In reading around the net, there seems to be two opinions, either people think that the gasoline increases are not such a big deal and the rest of us are making a big to do about nothing or people like me who are seeing an ever larger percentage of our budget going to fuel costs. For me personally, gasoline is quickly rivaling my mortgage as my largest expense.
If I break down my budget into large categories and put it into round numbers, it looks something like this:
Mortgage $750
Gasoline $300
Groceries $100
Utilities $150
Insurance $50
Misc $50
As you can see, with the exception of my mortgage, gasoline is now the largest portion of my budget even if you add all the other costs together. A year ago, I was driving twice as much and my fuel costs were less than half what they are today. I have become the master at combining trips and don’t drive anywhere that is not a necessity.
Country Point of View
My bank and the nearest grocery store are 12 miles from my house. The local convenience store is 4 miles or 7 miles. The nearest Walmart and main shopping areas, restaurants, movie theaters, Lowes, etc are 25 miles away. My mini van gets approximately 25 miles to the gallon which means that it takes 1 gallon or $3.89 to go to the grocery store and 2 gallons or $7.78 to go to Walmart.
I laugh when I make my weekly trip to town. I feel like I am back in the old days when country folks cleaned up and went to town on Saturday night. They stocked up and did their socializing at the same time and that’s what it is coming to with fuel prices what they are today.
Alternatives
Brad Walker in TN has his own solution to high fuel prices. He is riding his horse to school. Also in TN a farmer decides to forgo spending money on gas by hooking up his mules to rake his hay. He figures he saves about $70 per day by taking one tractor out of the picture. Of course the Amish have been saving money on fuel for years.
Now I know that most people don’t have a horse in their back yard or fields of hay to mow but there are also alternatives if you live in the city or suburbs. Use public transportation if possible. A bus or a train is less expensive than putting fuel in your car and gives you the opportunity to relax and read the paper on the way to work.
If public transportation isn’t available, organize a car pool. This can reduce your fuel costs considerably and can also give you a chance to read, nap or just relax and socialize a bit on the way to work. Are you close enough to work to walk or ride a bicycle? Both of these are great exercise although you may need to allow a little extra time for your trip.
How is the rising cost of fuel affecting your life? Have you made changes in the way you do things to save money on fuel? I’d love to hear about them.
Related posts:
- Sneak Peak at New Mortgage Blog I had posted earlier on one of my blog sponsors,...
- Pay Off Your Mortgage In Half the Time? by markcreeten Someone on a financial email list made a...
- Daily Snowflake of Savings – Save 10% on Gas I am heading off to the big city tonight for...
- New Economy Sizing for Coca Cola I stopped by the local market a few days ago...
- No Spending Challenge In my post yesterday on having extra money, I mentioned...
I view the trips as you do, and try to plan ahead. Depending where I am, I’ll stop at a different place on the way home, and avoid going out for one item.
If you have to run out for only a half gallon of milk, you just paid an extra $3.89 plus your time. A bit of planning saves that time and money.
Joe
You’re getting 25 miles per gallon with your mini-van? That’s certainly better than my ’99 Dodge Caravan is getting. I live in a city with pretty good public transportation, and my employer subsidizes my annual bus pass. Even then, I budget $40 a week for gas, and lately, that hasn’t been enough.
My new to me vehicle costs about $50-$55 to fill up and I can get about 8-10 days out of a tank PROVIDED I don’t go “road tripping”. Like you, I don’t live close to any major stores, etc and I’m trying to take one day a week to run all my errands-bank, post office, grocery store, DIY, Target.
Sometimes living rural has it’s disadvantages, this is one of them.
Joe, I just don’t make extra trips. There isn’t much I can’t live without for 24 -48 hours so I just find a substitute or do without.
Grace, Yup, my 1991 Toyota Previa gets about 25 mph on the highway. Since I live in the country it’s pretty much all highway miles. There is not a traffic light in my whole county.
Riding a horse to school? Haha, that’s really going old school. I unfortunately have had to cut down on the driving. My family lives three hours away and I haven’t been home to visit in a while because it’s so darn expensive — that’s not even counting the driving around to see all my family once I’m there. We commissioned a Roper poll at CreditCards.com and found that over half of Americans are already cutting back on visiting family and friends due to the prices: http://www.businesswire.com/po.....ewsLang=en
I can only imagine how much that number will rise when gas goes up to $6 or $7 a gallon…
So at $300/month for gas and 25 mpg, that’s about 1900 miles a month? That must be one heck of a commute to work!
The price of gas has NOT affected my driving at all. Yet! Also Rural, NW Oregon coast – no public transportation goes my way. I spend about $60 a month on gas with one trip out of town a month to the nearest ‘discount’ stores, which are over 80 miles away. In my town we have only a Freddies and a Safeway – no discounts there. Gas at $4.09 now…
Luckily my work commute is only 5 miles round trip, and my 8 yr old Subaru Forester gets a minimum of 25 mpg. Yes, I drive under 400 miles a month usually. Any chance you can get your boss to agree to 4 days instead of 5? or similar? I did that – just for the extra day off/repairing my old house – not for the gas, but it might help you some. I hear some bosses are getting better about flex hours/days.
So no, I have NOT made any changes in my driving habits to save on fuel… HOWEVER….I HAVE made changes in my eating/grocery buying. Rural Coastal Oregon – end of the earth for Freight trucks, and the price of Groceries has gone sky-high already here…So my Garden is my Savings account… I have the biggest garden I have EVER had and plan (on a 50×100 city lot) on freezing, drying, and canning all and everything that comes my way. Lots of vertical gardening and edible landscaping. I am vowing to stay OUT of the grocery store unless it is truly a terrific buy!!! That’s how the price of gas is affecting me.
Good luck with your miles
Emily, Yes, I have cut down trips to see my kids who are 2 1/2 hours away to one trip per month instead of two.
Marci, It does seem like a lot doesn’t it. I am figuring actual gas costs for the last month and I have been making a weekly trip to the city for training. That’s an additional 150 miles a week. My business is 15 miles away and I work 6 days a week. It’s my business and my boss is a slave driver.
I groom dogs and believe me after 8 hours, I am pretty much done… or done in. I also drove up to my kids house and that was an extra 350 miles when it was all said and done. I would say yes, I probably put between 1600 and 1800 miles on my van in the last 30 days.
Hope the training is done soon – that will save you a lot of $$
Good luck til then.
Last year I would have said the gas price was bothering me – as my 3 kids were all over 75 miles away… But I made a major life change and moved away from ‘the big city’ and back home…rural..and in the same little town with 2 of the 3 kids. The 3rd kid is 80 miles away now – and that’s my once a month trip out of town – and for all the discount stores while I am there – Costco,kmart, target, etc. Before I was driving down 3 weekends a month to the coast(home now) and one to Albany to see kids/grandkids. Now I just have the one to visit still once a month. Luckily I made the move BEFORE all the gas stuff hit
Yes – the self-employed are probably being hit hardest… you have to keep driving to make a living. Luckily, my big lifestyle changes were made over a year ago. I was fortunate to move home and drop my miles by 150 minimum per weekend
Good luck!
I’m so excited, we’re about to start carpooling with a friend!