Ah yes. Gasoline. It keeps going up, up, up in price. As does home heating oil. We use both. I don’t know what gas prices are in your neck of the woods, but it’s about $3.72/gallon here. $3.65 if you pay with cash. Right off the top of my head, here are my ideas about saving money on gasoline.
Tip #1 – Pay at the pump with cash if you can. We are guilty of using our card when we buy gas. Today, I had to put some gas in the car and I had some cash in my wallet. I definitely saved a bit of money.
Tip #2 – Get your oil changed regularly. We have an older car – a 2001 Honda CR-V. Hondas are great cars and ours is pretty solid. One thing we make sure we do is get the oil changed every 3000 miles. Someone once told me that if the only thing you do is get your oil changed regularly, you’re way ahead of the game with your car. Dirty oil has an affect on gas mileage.
Tip #3 – Make sure your tires are inflated correctly. Tires that are overinflated or underinflated can mess with your gas mileage. And with your tires.
Tip #4 – Do all your errands at one time. This is a big one for me. We have one car. Don uses it to go back and forth to work and that uses up a lot of gas. When he was training for his job, he would encourage me to drop him off, take the car home, and then go back at the end of the day to pick him up. I did it occasionally when I needed the car. But mostly, I actively discouraged doing it because that made for two round-trips instead of one. A waste of gasoline.
Here’s another example: Yesterday, I went to Trader Joe’s. I was sick with a cold, knew I had to get some food in the house and decided to do it sooner rather than later, as I tend to feel worse the second or third day of a cold. So I sat down and figured out what else I needed: to go to Michael’s, Lowe’s, the bank and Target. All quick stops and all on the way to the highway that takes me to Trader Joe’s. It made for a long day, but I ultimately saved on gas because I did everything at once.
If we need to deposit a check in our local bank, I have Don do it at the branch that is on his way to work, rather than make an extra trip in the other direction to our home branch.
Tip #5: No fast starts and stops. Steady is the key. I learned that a long time ago, as I used to have a lead foot. Those starts and stops waste a lot of gas.
Tip #6: If you can shop online, do that rather than use gas for endless trips to the mall. It’s far less stressful, to boot. You can sit, sipping tea, at your home computer. No traffic jams, no crazy drivers. Less money spent on gas.
Tip #7: Think twice before you hop in the car. Don and I often decide whether or not we should do something (drive into the city, go to Trader Joe’s) by how much gas the trip might use. The only way I can validate a trip to TJ’s is if I run other necessary errands along the way. We no longer take spontaneous drives (unless it’s in the neighborhood.)
Tip #8: If you can, get rid of your gas-guzzler. Some cars are just plain gas eaters. And no one except the wealthy can afford that nowadays.
As for home heating oil, which I’m including in this post because it’s all oil, many, many homes out here in the East use home heating oil. I grew up in Michigan where we had a gas furnace. Not here. So we have regular deliveries of heating oil to pay for. And if gasoline prices are going up, you can rest assured that home heating oil prices are also going up. Thankfully, this mild winter has saved us some money.
Tip #9: Keep your heat turned down and wear layers. Definitely turn your heat down at night. You’ll save a lot of money. Also, do the usual energy checks: are there drafts, is cold air leaking in anywhere? We use those draft snakes at the base of both our outside doors. They really make a difference. Turning the thermostat down a degree or two will make a big difference in your heating oil costs.
Please feel free to share any tips you might have on this subject. We can all learn from each other. And please visit Brenda, Jen, Elaine and Diane (the rest of the Frugal Five) for their ideas on this subject.
Ahh, I’m jealous! Here our gasoline is around $9.80/gallon. Over the summer it was over $10! We also use heating oil and it’s quite expensive – as of this coming October, it will be the same price as gasoline, now it’s about 20% cheaper. One thing we have found is that our car gets significantly better mileage with the slightly higher octane gasoline, the one that’s one step up from regular. It actually works out cheaper for us because of the better mileage. It also seems to be the case that stick shift is more efficient than automatic; not sure how true that is anymore but ours is manual transmission and we get good mileage. I’m enjoying your frugal posts! Keep them coming :)
When I’m going to shop – especially if it’s a great sale – I’ll call my friends in the neighborhood and ask if they need this product or anything else while I’m at such and such a store. Also, if I go into a store and see something at a great price that I know one of my friends uses I’ll call her and ask if she wants me to pick it up for her. We all do this for each other – saves a bit of gas and money. Bonus: Gives us a chance to talk to each other.
