How you can reduce the price of gas

We have all read the articles on how to make gas prices go down.  Some examples are to not fill up for 1 day and others were to boycott a big player like Exxon.  We all know those will not work because if you skip one day of filling up you are either going to fill up the day before or the day after.  Here are some real ways that I thought would be a good way to make the fill ups at the pump less often and decrease the demand of gas.

1.  Ride the bus one time/or multiple times a week instead of driving alone to a places
2.  Walk to local places and get some exercise
3.  Prioritize errands so that you take the most efficient routes
4.  Empty your trunk of anything you do not need back there.  Lighter the car the better the gas mileage will be.
6.  Check the air pressure on your tires
6.  Ask around work to carpool with co-workers
7.  If you are a multiple-car family try to reduce down to 1-2 cars and share.
8.  If you need a new car consider getting a hybrid
9.  Ride a bike to work and other places
10.  Get a motorcycle/Scooter

Just imagine if everyone out there did one of these things consistently and the impact we could have on reducing gas prices. 

Do you have any other ways to make trips to the pump less often?

 

Gas prices suck

The gas prices are getting out of hand.  It is funny that Bush comes out and says there is really nothing that the government can do about it right now.  I am not a big fan of government intervention anyway, but i find it super funny at how easy Bush got the stimulus plan to happen. 

At any rate, I saw Chrysler is now offering if you buy some of their cars that they will guarantee you $2.99 per gallon of gas for three years.  I noticed that all the cars that fall under the deal are SUV’s.  If people are going to buy a car because of that then whatever.  I want cheaper gas prices.  Maybe when a car company guarantees me Gas for $1.50-$1.99 a gallon then I might get a car from them. $1.00 a gallon would be most preferred.  

Is there any good reasons for gas prices to be this high?

Economy update and some questions

I have been super busy recently.  Much has happened since we last talked and here are a few things on my mind about what is going on in the economy.

Gas prices each week continue to go up.  For the last three weeks when I have been filling up I have paid $33, $37, and today $45.  Wow! When I was filling up today I saw way more motorcycles recently in the valley.  I can only imagine that more and more people will be getting bikes.  Since I sold my car recently maybe I will get a scooter.  Probably not!  The point is Gas prices need to go down and I really can’t imagine people will keep paying these high prices.  When I am driving places now I even think of getting the most out of my drives.  If all consumers can cut down on Gas usage could we drive the price at the pumps down?  How do we get cheaper prices?  Oil keeps going up and so does my credit card bill.  If you can try to carpool.  If you need to go down the street to the store to pick up a few items, get some exercise and walk.  A final thought on Gas for all of you who are getting money back on the stimulus package from the government it looks like they gave it to us to pay for gas for a few months. I hope gas prices get better.

The stock market continues to roll like a coaster.  I hope all of you are sticking in it for the long run.  Keep funding, this will not last forever.  If you are a day trader good luck to you. 

The housing market is still tanking.  I saw a news story the other day and realized that more and more people are walking away from houses even thought they now can afford the payment.  People were saying why pay for a house that has dropped 100k?  I wonder if there will be any enforcement on all these people who are walking away.  I have a big post on this matter coming up soon.

Global Warming is getting on my nerves.  I hear so many people talking about it everywhere.  Many out there who think they know all, keep telling us to worry about this Global Warming and that we really need to take care of our environment.  My one question on this whole matter is that how can we for sure be experiencing global warming if local news professional can’t even predict rain, temperatures in the weekly forecast?

Okay that is all that is on my mind.  Looking forward to every ones thoughts. 

I sold my car

Here is the deal. I sold my car today for what I paid for it 14 months ago.  I always get my cars from a wholesaler so it works out good.  I have not got a replacement car yet but my wife and I have decided that we will take our time on figuring out what car to get next.  We still have a nice SUV that just got repaired so we are good to go for some time.  So why did I sell my car?

My wife and I both work about 1 mile from where we currently live. The sale of the car was not because we need the money but where we are currently working and driving to at this time doesn’t really require us to have two cars.  As a result we put away all the cash from the car I bought 14 months ago so when it comes time to buy a new one I will have the cash to do it again.  There will be a time in the coming months where we will want 2 cars again especially if we end up moving again.  So as a result of the car we are going to save about $100 in gas a month and about $100 in insurance for the car. $200 a month is not a bunch, but at least I can walk sometimes to work and get some excersise.  Sometimes we can carpool which is my way of going “green” since everyone is talking about it so much. Ha!  I really feel like we did not drive my car that much other than maybe  a 100 miles a week so for now this was the best move. 

Car repairs

Recently my wife’s car needed a little work.  At least I thought it was going to be a quick power steering fluid leak.  But it turned out to be a bigger problem than we thought.  The car is only 8 years old and really has never had many problems so we decided to put some money into it.  We also got the brakes done, spark plugs, timing belt, water pump, and while we were at it got the oil changed as well.  The bill was not small, but I felt like it was good to do all preventive maintenance on it since we are planning on keeping the car for a couple more years.  The car is in great shape now.

You might be thinking why didn’t I save money and fix the car yourself?  That is not my expertise at all.  I did not even want to attempt it so I thought it was a good spend to get it professionally fixed.

I always suggest when getting cars repairs that you find someone you can trust.  Find out who your friends are using.  There are too many people out there who can take advantage of you. Also many of shops these days have websites with coupons on them.  So print those bad boys and save a little while you are it.