What is everyone doing to save on gas?

When we go some where as a family we take my smaller Blazer instead of his big Silverado. There are just a few miles per gallon difference but it will add up over time. I seldom leave the farm these days except to go to church a mile up the road on Sunday morning.

Not related to driving but - over the weekend my husband turned down the heat on the on-demand water heater. It uses propane.

__________________
Robin

We allready do as much as we feasibly can to save fuel in our current situation. The biggest impact for me has been in the considerations I'm making for the homestead we'll be moving to in 5 years. I started out thinking I was going to build a stick frame house on a slab, buy a big pickup and a tractor and was not really considering fuel costs. Now I'm looking at more energy efficient construction for the house, I'll still buy the truck, but it will be a diesel and I'll be running it on vegetable oil, and If I don't get a diesel tractor, I'm thinking about using animal power instead. I'm also thinking a lot more about the old Popular Mechanics article I saw years ago that outlined plans for a 100mpg diesel car built on a triumph spitfire frame and running a Kubota 18hp diesel motor.

There is not a whole lot different that I can do. We are fortunate in that my Dh has a company truck so we do not pay for his gas to and from work. I try to just stay here. Store runs are usually done by Dh on the way home from work if it is something little or after church on sunday for feed and groceries since I am in town anyway.
I only run the spreader when it is completely full. We use the atv rather than the tractor to save on gas. Lawn is a little longer this year and the trimming is not as nice.Some of that I can do by hand but it is way too hot right now.
I would really like to build a wagonette for my horse since he can drive quite well.

__________________
Trish

Seriously, I am COMPLETELY dressed!

Just keep moving...just keep moving!

Since we have been expecting gas prices to increase ever since the gas crisis of 1973, we have usually had fuel efficient cars (40+ mpg hiway), walk to work in nice weather (2 miles or less), bicycle a lot, ride small motorcycles when necessary, and use the truck (1998 Ford Ranger 2wd, 4 cyl 5 spd, 30mpg hiway if I try) only when necessary. Our home is a farm at the edge of town that we bought in 1989 partially because it was within walking distance of the library, our jobs, and downtown.

my wife and i have had a love for bicycles for several years now... i custom build recumbent bicycles. recently we went to walmart and saw an electric assist bycycle, couldnt turn it down. we took it home, put the battery on charge, and patiently waited the 18 hour first time charge time (normaly it takes only 4 hrs to charge)next day i put the battery on and WOW. the thing takes off pretty quick, and will maintain a constand 15 miles per hour for a little more than an hour. so i attatched the child trailer to see how it would pull it.... did fine, with both boys in it.
we bought a second one as soon as it was in stock. one i turned into a recumbent for me.... the other is regular for my wife

cost to opperate the bicycles is aproximately a penny a mile.... with a little enginuity and some solar panels.....

Huntergatherer:

I have both of mine in braces, too. The orthodontist offers a van service that picks all his patients from their school up at the same time, takes them back to the office for their appointments and returns the whole group back to the school. I schedule their appts. according to the van schedule.

I owe too much on the van to trade it in and am worried that when I do get a more economic car I won't be able to haul all the stuff I need. I have an hour commute and will soon have to pay out more than I earn (ok, maybe that is a slight exaggeration ) just to get to the job. There are no jobs near me that would offer the pay and time off I earn due to having been with my firm nearly 20 years. Sigh, I really need to win the lottery so I can stay at the homestead and grow my own food.

(a) I bought a cheap, used 4 cyl for just under 1500 bucks. My "normal" vehicles are each a van and a pick-'em-up that get terrible mileage. Since Feb, the new vehicle has been saving me about 30 bucks a week in gas. I figure by the end of the 1st year it will have paid for itself and the rest is gravy.

(b) We bought a 300 gallon fuel tank. It sits behind the garage and we use that to fill the vehicles. It was last filled when gas 2.64 a gallon. The way I see it, I'm now saving 40 cents a gallon. We'll continue to buy on "dips" and keep it filled when the price is low.

(c) I'm now working one day a week from home. 50 mile round trip saved. I'll be bumping this up to 2 days RealSoonNow. At 2 days a week avoiding the commute, we're talking RealMoney -- 10 bucks a week don't sound like much, but that's over $500 a year.

(d) not me, but my business partner just bought a motorcycle that he's been riding in to work for the last month or so. Huge savings for him. Went from 11 mpg (v-8, big truck) to just about 65 mpg on the bike. That's as good as money in the bank if you ask me. I just spent $1500 bucks on the 4 cyl, so a bike ain't in the budget 'til next year.

Get one of those dog carts, let some of those big dogs pull you around. I would but my doggies are only 40 lbs and there are hills around here. Plus we are all 6 footers. Heavy 6 footers. But they would love if we ever tried. Maybe I could hook one up for the kids.....

__________________
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

We did one of these .
http://automobiles.honda.com/models/...&bhjs=1&bhqs=1
Picked up two butchered cows with it. can't complain. and with the other honda 30+mpg car we have had for a long time and the savings almost paid for this one.

These are some things we're doing for "power" savings, not just auto gas and diesel.

