A good way to cut the cost of commuting is to share the journey with a work mate.
Halifax Car Insurance estimates that you can save £500 per year by sharing your car with a colleague.
Why not send an email round work to find out a) whether anyone would be interested in joining a car share scheme, and b) if they are, what their postcode is. Use a mapping service like Google Maps to see how close you all live together and to work out whether there are any obvious “matches”.
Obviously, this will stand more chance of working in a big organisation, and another thing to factor in is whether people start and finish their working hours at the same time. I tried to setup a car share at my day job, and getting people with similar hours was the biggest problem.
As well as the cost saving, it’s also a benefit to the environment, of course, and it might also be a good opportunity to form new friendships. Just try not to argue about what you listen to on the car stereo too much.
This post forms part of the Money Saving March series.