Limit Your Driving in Order to Save Money
With gas prices rising, driving can become an expensive hassle. A little planning can reduce the amount of driving you do, and save money and time.
Steps
- Start-Walking-for-Exercise, bike, Ride-the-Community-Bus or join a carpool. Don't just use these options for getting back and forth from work, but all the time.
- Reduce your commute by moving closer to work or working closer to home. This will save time as well as money. You may even be able to save even more money by becoming a one-car family.
- Combine trips. If you can do several short trips in one longer trip, you will save fuel and time. Internet map programs such as Google Maps and certain GPS devices allow convenient or even automated re-ordering of destinations to save distance and time. Make lists to avoid having to go back. Call ahead to avoid wasted trips.
- Create an errand routine. For example, designate Wednesday afternoon as errand day, and make sure family members know that this is the day for grocery shopping, post office visits, and other nearby outings.
- Walk between stops. Some of your stops may be near each other. Park between some or all of them and walk.
- Park in the first spot you find. If you wander all over the parking lot looking for that really close parking space, you'll use more gas. Don't be afraid to walk from the far end of the parking lot if it comes to that, the walk will do you good!
- When choosing a car look for one with an at least moderate-sized and not cumbersomely-shaped trunk. Organize it with the equipment needed for common outing types such as a picnic (for instance, blanket, small cooler perhaps collapsible, cheap camera, etc) to avoid unnecessary trips home; a FEW extra pounds in a several-thousand-pounds car will consume much less fuel than a few unnecessary trips home, and no time. Consider keeping simple equipment for carrying oversized items (at least a bungee to close the trunk over a slightly oversized item) on hand, but be sure to know how to use that safely.
Tips
- Limiting driving is not only good for your economy, but also for the environment.
