Re: Gas Prices & The Economy - what's your part?

I have been trying to drive more gas efficiently, I have read that driving slower, keeping the rpm below , driving like you have an egg under your foot, using cruise control all help on fuel economy.

Also we havent turned the heat on in months and We always keep it below 65!

We are trying to reduce spending but seriously we cant reduce much more we already live budget

Re: Gas Prices & The Economy - what's your part?

We have no choice but to both drive to work, neither of us has public transportation near our jobs.

So, I now make coffee in the am - instead of buying it, we both started taking lunch. I drive a jeep liberty, we just bought it, so we owe too much to trade it in, but we also own a hyndai elantra. We use the car more on the wknds. We only eat out maybe once a week, and all of our friends take turns hosting game night, since none of us lives close to one another, so someone doesn't need to drive.

Re: Gas Prices & The Economy - what's your part?

One of my coworkers and I carpool, we take turns every week driving. We've been doing this for about 2 years now. It was saving me 1/2 a month's gas, but now at these rates, I am almost paying what I was driving every day.

Re: Gas Prices & The Economy - what's your part?

We only have one car, we commute together to the train station and take the train to work. All the stores we go to are close to our house.
We always turn off lights. Fortunately because we don't use the car (and its a fuel efficient car)that much the gas prices haven't hit us like they have some people.

Bad things are yet to come. My dad's company just went out of business. I feel so bad for him.

Re: Gas Prices & The Economy - what's your part?

Re: Gas Prices & The Economy - what's your part?

My DH works for BEST BUY and they haven't hit budget in months......due to the economy. A large part of his salary is bonus....not hitting budget means no bonus which means we are affected very much by the economy.

Also he has a hybrid and carpools to work. I take the train. We go out to dinner a lot less. We clip coupons and only buy what is on our list. We turned off the heat as early as possible and try to run the washmachine and dryer less....

Message edited 4/25/2008 11:20:50 AM.

Re: Gas Prices & The Economy - what's your part?

I take the train when I need to go to the city or anywhere I can. I am very careful about using power. I use cloth bags and reuse any plastic or paper bags I get at the store.

Ya know what....I do my part when I can....GOVERNMENT needs to step in. PERIOD!

Re: Gas Prices & The Economy - what's your part?

we haven't really change our habits.

but I don't cry poverty.

I cry annoyed. I am annoyed that gas prices skyrocketed along with the RECORD earnings of the oil companies. something is just not right there.

we've been curbing our comsumption for a while now...I've taken to unplugging appliances whilst not in use, using canvas bags to go shopping, keeping lights off when sunlight allows etc.

I make my own coffee, I recycle glass bottles,

I try to avoid buying plastic bottles of any kind.

I have noticed the price of food has gone up, so we are buying more on sell and less on whim...but again, that is more out of outrage and annoyance than crying poor.

Re: Gas Prices & The Economy - what's your part?

Message edited 4/25/2008 11:17:19 AM.

Re: Gas Prices & The Economy - what's your part?

This seems appropriate....

Re: Gas Prices & The Economy - what's your part?

Thankfully i only have a 10 min commute to work. I think i will be doing less "running around" for the heck of it. I wont just run to Target or wherever just because.

Re: Gas Prices & The Economy - what's your part?

I carpool with two other people since the school I teach at is about 50 miles away. I despise carpooling and only do it because of the rising gas prices. I hope to get a closer job next year.

As for errands, I try to run multiple errands at a time.

In regards to spending, I pretty much stick to what I usually do and use coupons and try to buy things on sale.

Re: Gas Prices & The Economy - what's your part?

When it's over 50 degrees out and if it's within reasonable distance, I walk to wherever I need to go. I only drive to and from work if I can help it.

But I decided to do that last year not so much because of gas prices; it's more for the environment.

Re: Gas Prices & The Economy - what's your part?

What have you done with the increasing price of gas? Nothing really. We get our gas at BJs now whenever possible since it's the lowest price we have found but we haven't altered our travel as a result of the increase. We take mass transit to work and can go more than a week on one tank of gas.

Have you changed your spending habits in anyway? Yes, we are more conservative with our spending...a lot more cooking at home and bringing food to work. I can't say that our decrease in movies, dinner out, or any real entertainment is a result of the economy...it's a result of our son. But overall we are cutting back on extras so we can save or re-allocate it to other expenses.

