How Are You Saving Money On Gas?

I woke up Friday morning to a horrifying story on the morning news: gas prices in Orlando, Florida are at $5.69 per gallon and could hit $6 nationwide by summer. A wave of terror ran through my body because I think current gas prices are outrageous.

I drive 40 miles round-trip to Lake Forest each day five or six days a week and fill my car weekly (not because it's on empty but because I can't afford to let an 20 gallon tank get to empty). If I fill up in Arlington Heights, gas ranges between $4.24 and $4.39 per gallon, but filling up at Costco in Mettawa (practically across the street from my office) yesterday, I spent $3.99. I saved $4.60 or 10% of what I spent. The national average is $3.84, up $0.98 from a year ago, and in Chicago it's $4.18, up $1.10 from a year ago. Ouch.

Wanting to share the good news with my Lake Forest peeps, I sent the following tweet: "Hey Lake Forest peeps! Need gas? Costco on 60 is $3.99. FYI. @LFCollege @LFGSM #GasCostsTooMuch." I was immediately re-tweeted by my friend Carolyn who drives further than I do.

To avoid pain at the pump, some people are slugging. This was hugely popular in Washington, DC when I lived there in the 1990s. Slugging is when people share rides with total strangers. In DC, there were slug parking lots in Northern Virginia where people would park and then get in the slug line waiting for someone to pick them up. At the end of the day, there were a couple of designated pick-up spots on 14th Street where slug lines would form waiting for drivers. The idea of course, was to catch a ride in the morning with someone going near your destination because it would be rude to ask someone who'd just given you a free ride to out of their way and possibly be late for work. At the end of the day, you wanted to make sure you were getting in a car with someone headed to the I-395 slug lot rather than the I-66 slug lot so you ended up getting home in a reasonable amount of time. The benefit for the driver was that by having more than three people in their car, they could use the designated carpool lanes.

How are you saving money on gas? Are you telecommuting more? Does your company have alternative work arrangements where you could work four longer days and have a fifth off or work hours that allowed you to miss rush hour? In mid-May, I can officially start telecommuting on a regular schedule and I can't wait.

In addition to filling up at Costco and telecommuting when I can, I have eliminated the one-off errands. Now I run errands in bulk and I make sure get all my groceries in one trip. Last weekend I actually did a cost analysis of driving versus taking the train into Chicago on a Sunday. Driving ended up being less expensive because I had free parking, wouldn't need to take any taxis as I would getting off the train, and because the train schedule simply wouldn't allow for convenient commuting times.

Do you check gas prices online before heading out? My favorite online tool is Gas Buddy. Just type in your zip code and it pulls up local gas prices from lowest to highest. While John McCain may not believe it to be true, keeping your tires properly inflated increases your gas mileage and driving the speed limit, reducing excess weight in your car, avoiding excess idling, using cruise control, and using overdrive gears also helps with gas mileage.

Because I believe the days of low gas prices are long gone, it's imperative on each of us to insist our elected officials to invest in alternative fuel and demand all car manufacturers produce the most fuel-efficient cars they can, along with producing more hybrid and electric cars that run longer between charging.

In the meantime, let's share the wealth on gas-saving tips.

Government Bailout Solution - Damn I'm Brilliant

My cell phone notified me this morning through Fox News (seriously, I throw up a little everytime I remember that my phone gets streaming news only from FauxNews) that Exxon Mobil reported record profits for 2008. $45.2 BILLION.

We all know where this came from: $4.50 per gallon gas.

$4.50 was the necessary price, my ass. If it $4.50 per gallon was required because the cost of oil demanded it, then Exxon Mobil shouldn't be showing $45.2 BILLION in profits.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the Big 3 Automakers are struggling to make it from day to day. And the Federal Government helped them out to the tune of $14 BILLION in a bridge loan last month.

It seems to me that the Exxon Mobil can thank automakers for these windfall profits. I mean, without cars, who would Exxon Mobil sell the majority of its gas to? And if the Big 3 fail, I don't really see Exxon Mobil having another banner year.

