Fighting Gas Prices By Being Smarter with Our Driving
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The price of gas is going up again.
Right now the price of gasoline in my neighborhood here in Raleigh, NC is about $2.79/gallon for regular.
Not as bad as it was back in 2012 (think it was almost $4/gal then!), but still moving up from where it has been.
Summer is approaching and with it a few road trips.
While we can't avoid paying for those getaways we can offset things by being a bit smarter with gas now.
Saving on Gas Around Town
Kay Lynn had some great tips on reducing gas consumption last year and the advice still stands.
You can't control what's at the pump, but you can make sure you're driving more efficiently and being wiser with transportation.
- Combine Errands: We now make it habit to take care of a couple of errands whenever we go out. Besides saving on gas, by waiting we also determine if an errand is really important. Many needless shopping trips have been avoided.
- Eating In, Instead of Out: I've been pretty consistent with eating in instead of going out for lunch. It's been good for my waistline and wallet. Plus I now have some extra time that I can use to either play with my baby girl or workout. A win on all counts.
- Carpool: I've been carpooling when I can with friends. It's nice to save a bit of money, but it's also nice to have someone else to chat with besides the baby 🙂
- Watching How I Drive: I'm trying to maintain my speed when I'm driving as stop and go can be wasteful and wears the car out faster. My husband is a fan of cruise control when he's on the highway.
- Clean the Car: I did a massive clean up of the trunk. I basically was hauling extra everything in the back. It was hurting the gas mileage on the Jetta and it was making the trunk less useful since I had less space.
Thoughts on Watching Gas Consumption
The rising prices have reinforced to me that our next car needs to have solid gas mileage on it, that means we're focusing on sedans instead of SUVs.
I'd like to get your tips on watching the gas budget. How have you been doing lately? Has rising gasoline prices affected your car driving lifestyle? What’s the price of gasoline in your area?
If your car has a readout display for gas mileage, make sure it’s on all the time. Reset it from time to time so that it gives you a readout of how you’re doing on the fly. I guarantee that when you see it drop like a stone every time you floor it, you’ll start changing your habits for the better.
My Jetta doesn’t have that feature, but I’ll be on the lookout for that with the next car. Thanks!
I’ve been watching how I drive and also cleaning out my car. It’s helped.
I paid $4.70 a gallon yesterday for my discount had station’s regular grade fuel. I hyatt about had a heart attack!
I’ve been trying to focus more on not speeding as often and leaving work earlier to cut off the time I spend sitting in stop and go traffic. I’m also thinking of parking in my garages lower parking levels which is an inconvenience for me, but I’ll save money by not driving up several extra floors.
It’s $4.50 where I live now. I’ve been filling up my tank every time it reaches the half mark because if the longer I wait the more the prices seem to rise. Plus the gas station is around the corner from where I work so it’s just a pass-by situation. I also filled up the air in my tires last week and I feel like it’s made a small, but noticeable difference in terms of how many miles I can get =D
We are definitely trying to be more conscientious about driving these days. I wish we lived nearby anything! We are in the burbs, so not even the grocery store is close enough to walk or bike to.
I’m lucky to live close enough to grocery stores, the post office, and other places where I can actually walk to do many basic errands. Now that it’s getting warmer out again, I’ll also use my bike to go to the library almost every other day as well as other places that are within a decent distance, so that helps as well. I really don’t have to fill my tank too much, so it’s one area where I definitely save money.
Carpooling in larger cities can also get you access to HOV/Carpool lanes, which helps you avoid sitting in traffic.