YOUR MONEY

difference of almost 20%.

Even just cutting the cost by 5% saves someone who puts £50 in their tank a week £130 a year.

Also, check supermarkets offers!

How you drive is the biggest single factor affecting your fuel costs, and in extreme cases people find they can save 30% when they change their driving habits.

· Accelerate gradually without overrevving

· Change up a gear earlier than feels natural

· Think about your road position, so you can keep moving rather than stopping and starting

· Slow naturally where safe instead of hitting the brakes

· Listen to your car – if you hear sharp acceleration and screeching brakes, you’re doing it wrong

Halfords.com is offering a free ‘£15’ winter car check, which includes checks to your battery, bulbs, wiper blades, oil and screen wash levels. There’s no need to book in advance, though you can do so online if you want, and the check should take about 15 minutes. There is no obligation to buy anything, but be prepared that staff might try to upsell to you. The winter car check is on until spring. It’s usually free so the £15 price tag is a little bit of an irrelevance, but it is still a good service for nowt.

Never auto renew car insurance, especially now as prices could be rising. Check you’ve the right cover using the right comparison sites – see my full guide at www. moneysavingexpert.com/carinsurance

Add in www.directline.com and www. aviva.co.uk which comparison sites don’t include.

Many don’t think to look at multi-car because renewal dates aren’t close (as 84% didn’t in a recent poll I did). Three multicar insurers - www.admiral.com, www. lv.com and Aviva - let you set up a policy at your first car’s renewal, while the other car(s) stay with their existing insurer until their renewal.