With gas prices as high as they are, every time we get in are car we fill the heavy burden it has on your wallets. The cost of groceries at the supermarket is not longer the hundred dollars we hand over to the cashier. We also have to calculate in the amount we spend on the pricey gas we use to get to the store. Road trips across country are no longer appealing as a cheap vacation, and Commuting to work might not justify living so far away from a job.
There are many things you can do to save gas. Taking care of your car is important including checking and changing your oil, changing your air filter, keeping your tires properly inflated, and simply driving so that you aren’t damaging your engine, breaks, etc. You can also save on gas by driving more efficiently. Instead of revving the engine, accelerating quickly, or breaking often, we can reduce these gas guzzling practices to conserve gas.
If you really want to save cash on gas, you have to stop driving. This is the best way. Unfortunately, this is an unreasonable way for most people, so we have to make do with driving less. Unless you live in the city or unless you never leave your house, you have to drive. Try some of these ways to drive less.
First, try taking your ordinary trips less often. If you go food shopping a couple times a week, try going once a week or once every other week. Buy in bulk at a large bulk store and try shopping just once a month. This will save you on food and gas.
Even if your supermarket is only 3 to 6 miles away, if you are taking that trip twice a week, at 2 round-trips to the supermarket a week, that is traveling 12 to 24 miles a week, which for many people would transfer to an extra 4 or 5 gallons a month. If you are paying $3.50 per gallon for gas, you could save $14 to $17.50 a month, or $168 to $210 a year just from cutting back your grocery store trips.
While you’re at it, condense your trips wherever you go. Instead of going to the mall every weekend, go once a month. On your way to the mall, take all your trips such as to the grocery store, bank, dry cleaners, gas station, etc. Cut the miles wherever you can and they will add up fast.
Carpooling is also great. If you live nearby someone you work with or go to school with, you can save a lot. If you live near someone who works with you and you carpool everyday for a 30 mile commute, you could save about $7 a week, $28 a month, or $336 a year. Carpool with 5 people, and you could save 4 times that for a total of $1,344 a year.
Finally, cut back on fun far away from home. Instead of going out to eat every week, cook your own food at home. Rent movies instead of going to the cinema, and invite your friends over instead of finding a far place to meet someone else. With all these tips and more of your own creativity, you could be saving thousands of dollars a year. Invest that money, and you could be looking at a nice nest egg just on what you are saving on gas.
