7 Ways to Transform Your Daily Commute Costs into Savings

Sometimes we enjoy the drive, but most of the time it’s hard not to think about the time and money lost. Let’s not even talk about the shorter winter days. But if you’ve got the drive to keep on truckin’ every day, you also have the horsepower to capitalize on your commute.

Try these six tips before refilling your travel mug and hitting the road to get to work.

1. Stop Buying Premium Gasoline

“Unless your engine is knocking, buying higher octane gasoline is a waste of money,” says the Federal Trade Commission.

It says cars designed to use regular-octane fuel (which is most of them) get no advantage at all from premium gas. Unless your owner’s manual recommends a higher-octane gasoline, you’re throwing your money away buying anything other than regular.

If you use 800 gallons annually and pay 22 cents more per gallon for premium, you’re wasting $176 each year. Buy regular gas (and find the cheapest stations while you’re at it).

2. Drop Your Overpriced Car Insurance

It’s true what they say. You can’t just trust your car insurance provider to do the right thing and keep your prices competitive. You have to see what’s out there.

Now you can use NerdWallet to see several of your top options all at once — and let car insurance companies pitch you a good price.

Did you move? Get a new car? Get a little older? You could save money by using NerdWallet to compare car insurance rates from insurers across the country.*

Just take a few minutes to answer some questions about your automobile and driving record to see why it’s probably way past time you canceled your current car insurance.

3. See If You Can Get Car Insurance For as Low as $19/Month* 

When was the last time you compared car insurance rates? Chances are you’re seriously overpaying with your current policy. 

If it’s been more than six months since your last car insurance quote, you should look again. 

And if you look through a website called CheapRatesOnline, you could save yourself up to $500 a year*. 

It takes just two minutes to answer some questions, and CheapRatesOnline’s smart matching technology will show you the insurance providers that are the best fit for you. And don’t worry — CheapRatesOnline uses advanced data security and encryption technology, so all your details are safe. 

The website is free to use and can even save you up to an additional 20% if you add another vehicle to your policy. You could be paying as little as $19 a month* for car insurance.

CheapRatesOnline has already helped millions of people find affordable car insurance. See how much money you could save with a new policy.

4. Download Store Loyalty Apps

Does your preferred grocery store have an app? It’ll probably help you save.

You can save at Walmart, for example, using its Savings Catcher app. You can make a shopping list, check in-store and online prices and peek at the weekly ad. You can also scan your receipt in the app to automatically find price-match comparisons for cash back.

5. Save $996 on Your Car Insurance

You might not even realize it, but your car insurance company is probably overcharging you. In fact, they’re kind of counting on you not noticing. Luckily, this problem is easy to fix. 

Don’t waste your time browsing insurance sites for a better deal. A company called Insurify shows you all your options at once — people who do this save up to $996 per year. 

Just tell them a bit about yourself and your vehicle, and they’ll show you personalized quotes so you can compare them all and find the best one for you.

Tired of overpaying for car insurance? It takes just five minutes to compare your options with Insurify and see how much you could save on car insurance.

6. Cancel Your Car Insurance

Here’s the thing: Your current car insurance company is probably overcharging you. But don’t waste your time hopping around to different insurance companies looking for a better deal. 

Use a website called EverQuote to see all your options at once. 

EverQuote is the largest online marketplace for insurance in the US, so you’ll get the top options from more than 175 different carriers handed right to you. 

Take a couple of minutes to answer some questions about yourself and your driving record. With this information, EverQuote will be able to give you the top recommendations for car insurance. In just a few minutes, you could save up to $610 a year.

7. Optimize Your Credit Card Rewards

So you want a credit card, but there are too many to choose from. What to do?

Should you leaf through your junk mail and just accept one of those credit card offers that show up in your mailbox? That would be quick and easy, right?

No, no, a thousand times no! Don’t do that. That’s a good way to end up unhappily shackled to a credit card that’s all wrong for you.

Here’s our guide to everything you need to know about credit cards — including how to pick the one that’s right for you.

*NerdWallet believes everyone should be able to make financial decisions with confidence. And, while our site doesn’t feature every company or financial product available on the market, we’re proud that the guidance we offer, the information we provide and the tools we create are objective, independent, straightforward – and free. 

Our partners compensate us. This may influence which products we review and write about (and where those products appear on the site), but it in no way affects our recommendations or advice, which are grounded in thousands of hours of research. Our partners cannot pay us to guarantee favorable reviews of their products or services.