What if, instead of the Federal Government handing the Big 3 $14 Billion with all kinds of strings attached, the Feds turned to Exxon and said, "You've got the biggest stake in a healthy auto industry of anyone in the country. In 2008, you screwed all Americans with your price gouging and as your punishment, we're going to require you to turn over your entire $45.2 BILLION to the Big 3 in order to help them get back on their feet."

That's a win-win. Good jobs would stay in America. The Big 3 would have plenty of money to bring new, more fuel efficient cars onto the market. Taxpayers wouldn't be shelling out additional money to help Detroit. And Exxon Mobil would learn that there's a new sheriff in town and grown-ups are now in charge. There's no more free rides like under W.

This idea is free, Mr. President. Consider it an inauguration gift.

The Joke's On You John McCain

Why does John McCain have to be so out of touch with the 21st century? It's well-documented that he doesn't know how to use the internet or email. He routinely messes up the borders of Iraq, Iran, and Pakistan. He's not sure which countries exist and which ones don't. (And foreign policy IS his thing, he claims). He freely admits that the economy ISN'T his thing. And now, he has decided to make fun of Barack for offering a no-cost idea on how to help reduce our continual pain at the pump, without taking money out of the federal coffers.



Is John McCain so out of touch because he's old? Does he just not care? Does he think we are all just stupid lemmings (no offense meant to lemmings)?



Whatever the answer, the joke's on him. It turns out properly maintaining our cars and keeping tires properly inflated significantly increases gas mileage. Of course, improved gas mileage might impact Exxon's $1500 PER SECOND profits and we sure wouldn't want to do that.



The Tire-Gauge Solution: No Joke
Monday, Aug. 04, 2008 By MICHAEL GRUNWALD on Time.com



How out of touch is Barack Obama? He's so out of touch that he suggested that if all Americans inflated their tires properly and took their cars for regular tune-ups, they could save as much oil as new offshore drilling would produce. Gleeful Republicans have made this their daily talking point; Rush Limbaugh is having a field day; and the Republican National Committee is sending tire gauges labeled "Barack Obama's Energy Plan" to Washington reporters.



But who's really out of touch? The Bush Administration estimates that expanded offshore drilling could increase oil production by 200,000 bbl. per day by 2030. We use about 20 million bbl. per day, so that would meet about 1% of our demand two decades from now. Meanwhile, efficiency experts say that keeping tires inflated can improve gas mileage 3%, and regular maintenance can add another 4%. Many drivers already follow their advice, but if everyone did, we could immediately reduce demand several percentage points. In other words: Obama is right.


In fact, Obama's actual energy plan is much more than a tire gauge. But that's not what's so pernicious about the tire-gauge attacks. Politics ain't beanbag, and Obama has defended himself against worse smears. The real problem with the attacks on his tire-gauge plan is that efforts to improve conservation and efficiency happen to be the best approaches to dealing with the energy crisis — the cheapest, cleanest, quickest and easiest ways to ease our addiction to oil, reduce our pain at the pump and address global warming. It's a pretty simple concept: if our use of fossil fuels is increasing our reliance on Middle Eastern dictators while destroying the planet, maybe we ought to use less.


The RNC is trying to make the tire gauge a symbol of unseriousness, as if only the fatuous believed we could reduce our dependence on foreign oil without doing the bidding of Big Oil. But the tire gauge is really a symbol of a very serious piece of good news: we can use significantly less energy without significantly changing our lifestyle. The energy guru Amory Lovins has shown that investment in "nega-watts" — reduced electricity use through efficiency improvements — is much more cost-effective than investment in new megawatts, and the same is clearly true of nega-barrels. It might not fit the worldviews of right-wingers who deny the existence of global warming and insist that reducing emissions would destroy our economy, or of left-wing Earth-firsters who insist that maintaining our creature comforts would destroy the world, but there's a lot of simple things we can do on the demand side before we start rushing to ratchet up supply.


