What is everyone doing to save on gas?

I can't cut gas expenses any more. I already combine trips, have a small fuel effecient vehicle, work a few miles from home and carpool. I have stopped making trips for pleasure so no going to the drive in, on vacation, concerts, flea markets, the farmers market or trips to the mall. The car goes to and from work with a stop at the grocery store thats on the way. If my knees could handle it I would ride a bike in the summer but thats not an option. I use about 10 gallons every 4 weeks.

I am one of the lucky few here that has a company car. It is a 2005 Chev. Impala and gets about 34 mpg on the road and 25-27 in town. I have to pay $100 a month for it due to IRS rules and my company rules. I also have to pay $0.05 a mile for personal mileage. My wife is 8 1/2 months PG so she isn't doing much driving these days. So, I do all of the driving and pick things up on my way home.

On saving gas, I've found that 60-65 on the interstate is most economical. No AC would slow cook me on the way home in south Louisiana during the summer so that's out of the question. But what I do do is coast alot. Especially in traffic. You can anticipate a light turning red and if it is red, just let off way early. If you coast for 1/2 mile, you'll get about 100 mpg on that little stretch and it adds up especially in traffic. Do that 20 times and you get about 10 miles at 100 mpg (that's only 0.1 gallons to go 10 miles). It doesn't quite add up that way but it sure helps. Also, keep the tires inflated on the upper end of range when they are hot. That helps too but doesn't risk safety or handling. Also, air filter. That's a biggie. The extra weight too. Several different things can add up to 100 lbs quickly.

I GOT A CARPOOL PAL!!!

She just started working at my office and lives right down the road from me.
Just finished my first week of carpooling... YIPPEE!!! It was almost 400 miles a week saved on my car. She drove this past week and I will drive next week. I spend $50/week on gas so that is just like getting a $100/month after taxes raise. Yep, it is a bit inconvienant but oh well....

I also think about each trip I take on the weekends and we hardly ever go into Raleigh on the weekends anymore. We used to find some reason almost every Saturday or Sunday but now it just doesn't seem that important.

Mary I wasn't referring to the people in the middle east but our "government officals". <grin>

Kelli

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We drive our Chevy HHR when we have to make trips. We are getting 36-40 on the interstate, and 40-42 on state highways at 55-60 mph.

We are making fewer and fewer trips. But we made sure we optimized every trip when gasoline was 1.25 gallon.

We are ride sharing with whomever, whenever possible. I am still amazed that people want to "meet you at the resturaunt" ....even at 3.09 a gallon.

We avoid drive thru anything.

I have also taken a new close look at the routes we drive. Since we live in town, some routes take less gas than others, even though it is exactly the same distance either way. From the house to the office, the usual route I took led me thru five or six stop signs, and traffic is worse on this route. I discovered taking a side road, I have less traffic, and three stop signs. Both are equal distances, but I use less fuel on the new route....every 40 cents in gas adds up!!!!

I never, never, never let my car idle for any unneeded reason, ever.

We are buying more locally, even if it costs a little more. We are saving the difference in gas.

We call ahead to check before we go somewhere....it has paid off in spades already!! This has saved us alot in wasted trips.

Again, I have been doing this since gas was 1.25 a gallon, but much more sincere these days.
clove

I'm finally getting my muffler replaced!! haha, for the longest time i simply could not justify spending $175, but i can hardly stand the racket anymore.

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I ride my bike everywhere!

We live in a small town where everything; school, post office, food coop, library, doctors, drugstore, hardware store etc.. are within 10 blocks of our house. The big grocery store, movie theatre and Walmart are 1 mile away. My car has been parked for 10 days.

The "big city" is about a 40 mile drive. I try to make those trips count and have started to carpool with other friends who have errands to run there. We split the $15.00 or so it takes to make that trip.

My daughters were slated to begin orthodontic treatment in the " big city", but I am switching to an orthodontist here in town ( we have 3!) so that they will be able to just walk over after school. I just didn't want to committ to that 80 mile round trip drive just for the orthodontist

We bought a little '88 Mercury Tracer that gets 33 mpg. It's 100 miles a day round trip to work. I've been working from home on Tuesday and Thursday for about a year now. Don just took over HR at work and since I set up the VPN he can do anything from home he can do at work except access files. Imaging personnel files is the next order of business. Then we plan to work on the boss for Don to work from home on Tuesday and Thursday also. I wouldn't need to actually BE at the office except to pick up mortgage files once a month but I'm also the IT guy. You KNOW how people squeal when they screw up their computers . . . . .

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We're are limiting driving and don't go out to movies, events or trips that we don't need to go to. Also, one of our cars is coming off the road at the end of the month so that will be a big saving right there. Chris

My wife drives a 02 Honda Civic about 2mi to work & I walk 1/4mi. When we go to the country place(3hrs away) we take the Honda instead of my 72 Chevy pickup. Even though we live in town, we tend to stay home a lot more & we do our errands all at the same time. Our trips to our country place have become less frequent & our major trip each week is the weekly 15mi drive to my Mom's house accross town. We don't really mind staying at home more, but we miss our weekends at the country place. We're going to retire in 2yrs & it seems prudent to save as much as we can right now. We do have a real nice garden this year & my wife has been canning more on the weekends. The high gas prices have been more of a hardship on our grown kids. They just can't seem to be able to adjust to the idea of not being able to run around all the time. They'll learn though.

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Thanks everyone for your great input!!!!