Combining errands is a great idea. I need to do that.
Such great information! Things we all need to know to make the little changes to save money! Thanks for this informative post! ♥ I hope you are feeling better today! ♥
Great post Claudia this is what I do for a living my family owns a BP garage /gas station in N.C and all the tips
Will help huge! Have a great day!
Since retirement, I’ve been adamant about my trips into town. Being a listmaker, I do like you do, make a list and hit all the stops in one trip. On a “successful” week, I make only one trip into town.
The thought has crossed my mind more than once that we should get rid of the second vehicle and make do with just one; that would be a real money saver! But since hubby works such long hours, I’d have to do all my errands at night or on weekends. Since both vehicles are paid for, we decided to hang onto them both, but I feel kinda guilty and greedy about that. If only we lived closer to public transportation…
Thanks for the tips, I’m loving this series!
Thanks for all the tips.
I do need to get my oil changed.
I find gas is cheaper here usually on Wednesdays.
If we shop at Krogers or Giant Eagle we gt money off our gas. Aldo if we buy gift cards from those places it takes money off the gas. A friend remodeled their bathroom. They bought Lowe’s gift cards at the grocery and got free gas.
The price is something we can’t do alot about. Little tips can help. I can cut back my driving but not my husband driving an hour to and from work. Thanks for all the tips.
Love the old pumps.
Very good information. I drove for a courier service for awhile. The company kept the vehicles in great shape, following the same advice you’ve listed on tire inflation, regular oil changes and so on. My boss always stressed your tip #5, no fast starts and stops. We used a fleet credit card for our gas, and he could get monthly printouts that showed very detailed information on fuel usage and it showed how many miles per gallon each driver was getting. As a new driver, a couple of times I had the worse miles per gallon of the crew, and he said it probably was because of fast starts and stops. I was sure I didn’t do such a thing! I didn’t drive like a race car driver. But, I started focusing on being slower about it, and my miles per gallon did indeed improve.
At home, We heat with natural gas, and have a central furnace plus a little backup heater in the living area. We keep the thermostat on the big furnace set low, wear warm sweaters and socks, and then turn on the little heater now and then to take the chill off the main room. For us, that results in less fuel usage.
Hope you feel better soon.
I love these posts so much. We heat with propane and turn our thermostat down too. If I am really cold and adding layers doesn’t help I will sometime light a half dozen pillar candles in the room we are in for awhile. Sounds strange, but I swear it helps. We also put tension rods with heavy curtains at the doorway to our enclosed porch because it’s hard to keep all of the drafts out of that room – our home is older and it almost seems impossible to get that porch draft-proof :) Thanks for all these tips Claudia!
Hubby and I both grew up in the cold Midwest, so we knew what winter weather could do to household energy bills. We then lived in Arizona for many years and one of the ways we kept the heat out was proper window coverings or bushy outdoor vegetations that would cover the windows on the west side of the house. Now that we once again live where there is winter weather, the first thing we purchased for this home was lined curtains for our windows. This makes for, of course, a dark home in the winter months, but glass is a huge transferer of cold into the house. It was a large expense at first to purchase the lined curtains, but in the long run we save on heating costs.
Gorgeous gas pump photos Claudia :D
Petrol (to we Brits) is easily the equivalent of $7.00 a gallon here (I looked it up) … scary huh! I shall read all the Thrifty 5’s tips avidly
I am making sure a tank of gas is lasting me 2 weeks, with my drive into st louis for work. And we are keeping our heat on 68 or more like 66 and are not turning the heat on the 2nd floor…we only are up there to sleep or take a shower. I think it has helped keep the $$ gas bill down.
We burn wood in a wood stove at our yellow house and it has a blower and when used regularly it saves us about one hundred dollars a month in heating bills. That is huge for us. I gladly carry wood down the hill for that. Because of Joe’s job our gas bill is so enormous I try not to think about it. If I drive about 55-60mph on the highway, in my Mini, I get about 42mpg which is why we bought that car used. I directed my readers here today. I also love the phrase “The Frugal Five.”
Wow, that first comment from the woman in Greece put it all in perspective for me for sure! Wowsa!
Love the pics of the old-fashioned pumps. I hate the ones we have nowadays.
