Added Costs To Take Into Consideration Before You Pass Your Driving Test... *

-This post is in collaboration with Kwik Fit-

When you pass your driving test it's such a great feeling and it just makes you feel more grown-up and independent I guess. I passed mine back in 2015 and I'm still in shock to this day that I passed the first time when I was a complete wreck on the morning on my test, I was literally shaking and getting upset at everything. I also didn't sleep or eat properly in the days leading up to it haha! But then once you pass, reality hits you hard... sure, you know all about paying the basics such as the car insurance, tax, MOT when it's due and fuel but you don't think of the general day-to-day costs that you need to be able to afford as well as making sure you have "safety net" money just in case your car breaks down or if you have an accident and need to pay the voluntary excess fee. In this post, I'm talking about things you need to take into consideration before you put your car on the road when you pass your test or after you've had a break from driving for whatever reason.

I've also teamed up with Kwik Fit on this post who have done research across the country to find out which city is the most expensive for owning a car. The city in the number one spot is not where you would expect! You can take a look at the active webpage to see if the city you live in or the closest city to you is on the list.

As I've mentioned above, anyone who passes their driving test will be aware of needing to pay for their car insurance, tax, MOT and fuel and these alone can mount up to quite a big sum in a year. Ideally, if you can pay for your insurance annually then it will most likely be quite a bit cheaper, usually by a few hundred pounds or so. I also highly recommend checking out comparison websites and remember to clear your cookies if you switch between different comparison sites whilst trying to find the best deal.

However, whilst passing your test is a great feeling, I didn't take into consideration any sort of added costs I'll most likely come across. 

First up is paying for car park stays, depending where you live, it can mount up if you're using car parks a couple times per week. Also again, depending on where you live you may have to pay a residential parking cost (I didn't but I know people who had to). 

Along with this it's probably best that you have some "safety net" money put aside in case your car needs something fixing ASAP or if it breaks down completely and needs something major fixing. I think most of us will have started out with a second-hand car, I think my first car was around 13 years old when I first bought it, so it's safe to say it had some wear and tear issues as well as some repetitive things that needed fixing (which was annoying when I was working a part-time job!). 

Something else you should be aware of is that some cities have really awkward signs that don't really explain parking situations that well and this can lead to getting a parking fine. I've never got a parking fine myself but I know a few people who have due to signs not really explaining things in a simple way. So if you live in a city or regularly visit a city then just be aware of this or else you might end up finding yourself with an unexpected fine you've got to pay.

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