Ask someone what their car costs and they’ll tell you their car payment.
“Oh, it’s like $480 a month.”
Cool.
Now tell me about the tires.
The brakes.
The registration.
The oil changes.
The insurance renewal that went up $40 a month for no reason you can explain, and the check engine light you’ve been ignoring since June.
What about the $65 parking ticket you got outside your cousin’s birthday dinner.
That’s what your car costs.
And every time one of these bills shows up, people act shocked. Like the car sprang it on them out of nowhere.
“I can’t believe I need new tires.”
You drove on them for four years, Kyle. Tires wear out. That’s how it works.
Here's what kills me...
Most car expenses are completely predictable. You might not know the exact day your brakes go, but you know they’re going to go.
Registration shows up every single year on the same date, like the world's worst birthday.
And your insurance renews on a VERY predictable schedule.
(It's printed on the policy.)
But because you didn’t plan for it, it lands on a credit card. Then you pay interest on your brake pads for the next eight months.
I'll show you how to fix that, but first: Money Lion
The kind folks over at Money Lion want you to know you might be overpaying for your vehicle.
If you'd like to see if you can refinance your loan and possibly secure a lower monthly payment, just click HERE.
You might be driving an overpriced piece of junk, but if you qualify for a refinanced loan, you could be driving an appropriately priced piece of junk.
Cool right?
Anyway, here's how to make sure you can afford your Honda Civic...
1. Write down every car cost you had last year.
Go through your statements and pull out every charge related to that car.
Gas, repairs, registration, insurance, oil changes, car washes, parking, tolls. All of it.
Most people have never done this. Most people would also prefer not to know. Do it anyway. Use AI. It'll help.
2. Add up everything except gas and the payment.
Those two you already budget monthly, it's everything else that ambushes you.
Say it comes to $1,800 for the year.
Tires, a brake job, registration, a few oil changes, and a windshield crack you ignored.
- Divide by 12.
$1,800 divided by 12 is $150 a month.
That’s what you set aside, every month, in a separate savings account just for the car.
(Does it suck? Yeah. But so does the bus. Choose your hard.)
Then when the mechanic calls with bad news, it’s annoying, but it’s handled. You don’t need a credit card. You don’t need to call your mom. You just pay it.
3. Stop ignoring warning signs.
That squeal when you brake is your car asking politely.
If you ignore it, a $200 brake pad job turns into a $900 rotors-and-calipers job faster than a Porsche 9-11 turbo goes 0-60.
Cheap maintenance now beats expensive repairs later.
And find one mechanic you trust before you need one.
The worst time to shop for a mechanic is on the side of the highway with your hazards on, Googling “tow truck near me” at 11 p.m.
That’s how a $300 problem becomes a $1,100 invoice and a lecture about your “fuel injection system” from a guy named Rick who you'll never see again.
(But his cigarette smell never quite leaves...)
Ask friends. Read reviews. Go for a cheap oil change first and see if they try to upsell you on everything under the hood.
4. Shop your insurance every year.
This is the big one nobody does.
Most people sign up for car insurance once, then let it auto-renew forever. Meanwhile the price creeps up at every renewal, and they just keep paying it because shopping around sounds like homework.
Loyalty is great for dogs. With insurance, it can get expensive.
(Not so, with Money Lion. Just sayin'.)
Here's the bigger point.
Your car is probably the second most expensive thing in your life after housing.
And most people manage it with vibes.
They know the payment and roughly what gas costs. Everything else is a "surprise" that shows up three or four times a year and gets thrown on a credit card.
That's not bad luck.
That's a missing line in your budget. Just do the math.
And the next time your car makes a noise that sounds expensive, you'll still be annoyed. But you won't be broke.
Taquitos,
Caleb "Check Engine Light" Hammer
P.S. Is your car a money pit?
What about everything else in your life?
Take the Hammer Score quiz and find out where you actually stand.
It's free, it takes 2 minutes, and it'll tell you exactly what to focus on to get to the next financial level.