Brenda
I have “don’t go into town if I don’t have at least 3 errands to run” guideline, even though it’s only a 5 minute drive. I won’t call it a “rule” since I will bend on some things – I’ll be going into town this afternoon for just 1 thing, but it’s to pick up my daughter from an activity, so it’s an IMPORTANT 1 thing! :) I’ve discovered that, as unrelated as they may seem, making a weekly meal plan has cut down my trips a lot, as well as having a running “What do we need?” list on the fridge. Hubby and kids know that if they need it, they should write it down and it will, eventually, be purchased, just don’t expect it to happy today!
Love the advice. We have a CRV as well and love it, and we also keep our cars for a long time, too. Combining errands is also key. I hope you feel better. I had that cold last month. Eat fresh naval oranges!
Great tips Claudia! I try to do all of the above. Plus, the grocery store I shop at gives a cash back bonus toward gas and I use my credit card for both the groceries and the gas and get the cash back bonus from the credit card too. Since I spend so much on food these days (teens) I usually save between .60 to 1.00 per gallon. I try to drive around until I’m running on fumes-then fill up!
I also do all my errands at once-I run to the gym and on my way back stop for groceries and Home Goods & Marshall’s are right their too-in case I need something!
Looking forward to more tips!
-Lynn
We have always been “low income” by choice…pastoring a church in a rural poor area with no retirement and living on a very small income and now small social security. But with more blessings than we can count! Your series is a good reminder to everyone. I am following you now and look forward to your posts. There is always something more to learn about living responsibly.
Ruth
Good stuff. Hope you are feeling better soon!
I’ve been using cash to pay for gasoline for the past three months or so. I LOVE not having that credit card bill at the end of the month.
Combining errands is a big one. Another benefit is that I find I’m less frazzled from running all those little trips. Saves gas, time and nerves!
Loving this series, Claudia.
I looked for work that was less than a 15 minute commute, I too only do one “errand day” to save gas and my 9 year old Hyundai just turned over to 60,000 miles..so yes I conserve but because I want to for the environment… And yes I would love a smaller more fuel efficient car but since I paid cash for this one and have never had a car payment I will run this one until she stops :D ..and I need the room, I am always hauling stuff home from curbs or helping friends haul their stuff here for sales… <3
Good series ladies!
xx
z
I did a “two-for” Claudia to conserve comments ….hehe You both got the same …… I conserve EVERYWHERE <3
All good ideas. I’ve been bundling my errands for years. I have different directions I can go and I plan stops to shops in those areas. It does save money and time which is also precious to me. I have a Honda CR-V also and love it.
Be thankful you dont live on this side of the pond- our gas is equivalent to $11 a gallon!! but then we drive smaller cars that do 60+ to the gallon so it evens out that way.Its still crazy prices though, we do all our errands on the way to/from work so there are no extra journeys.
Bio Diesel is becoming a thing here too- people are making it from recycled vegetable oil.If we had an outbuilding to make it in, we would be doing that too.
Some very helpful tips you’ve given xx
Husband drives 160 mile round trip to work in Chicago. We have two vw diesels and are looking for the third. They’re fantastic (50mpg+). We also have a stick white 2001 CRV. My fovorite car of all time, now my oldest son is driving it. He rear-ended another car two years ago after gettting his DL. Insurance wanted to total it because of the cost of the airbags, but the adjuster told us they’re built like a tank and fixed it for us.
Agree with all the great tips, but how do you classify Target, Lowes, and Micheals as ‘quick stop’?
Again, if anyone from Trader Joe’s reads this blog, please come to Rockford, please, please, pretty please!!
LOL! My tip to save home heating oil – close that window! DH said he felt a draft on his head. I think it was just last week that I noticed that the window latches were in the “open” position. Dunno how much heat we lost with the window not quite closed, but it sure is less drafty! :D
Yep, prices here around $10 a gallon. But we’re all still driving. Here’s another tip to save a little on gas: remove everything you don’t need from your car. The lighter the car, the less gas it will use (isn’t that a great incentive to loose weight as well, haha!) So you may also want to think of filling it up only halfway, saves a lot of weight! It all adds up.
I so agree with shopping online. You can just google the name of the site and the word coupon and you will find coupons for discounts or free shipping–sometimes you can stack both on! Yay!
I hear you on the heating oil. My family is from the east and I know that can be difficult.
