I drive about 300 miles per week. When I was younger, I experienced my fair share of speeding tickets and accidents. With age comes wisdom and for me I also became a much better driver. I knew I was pretty good and guessed I was better than most of the crazy people on the roads these days, but never knew just how good I was until I discovered a free phone application called EverDrive. I believe this application should be mandatory for every driver on the road. I also believe our insurance rates should be directly tied to our score. You want to drive recklessly or use your phone while driving? Fine, but you have to pay a significant amount more than everyone that drives safely and keeps their eyes on the road.
I know what you are saying. This is a personal finance blog, so what does an app that scores your driving have to do with saving money? Well, I am about to tell you. Ever since I installed this application, I noticed some amazing things. The most immediate things were how many people use their phone while driving and how horrible most other drivers are on my commute. What took me longer to realize is the change in my miles per gallon. Before I used the app, I managed around 27 mpg. Now that I am routinely in the top 10 to 20 best drivers in my state, I am always over 30 mpg and have even been as high as 33 mpg. My car holds 18.5 gallons. This means I used to go 500 miles before I would have to fill my tank. Now I manage between 555 and 610 miles before I have to fill my tank. That’s an increase of 10% to 20% in the distance I can drive.
How does this equate to savings? I usually spend about $40 to fill my tank. At 500 miles per tank that means each mile costs me about $0.08 ($40/500). I drive at least 16,000 miles per year so my previous gas expense was approximately $1,280 (16,000*$0.08) per year or $106.67 ($1280/12) per month. Here’s how much I save by obeying the speed limit and driving more safely.
| $ per Tank | Miles per Tank | $ per Mile | Miles per Year | $ per Year | $ per Month | $ Savings per Month |
| $40.00 | 500 | $0.080 | 16,000 | $1,280.00 | $106.67 | $0.00 |
| $40.00 | 555 | $0.072 | 16,000 | $1,153.15 | $96.10 | $10.57 |
| $40.00 | 610 | $0.066 | 16,000 | $1,049.18 | $87.43 | $19.23 |
I don’t know about you, but this seems like a really easy way to put an extra $10 to $20 back in my bank account each month at current gas rates. The best thing, though, is that this is just the beginning. Increasing how well you drive greatly decreases the likelihood of being in an accident, which is potential savings. Not being accidents directly translates into even lower auto insurance rates.
That’s not all, though. Last year I decided to change insurance providers. Rather than research this on my own, I remembered that Dave Ramsey provides a list of Endorsed Local Providers (ELP). These are providers that have an excellent standing in their industry, provide top-notch customer service, and are savings minded. Not only does my ELP provide excellent customer service to me, but they are also looking out for my bank account and finding better rates for me. For my auto insurance alone, they saved me $56 per month over Geico. Take that you cute little British Gecko!
I recently told my ELP that I use EverDrive. They told me that Progressive has a program called Snapshot where they provide me with a little device that I plug into my car for even greater discounts on my car insurance. Now we are talking! I just started with Progressive this past week, but I am already saving more money by driving safely. I receive another $10.61 per month savings.
Let’s see what these small changes in my driving habits total. I save on average $15 per month by driving better with EverDrive. I saved $56 per month by choosing an ELP. Now, I am going to save another $10 per month by using a device that tracks my safe driving. Total savings per month are around $80 per month or almost $1,000 per year. Wouldn’t you like a $1,000 raise right now? What’s stopping you?
Here’s a screenshot I took of my EverDrive app today where I am currently ranked 15th in my state. Dr. SoS and I are the only two users in our small city, so there is not much point in showing that screenshot.
I keep my score between 99.7 and 99.9, but I have yet to get to 100 for the two-week scoring time-span. Can you beat my score? Are you in the top 20 best drivers in your state? Do you use one of Dave’s Endorsed Local Providers? What do you think about all this? Are you ready to put some money back in your bank account?
Driving you to Save!
Mr. SoS
Update 2017-08-10
I am continually seeking the elusive best driver in my state. I am so dedicated to this goal that I keep space between me and the other cars on the road and mind the posted speed limits. What amazes me is how everyone seems to be in such a hurry. The other day a guy flipped me off because I was ONLY going 5 mph over the speed limit, which must not have been fast enough for him. Not long ago I also had the driver of a truck fly around me only to slow down below the speed limit in front of me. It makes no matter to me because I keep plenty of space in front of me and just gently slowed down more. These are the drivers that make our roads unsafe and I do not want to be a part of it. Meanwhile, I am maintaining a steady 33 mpg in my car, saving money, and I am now ranked the 2nd Best Driver in my state.
Take that horrible drivers!
Mr. SoS