FOR most people the cost of motoring is a significant chunk of their annual expenditure.
Figures from the AA show that the cost of travelling has increased by more than 16 per cent year-on-year - and it seems that this is significant enough for people to start doing something about it.
There are a number of polls around showing that drivers are being forced to alter their habits in order to cut back on their costs.
According to rental firms Sixt, in London 24 per cent of motorists have given up their car over the past 12 months saving an average annual amount of more than £2,000 by removing the burden of car tax, insurance, fuel, parking and maintenance.
The public transport system makes it practical for people in the capital to give up their vehicles but not so for the rest of us.
Elsewhere drivers are taking a different approach and it's claimed that more than half of all drivers have significantly changed their lifestyle due to increasing motoring costs.
Car sharing is becoming an attractive option for a quarter of people with children under 18 during the new school year as they try to tackle rising motoring costs.
Of 2,000 parents questioned, 15 per cent said soaring costs have also forced them to reduce their children's extracurricular activities as they can no longer afford to drive them around.
We are also seeing signs that business drivers are being impacted.
Arval carried out some research this year that showed nearly 30 per cent of business drivers admitted to having avoided using their own car for business journeys because current reimbursement rates leave them out of pocket.
So challenging times are creating change in the way that we operate, and the actions of those forced to change their approach suggest that we should all think about our travel habits to see how much money we can save.
Mike Waters is director of market insight at Arval, Europe's leading operational leasing and fuel management company.