We have propane delivered. I just put aside a level amount each month and when it is time to fill, it is there (hopefully–unless I guess wrong! Yikes!) The mild winter (65 degrees today!) has really helped!
Some grocery stores around here (FL) are offering rewards cards that points can be put towards gas. Using those! Your idea of combining errands is the best, I think. I am fortunate, everything I “need” is within 5 miles of me. But still, we all like to save…good tips. Ann
We just paid $3.74 a gallon for heating oil in VA- we have had a very mild winter but our old house is not insulated well and VERY drafty!
Hope you feel better!
All good tips!
#6 is one I enjoy doing.
Great tips!Here are a few things I do:
1) Keep the vehicles in shape with regular oil changes
2) Keep an ongoing list of errands on my “to do” list and do them at the same time.
3) Walk when possible ( the healthy choice )
4) Take the bus
5) Ride a bike
6) Carpool to events with friends
I’m enjoying the series, Thanks! sandy,
I just posted on Jenn’s blog about my granny car: a 2003 ford Taurus. Like sensible shoes, it fits. It’s paid for. Nothing exotic like the some of newer cars in the parking lot where I work: the lexis SUV or the prius electric, or big Dodge truck. No, just a sensible little car that gets me back and forth. I try to do as you suggest, though I can’t carpool or ride a bike to work since I live 15 miles out. On another note, I read your first post on Thrifty Living about your husband’s plight–an out of work actor. As an addicted soap follower, I probably know his face. I am so sad for him and his fellow actors and crew. I watched One Life to Live for all 43 years, from day one. I watched All My Children, though not as obsessively. When the shows were canceled I was so angry and not just because I wouldn’t have my snow anymore, but I thought of the out of work actors, the crews, the writers, the entire group of workers. I always saw them as real people with families. I admire their hard work and their talent and their craft. Please tell your husband how much we all loved them. Do I make any sense at all? I hate what ABC has done to daytime tv. Though I work most days, when I am home the TV is now silent. I hate the reality TV, so uninspired. I hope your husband finds work in the field that he loves.
Claudia, I love your thrifty living series. What a wonderful idea in this day of needing to tighten our belts. This is a great post with lots of wonderful ideas. Thanks for sharing!
Love the old gas pumps…too bad the price of gas isn’t still the same as what those old beauties pumped!
I drive a truck because I have property and animals that require a truck. Of course the gas mileage isn’t great so I absolutely think of trips in terms of how much it will cost to drive there. Lots of times it’s cheaper to buy online than drive the roundtrip. And we plan our errands much more than we used to. It all helps.
I am very fortunate in Florida to have an average year round monthly electric (no gas) bill for the house of around $70.00. It is less in the summer because we don’t use the airconditioning. I use space heaters in the winter months. We do have a pool that uses electricity, so you see we relatively use little else. I was able to really cut back when I truly comitted to solar clothes drying!! I don’t know how conducive to drying clothes on a line the northern days are, however, I do have a tip for dryer use for you. If your dryer is in your home, pile your clothes up for dryer time at night so that you get the benefit of warming the house before bed. Or, perhaps, morning drying would be better when you would prefer any extra heat added to the house while getting ready for the day. I do this here on a Winter morning or two and it works. Another thing I do is I put a cup over all the hot water spickets in the house so that we don’t automatically reach for hot water to wash up our hands every time. Using hot water should be a conscious effort because of its cost. One last thing, as you noted about the gasguzzler cars, Tom and I were fortunate that we bought and have paid off our Prius and Ford Escape Hybrid just in time for our “one job household” period. Our fingers are crossed that they remain a good investment for not only the environment but for us. Good fortune with all your cost savings endeavors; maybe a couple of my examples will help out also!!
I’ve been into “economy” driving for years now. Can make it down the mountain to the P.O. without brakes (without using the brakes that is – I do have brakes). Tourists are always in a hurry on the mountain roads, but I figure they can enjoy the scenery more and avoid a ticket by following a local girl in a pickup who’s not in a hurry. ;)
My dauther, SIL, & two little girls live in L.A. and do not own a car. They walk or catch the bus, and they are content with the arrangement. Think of the money one could save without a car to buy, maintain, gas up, license & purchase insurance for! If Hubby & I ever decide to move back to the city, we will do it without a car. Just find a place within walking distance to the grocery store.
Have a happy one, Claudia!
Zuzu