by Natalie Haywood

Created on: May 24, 2008   Last Updated: May 28, 2008

20 Ways of Coping with High Gas Prices

The state of economy and imminent recession worries me, particularly the cost of gas. The cost of gas was keeping up at night until I found creative ways of stretching my budget to find gas money.

1. Start a petty cash jar or box. I found that there was extra cash at the bottom of my purse that I could stash away in cigar box for gas.

2. Designate a credit card account for the sole purpose of an emergency gas card. It is easier and cost effective to look in your wallet and find the credit card with the smallest balance and lowest interest rate.

3. Coordinating errands by location and purpose. I found that coordinating errands by location and purpose saves gas and time. I noticed that the post office is near my daughter's school and the grocery store is near the dry cleaners.

4. Plan meals using staples rather than recipes. Planning meals by staples cut down on trips to the grocery store to buy additional items. I also by staples in bulk so that I have them on hand as needed.

5. Sort and use coupons when items are on sale. Most stores will allow you to combine manufacturer coupons with existing sales prices as well as in store rebate programs.

6. Allow plenty of time to reach destinations. Driving faster uses more gas, not to mention increases the likelihood of a car accident.

7. Limit highway driving. Yes, driving the highways saves time but it does not save money. Cars burn more gas on the highway than local streets because of elevated speed.

8. Do not idle the car or warm it in the summer. Warming up the car in the drive way during warm weather burns unnecessary gas. Driving a little slower rather than warming up the car saves gas.

9. Carpool whenever possible. I found that after school functions used a lot of gas. I started carpooling with other parents to save money.

10. Find cheaper forms of entertainment. My favorite form of entertainment is going to the movies. I found that nearly all opening movies have free premiers. Check for cinema promotions to save even more money on concessions. We saved a whopping $27 dollars.

11. Limit buying frappes and other costly coffee drinks from coffee shops. I found that I was buying costly frappes 5 days per week at a cost of nearly $4 each. I found recipes for home made frappe that taste relatively close to the coffee shop frappes for a fraction of the cost.

12. Listen to music on the Internet. There are many websites that allow you to listen to music and view music videos for free.

13.

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>