I don't know about you, but the continued increase in
the cost of gas that we are paying at the gas pump is kicking me where
it hurts! What's that you say? I say in my wallet and I'm sure you may
be feeling this same pain as well. I'm sure you're wondering like me,
how high will the gas prices go? Some predict that the fuel prices may
escalate to $10.00 or more a gallon at the pump. I don't know about
you, at that point or even possibly sooner the price hitting that
level, there is really no point in going to work! You would be probably
working to pay for gas to go into your vehicle and virtually nothing
else. Most people are average folks just trying to make it in our
economy and it would be difficult for them to manage paying high gas
prices that continue to go up! As a matter of fact, it may already be
difficult for some people. We are already at record level gas prices at
the present time. In some places the price for regular unleaded gas is
already over $4.00 per gallon and steadily approaching $5.00 per gallon
as of this writing. It appears that the future outlook on the gas
prices coming down are bleak and the stress on our wallets will
continue.
High gas prices impact almost everything we try to do
in some form. That's right, most everything we do we are impacted by
the high price we are paying for gas. The higher gas prices eventually
trickle down to cost us more in such areas as: food, clothing, airfare,
utilities, entertainment, retail products, etc... Just think, we are
getting hit left and right with increased fees in these areas due to
the high price that we are currently paying for gas and appears will
continue to pay for a long period of time. Some think the high gas
prices are here to stay. So much for having extra money to spend on
other things! We're going to be busy trying to put the money we have
towards gas for our vehicles to get from point A to point B. We'll be
trying to make sure we have enough money to purchase gas to get to work
and necessary places we need to go. We find that we really do not have
much money left to spend for unnecessary purchases, entertainment or
other activities.
What can we do to help ourselves in these hard
times while we're trying to deal with our anxiety and sometimes anger
over these extremely high prices we are paying for gas? Here are some
tips that you may want to consider to help you cope. You may find that
you have already started to make some of these adjustments already:
1)
Consider using public transportation if this is something you can
realistically do. The modes of public transportation you may consider
would be: bus, train and car pooling.
2) If you have a bicycle, consider using this mode of transportation for local short trips if this would be realistic of course.
3)
Go to places that are necessary and actually needed. In other words if
it is something you want to do and it is not needed, don't do it.
Consider letting your needs supersede your wants to save in your wallet
on gas. For example, necessary trips would be: work, school, doctor
appointments, etc....
4) Reduce your leisure, entertainment and
travel commuting distances. Consider doing more of these activities at
home or near your home.
5) Consider purchasing a vehicle if this
is within your budget to assist you in reducing the cost you are paying
for your overall fuel costs. Look for vehicles that provide higher
mpg(miles per gallon) for the freeway and city. You may want to even
consider a hybrid vehicle.
6) Slow down! Reduce your speed on the
roadways you travel on. This will also assist you in better fuel
economy. Put less petal to the metal!
7) Try to make your trips
to the places you need to go count. Make a list beforehand of the
places you need to travel and consider consolidating your trips. This
means instead of making several multiple trips you combine
trips(consolidate) by going to the place you need to go along the way
and your list will assist you with this. For example, if you need to go
to your local grocery store, cleaners and post office, just plan to
make one trip instead of three separate trips back and forth from your
home. You would take your list and stop at each place you need to along
the way and strategically make sure that you plan your stops based on
where these particular places are located. This really can work well if
you plan your list ahead of time. Just by doing this you can save on
gas!
8) Try to locate and compare prices of gas stations in your
area to determine who has the lowest price on fuel and consider going
there for gas. A good way to do this is when you are driving to the
places you need to go, just observe the gas station prices along the
way and you will be able to determine which locations have the best
prices for your money.
9) Talk to your relatives, friends,
neighbors, coworkers and others on the gas stations they are getting
their gas from. You can compare with each other on which gas stations
have the lowest prices to get your fuel from. You would be helping each
other. This is similar to networking.
10) Make sure your tires are property inflated. This can also assist in providing you with better fuel economy.
11)
Count from one to ten and try to relax before you start to pump your
gas to assist you in relieving your anxiety and stress over the amount
of money you will be paying for the gas you are about to put into your
vehicle.
Who knows whether or not we may get some relief on the
amount of money we're spending on gas. However, it is unclear if this
will happen anytime soon. In the short and long run we must do what we
have to do to help ourselves through this major problem that is
affecting our wallets. So, do what you can to help yourself and your
family to reduce the amount of money you may be spending on gas.
