Re: How to save gas money when prices are very hig... - Page 4

Porcelain · ‎02-19-2014

@sandy53 wrote:
@Porcelain wrote:
How about get a bike and ride the bus? The train, if your town has one. Ride share and carpool. Get the Lyft and Uber apps.

Basically do all the things people in their early 20s do when they're fresh out of college and trying to make ends meet by economizing however they can.

If you have a choice between living somewhere with ammenities within walking distance or not, opt for the choice that reduces your need to drive.
You obviously do not live in rural America. My DH has two doctor appointments (specialists) this week in a city 90 miles away. My DS has a 120 mile round trip daily commute. He has a hybrid and he is trying to work from home one day a week to economize. My plan is to just make fewer trips away from the house. For instance, making only one trip to the grocery store each week saves me miles. We are very car-dependent in rural America.

Rural America has downtowns where you can walk into town and get what you need. I do know what you mean, though.

I'm a suburban gal and I don't live within walking distance of the places I need to go. I'm only within biking distance of a few places and I don't enjoy riding a bike on busy roads. And it's a bit of a trek just to get to a bus stop, so I don't do that either. I do miss (relatively affluent, I'll be the first to admit) city living. I had a great time being in the center of everything.

My DH may be able to visit some of his clients again soon and he is negotiating with his employer about gas reimbursement on top of mileage and wear and tear.

But increasing our gas budget is not going to kill the rest of the budget so I'm not all freaked out about the topic like some are. There are other areas where I could economize a lot more with a greater effect. Consider the price of a gallon of Starbucks, for instance...

When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.
"Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic." - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

SurferWife · ‎12-12-2010

My Dodge 5.7 liter V-8 Hemi Challenger only drinks non-ethanol. I will not abuse her with Regular gas; I don't care how much cheaper it is. But I work from home & only get out once or twice a month.

Time is just a drop in the bucket compared to eternity. It isn’t how long you live that matters; it is how well you are prepared to die. ~~Colonel Robert B. Thieme, Jr.

Snowpuppy · ‎03-09-2010

@SurferWife wrote:
My Dodge 5.7 liter V-8 Hemi Challenger only drinks non-ethanol. I will not abuse her with Regular gas; I don't care how much cheaper it is. But I work from home & only get out once or twice a month.

OMG!!

Tell me it's got a 5 gear and I'm on the next flight 😍

Isobel Archer · ‎04-04-2015

@Porcelain wrote:
How about get a bike and ride the bus? The train, if your town has one. Ride share and carpool. Get the Lyft and Uber apps.

Basically do all the things people in their early 20s do when they're fresh out of college and trying to make ends meet by economizing however they can.

If you have a choice between living somewhere with ammenities within walking distance or not, opt for the choice that reduces your need to drive.

I rode a bike to work in the 70's when there were gas lines. And I am sure some folks could do that today.

And I took Metro when I moved to Northern VA and worked at the Pentagon.

I certainly couldn't ride a bike to the Pentagon today - due to traffic not age (I stilll ride) and the Metro has become dangerous - not just fires and derailments, but also stabbings and assaults.

So there's that.

Hayfield · ‎03-10-2010

Those are all good tips! I've been doing most of those things all my life, it never hurts to save money! We're lucky that while I don't like the higher gas prices, we'll be able to manage. It really upsets though that there are people that can't afford these high prices but need to get to work and need their car to do it. I truly hope it doesn't get any worse and I really hope we don't see gas lines again. I remember those days and they weren't fun!

Lipstickdiva · ‎03-10-2010

I sure hope some people on this thread are being sarcastic. They can't be that out of touch can they?

If you live rural you can still walk to downtown? Perhaps you don't really know what the word rural means? You've never seen a rural area?

You also do realize that Uber and Lyft aren't readily available in all areas either, right? You'd be hard pressed to find one in my town or a lot of towns for that matter.

Ride a bicycle? Sure. That will work when it's -10 with the wind chill. Or it's super fun to bicycle through a foot of snow. It's also very safe to bicycle when it's dark outside. And who doesn't want to leave for work at 4:00 a.m. to give themself enough time to get to work via bike? Thunderstorm? Don't worry. In those instances you can call the non-existent Uber to get you where you need to go.

Laura14 · ‎06-09-2014

The second time in my life I've been overjoyed to have a stick shift ten gallon tank economy car.

Finally some respect on the road!

RainyDayGal · ‎03-09-2010

@Lipstickdiva wrote:
I sure hope some people on this thread are being sarcastic. They can't be that out of touch can they?

If you live rural you can still walk to downtown? Perhaps you don't really know what the word rural means? You've never seen a rural area?

You also do realize that Uber and Lyft aren't readily available in all areas either, right? You'd be hard pressed to find one in my town or a lot of towns for that matter.

Ride a bicycle? Sure. That will work when it's -10 with the wind chill. Or it's super fun to bicycle through a foot of snow. It's also very safe to bicycle when it's dark outside. And who doesn't want to leave for work at 4:00 a.m. to give themself enough time to get to work via bike? Thunderstorm? Don't worry. In those instances you can call the non-existent Uber to get you where you need to go.

This just made me chuckle as someone who lives rural. We are talking no buses, no street lights, 26 mile commute to work. Ya the walk and biking sounds like big fun when you live here and it rains and snow (and it's too far to walk to the grocery store). And Uber and Lyft, if you find them, are NOT cheap. It's fine, I'll take this over city living any day.

DottieBlue · ‎03-11-2010

I remember back in the 70's when gas prices doubled in price, from around 25 cents a gallon to around 50 cents a gallon in just a few short months.

People made more of an effort to carpool and take public transportation. Employers even helped to organize carpools. I traded my gas hog for a Toyota, and moved many miles closer to where I worked.

People conserved their power use, turned their heat down and raised the thermostat on their air conditioning.

The increase in the price of gas will absolutely cause just about everything else to go up in price, too.

This is just the way life goes.

Others have it so much worse and I have great sympathy for them. Like another poster said -- we don't have another country invading and killing us, forcing us to flee our homes with only a suitcase of belongings.

We just have to hang in there and do our best until the world gets better.