5-3 hours a day which depending how much you value your time is another 7.5k equivalent say. So the job has to be worth at least 15k more a year than whatever you can get locally before its even worth it.

unkel

Ubbquittious wrote: »

I wouldn't be rushing into a new car of any form until I'd know I'm staying there for a good few years and not moving house

Good man. Always best to be prudent in that kind of situation where you are unsure about the near future.

You were offered the job, but you haven't accepted it yet? Did you raise your concerns / reluctance to get into the long commute and not get any compensation for it? Or as others have suggested, is the pay / prospects extremely good?

You could do worse than hanging onto your Avensis for a while even if you accept the job. At least until you are made permanent or until you know if you like the job or not. Give yourself a few months in the new job before you make any decisions about car / house?

duffman13

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Honestly this; between the cost of fuel, increased servicing due to mileage and the amount of your own time you are wasting commuting is it really worth it?
Someone threw out a 170 per week figure in fuel cost, just over 8k a year, plus at least 2.5-3 hours a day which depending how much you value your time is another 7.5k equivalent say. So the job has to be worth at least 15k more a year than whatever you can get locally before its even worth it.

Slow on coming back here, yes it is worth it financially in my mind, its about 10k more than I earn at the moment with a pretty much guaranteed bonus of 6k rising up to 12k. The other aspect of this is its possible (30-40%)I could be moved closer to home within 6 months but definitely within 18.

Loads of good suggestions here, I've actually managed to find accommodation for 35 euro for two nights midweek which will help reduce costs. Will eventually look at upgrading the car once I've settled in I think. EV and diesels both sound like easy winners, need to scope out possibility of charging at work though.

The time aspect of the trip doesn't bother me at all, I spent a year doing similar but that was in a company van, its just the expense I was concerned about.

_Kaiser_

Some of this has been covered no doubt but my 2c

As someone who does that sort of mileage, a diesel will be essential.

Even with motorway miles (me too) however expect to rack up a significant fuel bill each month. I'd say about 350 per month (before any other driving) at current rates

You'll have extra costs in servicing and tyres etc and the mileage will ruin any resale value in the car over the long term. Worth bearing in mind when you're shopping.

The daily commute will take its toll on you physically but also in terms of your patience. While most people can forgive the occasional idiocy you experience on the roads, when you encounter it several times a week it wears thin


My advice

See if you can start /finish later to miss the worst of the traffic. I do this and it makes a huge difference.

Buy something comfortable and that easily handles that sort of mileage and speeds. Sure any 1.3 hatchback will do it but there's no comparison to a 2L (or 3L in my case) big saloon that is made for these things

See if working from home occasionally is an option. I do this too once/twice a week and it also helps massively as well as saving on the fuel and running costs

Consider moving closer if at all possible if you end up staying with them. As I said, the mileage does take it out of you as well as the car and depending on your age and lifestyle it can impact harder. I find it's wearing me out more now than when I did a similar trip every day 8 years ago.

_Kaiser_

duffman13 wrote: »

I've actually managed to find accommodation for 35 euro for two nights midweek which will help reduce costs.

Just a quick (selfish ) question.. where is the job based and is that €35 per night? I looked into a similar arrangement but couldn't make the costs justify it.