Kelli

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several years ago, i bought two three hundred gallon bulk tanks and mounted them on concrete foundations, side by side three and a half feet above the ground. this way the gasoline flows without the aid of a pump. now, when the tank i'm using from gets empty, i valve it off, switch to the full one, and call the distributor to send a truck to fill the empty. it takes about four months for me and my two kids to work through a tank. this means that on average the gas we're burning was purchased wholesale about six months previously. so far, since i've been using this system, prices have not gone down over a six month period, so i realise a savings of the difference between the current pump price and what i actually paid, often a significant difference. by my informal calculations, the tanks (with their installation, valves, pipes, hose and nozzle) pay for themselves about once a year!

i have a '96 geo metro that gets about 45 mpg and a '02 triumph bonneville america that does a little better than that (and is a lot more fun). i also have a '98 dodge pickup with a four cylinder (and a utility trailer) when i need to haul anything. i got my son a honda fit when they came out this spring and it gets close to 40 mpg. unfortunately, my ex-father in law got my daughter a p.t. cruiser that she loves, but it's a gas hog. i'm trying to talk her into trading it for another honda fit.

pax
t.f.

I'm out of gas, and out of money.

so i am doing what any normal person would do.

I am spending alot of time under my house with a hand pick and a shovel head, on my belly, digging an access ditch to my plumbing juctions.

I built a dirt-wagon to pull in with me, fill up and kick it backwards, where it rolls slightly downhill and out the backend of the house.

kinda like tuneling out of a POW camp.

at least its cool under the house....
no money for expensive gasoline somehow brings to light 100's of things I need to do without gasoline.

life just aint fair.,

I am trying to only drive the most efficient vehicle we own (25 mpg). We use the truck only when we are hauling something.
Also, I am now really thinking every car trip. Is it really necessary? Can I combine errands, and where is the closest place to go to get what I need?
This isn't fun, as the area we live in is severely limited in shopping options. For example, when gas wasn't a concern, I would drive about 25 miles to go to Aldi's, which I think is the best discount grocery. Also I like to go to the Shop-Rite, which is about 15 miles away.
Now, I will probably have to go to Sav-A-Lot, which is only about 5 miles away, get as much as I can there, then the local Acme (can you say RIPOFF?) to fill in what I can't get at SAL. There is also a dollar store I might stop at, too. It will just take more time to do things this way.

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i am wondering if ...so many folks on this forum are thinking of ways to save, say, i dont know maybea 15 % of the forum. if 15% of american drivers did the same would it make a difference?

I unfortunately and stupidly purchases a 2005 chevy trailblazer a year and a half ago cause dh said i needed ground clearance and a 4x4. it is my first and last new car. and if i was not still owing so much on it i would sell? hmmm...wonder if it is better to be upside down on a loan or pay more gas LOL. I drive about 50 miles round trip to town for work...have put myself on 4 - 10 hour days and that saves me about ten bucks a week/ 40 per month. the beast only gets ab out 15 mph - i think mostly due to it having to travel 7 miles uphill in 4x4. tried in 2x4 but slips on the rocks and in the clay mud badly. still have to run the gas genny 1 hour daily to fill the water storage tanks, but hve tuned up the genny etc. dh drives his 91 ford 4x4 p/u down the other side of the mountain to work 3 days a week for work and one extra day to run the AA meeting in town. his truck is getting 18 or so mph and he does coast most of the way down the mountain. am thinking i will start grocery shopping after work on my last day of the week and that will save another 40 per month in gas. we have gas genny back up for power on days without enough solar wind and we have not been using that at all. when you choose to live out in the middle of nowhere you must consider the cost of getting to town. sure will be nice when we can both stay home. !!

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numb--God love ya you think just like i do~!

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I'm not able to cut miles commuting at this point although I'm hoping to convince my employer to let me work 4 days instead of 5. I could do some work at home if he allows. I do all shopping during the week while I'm in town anyway and if dh has a doctor's appointment he goes in with me and spends the day in town. I drive into the sun morning and night so have to run the a/c or cook. I have found tho that I can run it awhile, turn it off for awhile and the vent will still kick out cool air, then run it again. Sometimes, once the car is cooled down, the vent is enough. I refuse to drive over 58/59 mph no matter how fast the other drivers are going. That seems to be where I get optim highway mileage. We no longer drive 50 round trip to church each week, we're going only once or twice a month.

We're currently working on an extensive shopping list for everything we think we'll need for the next 6 months/year and plan to buy immediately before prices go up in the stores reflecting the increased cost of transportation. This works well for us since I absolutely hate to shop. It will save us quite a bit of money in the long run. We also plant a large garden and can/freeze/dry everything possible. Only have the cost of gas for the tiller in the Spring as the rest of the time its hoe, hoe, hoe.

We've updated a/c, furnace, water heater and refrigerator in the last few years to energy efficient models. The 32+ yo deep freeze is next on the list followed by the 30 yo washer. We do not use the drier. We don't run a/c until heat gets to 85º/90º range and usually turn it off at night...this week being an exception with 96º and 60%/70% humidity. We had an energy audit by the light & gas company and have followed all their suggestions. We also keep the thermostat at 65º in the winter and 79º during a/c season.

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This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Expensive gas could very well lead to a revitalization of small-town America. I could get behind that!

I hear those PT Cruisers only get about 20 mpg, on a good day. A pity - they are a cute car!

wish me luck, I am tunneled halfway to the fence.

once I break out on the other side, someone radio the allied command to send a sub to pick me up.

I hope the krauts in the watchtower dont spot me....

*dig dig dig*