We can use those twisty carbon fluorescent lightbulbs. We can unplug our televisions, computers and phone chargers when we're not using them. We can seal our windows, install more insulation and adjust our thermostats so that we waste less heat and air-conditioning. We can use more-efficient appliances, build more-efficient homes and drive more-efficient cars, preferably with government assistance. And, yes, we can inflate our tires and tune our engines, as Republican governors Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and Charlie Crist of Florida have urged, apparently without consulting the RNC. While we're at it, we can cut down on idling, which can improve fuel economy another 5%, and cut down on speeding and unnecessary acceleration, which can increase mileage as much as 20%.


And that's just the low-hanging fruit. There are other ways to reduce demand for oil — more public transportation, more carpooling, more telecommuting, more recycling, less exurban sprawl, fewer unnecessary car trips, buying less stuff and eating less meat — that would require at least some lifestyle changes. But things like tire gauges can reduce gas bills and carbon emissions now, with little pain and at little cost and without the ecological problems and oil-addiction problems associated with offshore drilling. These are the proverbial win-win-win solutions, reducing the pain of $100 trips to the gas station by reducing trips to the gas station. And Americans are already starting to adopt them, ditching SUVs, buying hybrids, reducing overall gas consumption. It's hard to see why anyone who isn't affiliated with the oil industry would object to them.


Of course, in recent years, the Republican Party has been affiliated with the oil industry. It was the oilman Dick Cheney who dismissed conservation as a mere sign of "personal virtue," not a basis for energy policy. It was the oilman George W. Bush who resisted efforts to regulate carbon emissions. And most congressional Republicans have been even more reliable water carriers for the industry's interests.


John McCain has been a notable exception. He is not an oilman; he has pushed to regulate carbon emissions; and he opposed Bush's pork-stuffed energy bill, which Obama supported. He also opposed efforts to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and until recently opposed new offshore drilling. But now that gas prices have spiked, McCain is running for President on a drill-first platform, and polls suggest that most Americans agree with him. It's sad to see his campaign adopting the politics of the tire gauge, promoting the fallacy that Americans are powerless to address their own energy problems. Because the truth is: Yes, we can. We already are.



(Emphasis mine)

Question of the Day

Today I had a bunch of errands to run just like any typical weekend day. I had to run to Costco, followed by a trip to Target to return something, and then finally the grocery store for the first time in close to 3 weeks (I was gone one of those weeks, in my defense).

As I got back into my car at Target on my way to the grocery store, I realized I had forgotten my recyclable grocery bags. They're usually in my car, but I forgot to put them back. So I had to decide whether I should skip the bags and just use paper bags from Jewel that I can then use to recycle paper in OR should I drive 2 miles home, get the bags and drive 2 miles back to Jewel?

After 30 seconds of pondering which was worse for the environment - 4 extra miles of pollution or paper bags that I could reuse - I decided to head straight to the grocery store.

What would you do? Would you drive home, wasting gas and adding pollution to the environment on an already hot and sticky Chicago summer day OR would you go straight to the grocery store and use their free paper (or plastic) bags that you could reuse later?

Discuss.

Gas Tax Holiday - Good or Bad?

One of John McCain's favorite ideas is the Gas Tax Holiday. He spoke about it this morning (link to follow).

A Gas Tax Holiday is a period of time when there are no taxes on gasoline. In this case, it would be Federal Taxes. State and/or local taxes would remain. If you drive a regular car, you would save, in theory, 18.4 cents per gallon. If you use diesel, in theory, you would save 24.4 cents per gallon.

There are a few things I don't understand about this idea.

1. On McCain's own website, he's a total of 4 lines to this idea. So you don't have to click on the link, here's his policy: "John McCain Believes We Should Institute A Summer Gas Tax Holiday. Hard-working American families are suffering from higher gasoline prices. John McCain calls on Congress to suspend the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day." Hasn't he thought more about his favorite idea?

2. Originally, he proposed that the Gas Tax Holiday would run from Memorial Day to Labor Day, but recently, the AP reported that he wanted to extend it without saying how long he wants to extend it. Specifics. I'd like specifics.

3. It seems to me that the 18.4 or 24.4 cents per gallon is not just "fun money," but rather it is used to pay for things such as roads, schools, and the like. These aren't luxuries, like a trip to Dairy Queen might be. We need these things. Where will the money come from to pay for them if we have a Gas Tax Holiday? Or will we have a tax increase after the tax is reinstated to recover the money lost during the Gas Tax Holiday?

