31 Days of Finishing – Day 9: Saving Money is a Great Motivator to Finishing

Day 9 – I found a way to save money by finishing today’s to-do. No, it is not by ignoring my car’s needs.

How do you save money when it comes to car maintenance?

• Do things yourself?
• Shop around for the best deal?
• Use coupons?
• Ignore it until it becomes a MUST DO?

Today I found a way to save myself a nice sum of money (and time) each year. And this is true because I took care of today’s to-do, “Find Out How Often to Change My Car Engine’s Oil.”

I got my first car in 1978, a brown Bobcat. And at that time, it was recommended to change the oil every 3,000 miles. In 2001 I took over the maintenance of my present vehicle. And I was under the impression that was still true.

This is an impression that was re-enforced every time I had my oil changed at a garage or oil-change shop. Last year I decided to buck the system and have it changed every 4,000 miles.

And when I checked out after having the oil changed, the young man would say, “You are choosing to have your oil changed every 4,000 miles. There’s a sticker on your windshield here that reminds you of that.”

Of course I thought there was a tone when he used the word “choosing.” And I thought I was being a bad car-mom because I was delaying this important task for 1,000 miles every time.

Then I listened to this video last week,  Top 10 Mistakes Car Owners Make. One of the mistakes is changing the oil every 3,000 miles. Christ Fix said he changes the oil on his truck every 7,500 miles. Every 7,500 miles on a truck! He said to check your owner’s manual for the maintenance schedule.

So I checked my owner’s manual. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I asked a couple of people to read it too. Yep, it really said 7,500 or 6 months.

I am NOT a bad car-mom (at least not in this area).

Moral of the story? Read your vehicle owner’s manual. It could save you money. Saving money and time are the reasons I took the time to finish this to-do.

BONUS: It also saved me from some guilt. 

During this month of October I am joining LOTS of bloggers hosted by The Nester who will be writing every day about a topic. My topic is about finishing. I will spend 31 minutes each day on a to-do item (from the secondary list).

I will write about it and share any productivity tips I find helpful to FINISHING things.

Go here for the Landing Page with all the posts (which go live as they are written). The list is towards the bottom of the page. Go to the following highlighted link for Day 10: Procrastinate by Doing an Equally Important To-do.

Your Turn . . .

• How often do you change your car oil? Am I the last person to know you don’t have to change it every 3,000 miles?
• Is there an item on your to-do list that if you finished it, could save you time, money, and/or guilt? Can you finish it today? Or at least start to finish it?
• What will you finish with 31 minutes today?

Related Posts . . . 

• Can I Name 25 Ways I Save Money? Can You?
• I am a Saver
• Our Never-Ending Jar of Oil Keeps on Providing