DH has a long commute so he got a motorcycle - it will pay for itself in less than three years in gas savings alone, and sooner if (more like *when*) gas prices go up.

We always combine trips. I had to go to the post office today to mail a weighed document by a deadline. So I also got gas and stopped at the feed store while I was out; I'd been waiting to run those errands until I could combine them with something else.

We use the most efficient vehicle that can do the job (motorcycle/car/truck or ATV/tractor).

We hang clothes to dry, launder in cold water only.

We are stocking up our pantry as much as we can afford to, before food prices go up due to increased transportation costs.

We buy local whenever we can even if it's a little more expensive. As gas prices rise, we're going to NEED our local businesses.

We're converting the well pump to solar and getting a solar freezer; will convert hot water when we can.

Can heat much of the house with wood we cut ourselves.

Open all the windows at night and use two or three fans to circulate the cool in and hot out. We do use a window AC unit where the computers are in the late afternoons for a few hours.

Turn off computers when not in use.

Switched to compact fluorescent lights and turn them off when not being used.

Limit after-school activities (when school is in session) so kids can ride bus except one or two days per week. Make that grocery and errand day 'cause I'll be in town anyway.

Order stuff online when shipping is cheaper than driving to a city to buy the same item.

__________________
Our homestead-in-the-making: Palazzo Rospo
Eating the dream

Stayin' home as much as possible!

Has anybody ever tried the Energycel? I'd really like to get some feedback before i get one

http://www.myenergycel.com/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx

__________________
*
UK 2005:Treasury Dept./Trade and Industry survey concluded: 3.6 m gay people in the UK/~6% of the total population/1 in 16.66
Biblical Argument for the Acceptance of Homosexuality

Maybe if you didnt spend so much on face makeup......

__________________
"What would you do with a brain if you had one?" -Dorothy

"Well, then ignore what I have to say and go with what works for you." -Eliot Coleman

Wizzard -

Just wondering - what does Walmart charge for those electric bikes? Were they adult-sized? I looked on their website, but the only electric things they had were scooters, and one 20 inch mountain bike type one..

__________________
[COLOR="Blue"]Expect Little - That way you will be seldom disappointed.../COLOR]

That is the old "Magnet on the fuel line" (or water line, etc.) trick that works on faith and mirrors. If they really worked you would be seeing them featured in the news, in magazines (instead of being debunked as frauds in Popular Mechanics type of magazines), and on TV.

Voting a straight Democratic Ticket in Nov.

Never heard of it before last week but did kinda think it may be too good to be true, but i'll look into it some more since there are some people looking into it...
Cumbus Recommends

We can recommend the EnergyCel with no reservations. Its internal cleansing action should also extend engine life as well as keep maintenance minimal and fuel consumption at a high efficiency level. We will certainly keep our test units going and continue to bring you updates on performance in the future.

Jerry Cumbus Bio

As co-founder of the Automotive Research and Design Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Jerry Cumbus is currently testing cars for manufacturers and writing technical reports that incorporate design improvements and recommendations. The Automotive Research and Design Center is a national association of auto designers, engineers, and drivers, and has tested cars for Cadillac, Chrysler, Ford, Chevrolet, SAAB, Peugeot, VW, Porsche, Audi, Oldsmobile, Honda, Acura, and Lotus.

Profile Highlights

Member of Fisher Body Craftsman Guild since age 9.
His college thesis project was an automobile design adopted by General Motors for the first all new Corvette body style.
His college thesis earned top awards and an immediate position with the General Motors Styling Section.
He pioneered the use of the wind tunnel for General Motors.
His college thesis earned a scholarship for his graduate degree through General Motors.
He designed the Impala series for General Motors.
He designed the Opel GT for General Motors, which became the second all new Corvette body style.
He participated in the design of the Lincoln Continental series.
He designed the Datsun 240Z for Nissan, still today, the single most successful model from Nissan.
He designed the Ford GT 40 series, which led to the development of both the GrandPrix and the GT Class race cars.
His design had four years of SCCA racing events without a single mishap or malfunction, one of very few virtually perfect competitive records.


http://www.bestfuelmileage.com/
This site is dedicated to evaluating ways to save fuel that were possibly overlooked in the technology that was employed with your vehicle. After market fuel saving devices generally don't work which is why the auto manufacturers don't put them on the vehicles. I recently did a trial run with a fuel line magnet called the EnergyCel. These magnets generally don't work as advertised, but I ran a trial on this device to find out for myself. I ran a '69 VW Beetle to Houston, Texas from Lufkin Texas (about 130 miles one way) twice. The first run was with the EnergyCel installed and the second run without. I went to the same place in Houston and filled up with gas at the same places and even used the same gas pumps. I averaged about 8.7 percent better mileage with the EnergyCel. This surprised me, but before I endorse this I am going to run a series of other tests to be sure.

__________________
*
UK 2005:Treasury Dept./Trade and Industry survey concluded: 3.6 m gay people in the UK/~6% of the total population/1 in 16.66
Biblical Argument for the Acceptance of Homosexuality