Re: Gas Prices & The Economy - what's your part?

We switched over to compact fluorescents in everything. We only use the lights after dark. I have been walking to the grocery store and pharmacy now that it is nice out even though it's a bit of a trek. I plan out my trips to be economical so I'm not doing 18 errands all over town. I use coupons and always look for a deal.

In fact, if anyone's switching over to CF lightin g, I have 6 $1.00 off any GE energy Smart CF product coupons from the paper last week... they exp. 6/20. Would be willing to send if you FM me :)

Re: Gas Prices & The Economy - what's your part?

DH bought a friggin SCOOTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He says it's so he doesn't have to drive his SUV, which he needs for work or he'd drive a car.
I think he just wanted one....dork!

I do agree that this country is pretty ridiculous in complaining about gas prices and the economy yet we drive the biggest trucks in the world!!!

Makes no sense!!!!!
ANd we HAVE to keep up with everyone else, how else can you justify buying a $400 cell phone and a 60" flat screen?

Oh, and I make lunch For DH everyday!!!!!!!!!!($$$$$ in the city)

Message edited 4/25/2008 12:44:27 PM.

Re: Gas Prices & The Economy - what's your part?

Re: Gas Prices & The Economy - what's your part?

I take the train to and from work everyday.

And, I recently stopped driving to the train station and instead, I walk.

Good for the environment, and good for my hips

Re: Gas Prices & The Economy - what's your part?

DH and I have always been pretty conservative spending wise, we are big on weighing want vs. need. That doesn't mean we never make purchases that are purely want, we just don't do it often. We also tend to repair instead of replace.

We carpool whenever possible - we are Upstate and there are are no commuter trains here.

We combine errands to reduce trips. In the winter we keep the house at 62-65 and in the summer we keep it at 70-72.

Re: Gas Prices & The Economy - what's your part?

Re: Gas Prices & The Economy - what's your part?

Well, I wish I could take the train or the bus and if I could I would. DH drives about 6 miles a day and we fill his tank up about every 3 weeks. My tank gets filled up once a week and it is very good on gas.

We have cut back in all the food that we can. We dont eat out, we make a weekly menu according to what is on sale and that is what we buy.

We are going on vacation this week. This vacation was paid for with extra money that we earned. This is our only vacation for the year. Unless we do a weekend to my sisters. And that will depend on gas prices.

Entertainment? What entertainment?? We gave all that up except for the internet. That is our entertainment and the family plan for cable. I dont go to book stores, I go to the library, which is down the street from me so I walk.

My husband packs his lunch and takes $5.00 a day. I give myself no weekly allowances. I spend no money during the week. I dont go shopping. We buy clothes sparingly and when we need them.

And just because people are in the store buying stuff does not mean they can afford it. We live in a society where we want we get. My DH and I dont use our CC. We pay cash.....I am trying to be best prepared for this recession and do what they say.

Re: Gas Prices & The Economy - what's your part?

In my line of work, I make more in a bad economy but I am still doing my part not to be wasteful. We try not to take our gas guzzler car as much as the one that gets great mileage. We keep an eye on price when shopping for food, etc. We are making some luxury purchases but only because we had lean years in which we dreamed of very specific things and those were the things we worked toward. There are still other luxury purchases that are on hold and may never happen.

Re: Gas Prices & The Economy - what's your part?

I only drive a couple of miles a day and DH only drives to work 2 days a week (the rest is around town).

We both have very good cars for gas mileage (a Corolla and a Civic).

As for spending habits - we have tried to adjust our spending over the past 2 years. We've cut back a lot on dinners out, unnecessary shopping, and we've bought things on sale and using coupons. We've also spread out our home improvements and put them in "need" order and have kept them on the smaller side. We have money set to be automatically deducted out of our checking each month and sent to our ING account - which can only be touched for necessary household expenses and taxes.

We also have picked up second jobs to help bring in some extra money.

Re: Gas Prices & The Economy - what's your part?

We sold both our cars in the last few months and take the train, walk or ride our bikes everywhere.

One of those cars was a hybrid. Even though it used less gas, it still used SOME, and I'd rather be completely gasoline-independent right now.

Re: Gas Prices & The Economy - what's your part?

Message edited 4/25/2008 6:24:59 PM.