4. Gas station owners claim that despite $4+ per gallon prices, they are struggling and only make about 10 - 12 cents per gallon and that gets eaten up with credit card charges. The idea behind a Gas Tax Holiday is that the price of gas will go down from say $4.18 a gallon (with the tax) to $4 a gallon (without the tax), but what's the motivation for the gas station that's been struggling, and in some cases losing money, to lower their prices? Won't they just think to themselves "thank goodness! I can finally make up some of those profits I've been losing?" I know you're thinking that if the Shell station on one corner lowers their prices, the BP across the street will follow. But what if none of them lower their prices? They're certainly not required to do so.

5. Won't people be even more irritated when the Federal Gas Tax is reinstated? And then what?

6. Would John and Cindy McCain be willing to personally cover the financial losses to the Federal Government from their vast beer fortune?

Discuss.

Best Garage Sale Find. Ever.

Last weekend I had a garage sale. It was a ton of work, but very successful.

About 11:00 on Friday morning, a man probably in his mid-60s rode up on this very old moped. When I commented on how cool his moped was, he told me he got it was a 1978 moped he bought at a garage sale 3 years ago for $25! When he bought it, it wasn't working and he stuck it in his storage shed planning to eventually get around to fixing it.

With gas over $4 a gallon, he decided to start putzing around with the bike and discovered that the carburetor needed to be cleaned. Once he cleaned the carburetor, the moped started right up and purred like a kitten.

The best part is the moped gets 85 miles per gallon! Of course, it only goes 32 mph max, but for running errands in Arlington Heights, that's perfect.

He said it was the best $25 he ever spent!

Greatest $15 Insurance Policy I'll Ever Buy

In light of the fact that gas is now $4.299 per gallon, I decided that should better protect my gas tank. For as much as I love my Honda Civic (have I mentioned it gets over 30 mpg before?), the one thing it doesn't have is a locking gas cap. Sure, it has a lever that I pull from the inside to flip the little door open, but once you're past that hurdle, my gas is your gas. Now, I haven't heard of rampent gas siphoning in Arlington Heighs (or anywhere), but I'm sure it happens. I don't need my neighbor to get burglarized (note: that's not my street, but it is my town) before I think to lock my doors and the same applies to my car's gas tank.

So today, among my other errands, I ran into Pep Boys to purchase a locking gas cap. The clerk told me they can't keep these things in stock! And I was pleasantly surprised to discover it was only $15, which is more than it used to cost me to fill up my Honda, but I digress. I don't think any car "fix it" has ever cost less than an arm and a leg and given the laws of supply and demand, you can imagine my pleasant surprise at the cheap price.

I'd like to encourage you to spend $15 on a locking gas cap. It will give you peace of mind and protect your investment in that tank of gas. The gas you might save will be your own.

It's The Little Things . . .

This morning while I was out running errands, I noticed that one of the three gas stations in a triangle about a mile from my house, had raised their gas prices from $4.169 yesterday to $4.299 today! Ouch! That meant that the other two would be quickly following suit.

So I hightailed it home, grabbed my gas can which was also empty, and went straight back to the "cheap" gas station where I filled up my car and gas can for $4.169 a gallon. For the 10 gallons I needed, that meant $41.69, which I was certainly not happy to spend. Luckily, I drive a 1995 Honda Civic and get over 30 mpg.

After my quick fill-up, I had to run another errand directly across the street and I made certain to tell everyone I came in contact with to fill up ASAP because the two remaining "cheap" stations were probably going to raise their prices any second.

As I pulled out of the parking lot, not 10 minutes after my fill-up, the gas station attendant was out at the sign manually raising the price per gallon to $4.299. YES! YEAH FOR ME!

Now I know that I only saved 13 cents per gallon - or $1.30 total - but it was the principle of the matter. It is $1.30 that I didn't have to turn over to Big Oil.

So my advice to you today is to fill up if you see relatively cheap gas. And remember, in Cook County the price won't go down after the 4th of July Holiday because of the new sales tax increase that went into effect today.