Most of us tend to forget about the money we spend on car maintenance every month when calculating our expenses. We may put down the money we spend on food and other expenses but totally lose track of the money we spend on car maintenance. If you decide to keep proper track of the money you spend on maintaining your vehicle, you would find out that it costs almost as much as the money spent on groceries (in a good month) monthly. With a few skills, you can save a lot of money on car maintenance by fixing certain things yourself.

Below are some of the simple car repairs you can do on your own;

Change your brake pads

You may feel a little uncomfortable about messing with your brakes. However, there is no need to be scared; it’s not as hard as you think. Just think of replacing your brakes like replacing shoes. The procedure is pretty simple

Take off your wheel, remove the car hardware, pull off the worn pads, push in your caliper piston, install your new pads, and reinstall your hardware. All this should be under an hour. Your new pads should last between 30,000 and 50,000 miles. It’s also important that you check them from time to time. Whenever the thickness falls below 3mm, you should know it’s time for another replacement.

Change the battery

Going to a shop to replace your car batteries is a cost that can be easily avoided. Car batteries usually last for up to 4-6 years. So calculating from when you bought the car, you should be able to figure out when the battery is ready to be changed. Don’t wait until you get stranded because of a dead battery. A new battery is about $80, or it could be more or less depending on the model. A dealer on his part would charge you no less than $200 just to replace it. To do the swap on your own, all you need is some basic knowledge. Just remove the back cables and replace them. Take out the negative cables first(black) and then after you have installed the battery replace the negative cable last.

Do your oil change

A traditional quick lube can charge you up to $70 for a simple oil change. Some top notch garages may charge up to $150. However, you can avoid this cost by buying a quality oil filter and oil. Changing your oil once every 3,000 miles would save you a lot of cash in the long run.

You can learn a few skills and increase your savings. Cars are very useful, and it would be unwise for you to lose so much on maintenance when you can do some things on your own. If you are still spending too much on maintenance, then you should consider trading it in.