by Mike Mulhern

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

I've been living in denial. When gas prices entered the "ludicrous" range this year my weekly fill-up began reaching the $50 mark. That was where I'd stop pumping, because the idea of spending more than 50 bucks on a tank of gas was more than I could stomach. "See, it's still just $50," I'd think to myself. "No worries!"

Of course, that made a fill-up turn into a "most-up" and turned a weekly task into something that happened every five days. But denial can be a happy place to live.

Crazy gas prices have also been affecting my day-to-day activities in little ways. If my girlfriend asked if I wanted to drive out to meet her for lunch I'd make up some excuse not to. If a new restaurant in the city appealed to my girlfriend I'd say, "Hmm, why don't we just go to Mike's down the street." My girlfriend would suggest a nice drive in the country and I'd say, "Nah, let's stay home and play computer games instead.

Now that I find myself single I have plenty of time to figure out ways of squeezing the most out of every gallon. Several methods have come to mind and, unlike my New Years resolution to get in shape, I'm sticking to these, no matter what. After all, this isn't just my health and well-being we're talking about, there's real money involved!

Fill Those Tires. I conducted a little experiment a few months ago when my tires looked low. Rather than put air in them right away, I drove for one full tank of gas on the low tires then inflated them for my next tank, checking the mileage each time. The tank with fully inflated tires got me 25 extra miles. Ok, the savings won't lead to early retirement, but a little air can go a long way.

Make That Routine Maintenance Actually Routine. I hate taking my car into the garage. I always feel like the mechanics are laughing at me behind my back. Ok, so I have a couple of Glamour magazines in my back seat, is that so strange? But keeping that oil changed, replacing the air filter and getting a tune-up can all improve gas mileage. So I'm taking the plunge, throwing a blanket over any embarrassing items, and letting the mechanics do their thing.

Stop Idling. I'm a habitual idler. It's a sickness, really. I'm idling all the time, when I'm waiting to pick someone up, in the drive-thru line, chatting with friends - I've had hour-long conversations in an idling car! I believe I'm personally responsible for at least a dozen melted glaciers by now. Well, no more idling for me. They say if you're going to idle for any longer than one minute

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