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Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Coping with High Gasoline Prices

A typical speed limit sign in the United State...

Coping with High Gasoline Prices

I should have filled up the tank yesterday.  But I was tired and decided to wait one day.  When I pulled up to the gas station, the price had just increased by an additional $0.20 a gallon.  It was the same over at the next block, so there was not much of a choice.
All over the country, people are cringing as they see gas prices rapidly increasing.  I won’t tell you to go out and buy a more fuel efficient car, if you already have a “paid for” truck because that may not be practical.  Unless you are already in the market for a new car and have the funds, I would not recommend getting into more debt.  Here are a few ideas to consider:
  • Combine errands as much as possible.  I am going to start mapping out a route to cover all my errands at once and avoid having to drive too much
  • Go to a grocery store that offers gasoline discount rewards if that is available in your area.
  • Consider public transportation.  If you live close to a bus line or metro rail then it is worth a look.
  • Check into van pools at work.  Our office does not have an official van pool but they have a referral service.  One lady I work with who lives 30 miles away applied and was matched up with a group.  The members take turns driving and are very organized about backups.  She has saved a lot of money since joining.
  • Make sure your car gets regularly serviced and tires are inflated properly.
  • If your child has classmates living nearby, set up a car pool with the other parents and take turns driving the neighborhood kids to school
  • Try walking instead of driving, but only if it’s safe to do so in your neighborhood.
  • Drive within the speed limit.  Speeding will cause you to waste gas, and possibly get a ticket, which will just ruin your day.
  • Research the internet for lower gas prices in your area before going out to fill up the car.
  • Start cutting back your other discretionary expenses, like entertainment and eating out, to offset the higher cost of gas.
You know what happens next:  prices of goods and services, from groceries to electronics to air fare will increase.  Brace yourself.


1 comment:

  1. Everyday I see busses running their route with no one in the bus but the driver. The bus gets about 3 mpg and the driver gets about $30 an hour to drive around empty for about half the day. Every day times hundreds of thousands of busses around the nation. 6 days a week not one but three different trash collection trucks visit every house in my city. They too average about 3-4 mpg. One truck picks up my trash, one picks up my grass clippings and another picks up my recycling. Again all around the nation a couple million trucks visit every house in every city to pick up three differnt types of trash. Probably a billion gallons of oil a day. Then there is the postman. In every city in the nation a post truck or car visits every single mailbox. Probably 10 billion gallons of fuel every single day even when you don't have any mail because the local supermarket send you one of those flyers that you never read and put into the recyle bin so that the other truck has something to pick up. Why not deliver the mail every other day??? The post office is going broke and they drive a truck to every mailbox in the country every day!! That's where your fuel is going and why it costs so much.

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