Friday, January 4, 2008

Saving on Gas

I am planning a budget of $80/month for my gasoline expenses this year. This will roughly fill up my tank twice. I am going to try to incorporate the following strategies to stretch my gas milage. That should free up a few extra dollars each month that I can put towards extra savings goals, or give me some breathing room as gas prices climb.

  1. Check my tire pressure every two weeks
  2. Be diligent about car maintenance. I sold my previous car at 207K miles and it would have lasted longer if I had been more careful about certain maintenance tasks.
  3. Carpool with my roommate to work at least two days a week (every day will be tricky since our schedules can vary wildly).
  4. Pay off the 0% balance transfer debt on my Chase credit card by Jan 31 so I can start accumulating 3% cash-back for gas purchases.
  5. Use my Price Chopper grocery store membership card to collect points that will get me a discount at the Sunoco gas station.
  6. Compare that discount to local gas prices on sites such as gasbuddy.com
  7. Be conscientious about planning my errands to minimize miles driven.
  8. Eliminate my occasional habit of "driving around" just so I can listen to music loudly and get some vibration going in my body. Maybe I'll get headphones and dance around my room. heh.

Things I already do:
  1. Live within 5-7 miles of work, the grocery store, major shopping, and the gym- all places that I need to go to regularly.

Other strategies that would be great for some, but won't work for me:
  1. Replace driving with biking/walking. Even though I live within just 5 miles of places I frequently travel to, I consider the road conditions relatively unsafe and I'd much rather be in my car.
  2. Buy a more fuel efficient car. I have a paid-for 7-yr-old Honda CRV. I am not willing to give up all-wheel-drive as long as I live in a part of the country that receives snow for 6-8 months of the year. I am also not willing to give up the easily accessible trunk space of my CRV since I regularly need to transport fairly large items.

Looking forward to bringing that $80/month down a bit!

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