Can You Save a Lot of Money by Replacing Your Car's Air Filter And Wiper Blades Yourself?

The majority of people routinely have their oil changed at a local garage and follow the mechanic's suggestions about replacing air filters and wiper blades without question. Sadly, you happen to be spending unnecessary money when you allow them to replace these items for you. This article will reveal how you can save money by changing these items yourself.

For one thing, did you notice that the normal manufacturer recommendation is that you replace your air filter every 20,000 miles? That's all your vehicle needs in most circumstances. And you must not feel obliged to change your air filter after 20,000 miles if it still appears to be fairly clean. Even so, if you have your oil changed at an oil change facility, they typically recommend that you replace your air filter at every other oil change. They propose this recommendation since it is a lucrative moneymaker for them. What's astonishing is that some places demand upwards of $50 to replace a filter that basically costs $10.

Replacing your own air filter does not only save some money but it may also help you from being ripped off by these big chains. Take a ride to your nearby auto parts store where you can purchase an air filter for under $10. At a lot of retailers, they may actually help you to change the air filter. Even so, the method of replacing an air filter is quite simple as all you usually have to do is release the clamps or wing nuts that are holding the cover in place. Now, you simply take out the old filter and replace it with a new one. So rather than pay an oil change garage $240 every 2 yrs to replace your air filter, you can spend a mere $10 to $20 every two years by doing it yourself.

You should do the same thing whenever it comes to replacing your windshield wipers. It makes very little sense to pay a service center $40 for a pair of wiper blades when you can purchase them yourself for less than $10. In any case, changing wiper blades is equally as simple as changing your air filter. As an aside, you would usually find it easier if you change the entire wiper blade unit as opposed to just replacing the blade. As such, try to obtain blades that come with an entire unit. You generally only require a small screwdriver to help you replace the wiper blades. With wiper blades, you would instantly know when to replace them because they will no longer work properly. The oil change technicians are just using a computer recommendation and they don't know whether your blades happen to be working properly or not. Hence, if they have never replaced your wiper blades, they will continue to recommend that you buy new ones from them.

These are merely several ways that you can save money on car maintenance by doing the job yourself. You might possibly even wish to consider learning how to change your own oil. Despite the fact that it's more of a challenge, it will save you even more money in the long run.

Living a Debt Free Lifestyle

You probably know what it's like to sit down at a desk covered with bills. Your entire paycheck is gone or spoken for well before you put it in your bank account. You want to live debt free, but you don't know how to get accomplish it. Fortunately, living debt free is possible for nearly everyone, but it takes planning motivation to reach that goal.

A key to living debt free involves financial discipline. If you have too much debt it means that you spend too much money. That's all there is to it really, you can blame it on a lot of things, and there are often situations, such as illnesses that arise, that are completely out of your control. But most people are deeply in debt because they are spending money that isn't theirs, on things they just can't wait to have.

In just a few years, most of the junk you bought is already in the trash, but that debt is still there. Not only that, it's growing faster than ever because of interest. The good news is that there is a very simple solution for getting out of debt. Living debt free means following a couple of very simple rules for as long as it takes to pay off your debt and recover your financial footing.

The first to getting out of debt is to not get into any more debt. This involves exercising restraint. It may involve getting rid of your credit cards or putting them in a safe and secure place so you won't be tempted to use them. You may need them for a true emergency like repairing your car so you can get to work. However, you should get in the habit of avoiding credit for everything else.

The next step is to begin downsizing your budget. In order to pay off your debt and live debt free you're going to have to free up some extra money from your paycheck to pay extra on the debts you already have. The only two ways to do this are to increase either your income or decrease your expenses so that there is extra money available to pay off debts.

Once you stop unnecessary spending, and start paying off your current debts, the only thing left is patience. You simply must make a commitment to living debt free or you will never make it. It's likely going to take a few years, but once you succeed you will have a much greater peace of mind and greater ability to save and plan for the future.