As fuel prices challenge the freedom to drive

10 big tips to put the brakes on the accelerating cost of motoring 

Including MSE's new cheap car insurance tool, how to find cheaper petrol, licence backlogs, free EV charging & more

A litre of petrol now costs an average £1.68, diesel £1.81. These scary prices risk curtailing many people's routines and lifestyles, making even basic trips to work or taking the kids to school difficult for some, especially in rural areas.

Of course the environmental and health benefits to driving less should be factored in, but driving is often a necessity. So use our 50+ motoring MoneySaving tips to cut your costs. Here are some of the most important...

1. Find cheaper petrol or diesel in seconds. The PetrolPrices website/app could save you £5-£10 each time you fill an average-sized tank - for example, we found that in Durham on Tue, petrol prices ranged from 163.8p a litre to 179.9p a litre.
   
   
2. Got an electric vehicle? Do a search for FREE charging. A bit like a 'free parking' perk, there are a growing number of 'free charging' places across supermarkets and other stores. They're not the fastest chargers, but a buzz of leccy for free needn't be sniffed at, especially with today's prices. See find free electric vehicle charging for how to do it.
   
   
3. New(ish). MSE's revolutionary Car Insurance Compare+ tool. First launched eight weeks ago, our Car Insurance Compare+ tool has already had incredible feedback, and we've done further tweaks based on your suggestions. You just...
   
   - Fill in one questionnaire. We've borrowed MoneySupermarket's (so if you've used it before, your answers can be auto-filled).
   - Get MSE cost-cutting tips as you answer. Like our Job Picker tool, which shows legit job description tweaks that can cut costs.
   - See your cheapest insurers as a benchmark. These are from the comparison, so you can see them straightaway, but of course we want you to beat them...
   - Personalised tips to cut costs further. These include whether delaying your quote a few days might lower costs, whether you should look to add an additional driver or to check multicar policies - often with one-click checks to see if it helps.
   - Whether to try other sites to cut costs further. We assess if Direct Line (which isn't in comparisons) is likely to be cheaper for you, and give you our latest comparison site order of others to try.
   
   As Emma emailed: "Thank you for this tool. My daughter just passed her test. We liked how easy it was to tweak things (start date, job description, adding second driver) and see the cost impact. She now has insurance at under £60/month, which is amazing, as well as a new life skill and the confidence she'll be able to sort out her insurance next year with the tool."
   
   The bad news... at launch our tool included an estimate, using independent data, of how likely it was you could save by using each of the other main comparison sites - we then called it 'Multi-Compare'.
   
   But those sites objected and either told us they wanted to be removed from the tool or said we couldn't use data about their quotes. Without those, we probably wouldn't have launched the tool in the first place.
   
   Yet from launch, much of the positive feedback we got was actually about our tips and functions to tweak your cover. So we decided to keep it going. Of course, we're keeping a section about using other comparison sites, it's just now less bespoke.
   
   We will try to persuade other sites to change their mind and rejoin the tool, as we believe that's better for you, us, and them.
   
   
4. Check now when your driving licence goes out of date - you can be fined for driving without a valid one. Photo driving licences usually expire after 10 years - see how to check if your licence is valid (for the few with paper licences, these normally last until age 70). While for most, applications to renew should be turned around in normal times, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) says there are 300,000 more applications than usual currently in the works, so it's best to renew ASAP if you need to. See how to renew and what your rights are while your application's being processed.
   
   
5. Think of your brake as a money burner, your accelerator as a money pump. Accelerating steadily and braking less sharply (done by thinking ahead and positioning yourself well on the road) can massively cut your fuel consumption. See our seven ways to guzzle less gas.
   
   
6. Thinking of going fully electric? Electric vehicles will likely cost you more upfront, but are much cheaper to run - particularly with record petrol prices. See our Electric vehicles guide for full info.
   
   
7. Full breakdown cover for £55 a year (includes home start & onward travel). AutoAid* has been one of our top picks for years. It covers you plus your spouse (or live-in partner, in some cases) in any car you or they drive. Newbies pay £55.49 a year (after an automatic £6 cashback via our links), or £70.49 if your car's over 15 years old. For comparison, an equivalent AA policy is £146 a year bought direct.
   
   If basic cover will do, see how to get RAC/AA cover from £14 a year. More help, deals and tips in Cheap breakdown cover.
   
   
8. Got junk in your trunk? Don't worry, we're not suggesting you self-appraise in the mirror. Instead, this is about doing a few simple checks to make your car more fuel-efficient. If you keep stuff in your boot you don't need, move it, plus take roof racks off and check your tyre pressure is appropriate. All can make a difference - see six key car checks.
   
   
9. MOT due? Find a 'hidden' cheap test centre. If no or only minor fails are likely, check our list of 'hidden' council MOT centres. These centres generally only do tests - they don't fix your car - and anecdotally some people find they get fewer fails, so there's less chance of shelling out for needless repairs.
   
   However, if your car's likely to need work, you're best off finding a reasonably priced garage that can do both testing and repairs, as you may not be able to drive away from the test centre if you have major fails. See how to choose the right MOT centre.
   
   
10. And finally - could you can the car? The average distance of car journeys in the UK is less than nine miles, so think before getting behind the wheel - could you walk, cycle or take public transport instead?
    
    Or do your own maths. If you don't drive that frequently, it may be cheaper to get taxis on occasion or join a car club (though this is only really likely to work for city dwellers).
    
    For more, see our 18 ways to cut train costs and MoneySaving tips for cyclists (plus how Martin averaged 25,000+ steps a day in 2021).