Have you started cutting back on how much you drive?

[leftyladyfrommo]

Ford says it won't make any difference even if prices go to $5. I think they are wrong. I am already questioning myself about driving around - do I really to go? Can I make all my runs at one time so I don't waste extra?

I just wish I lived where I could walk to the store and things. I could get one of those little wire baskets on wheels and just wheel my groceries back home. But it is too far.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. Actually, I just bought a gas guzzler.

I bought a full size van, although I guess that's better than the RVs that are so popular with the old bastards these days.

But what people don't seem to pay much attention to is that mileage is miles over gallons. If you want to save money you can either get a car with good mileage or do what I do- drive rarely and slow and easy. Somebody cue Foghat.

[otohara]

2. Totally

Luckily I live real close to the grocery store, and the other few places I go.

[napi21]

3. We started watching our driving habits several years ago!

We ALWAYS do all our shopping & ather stops on one day a week. I make a list of all the things we need to do, where we have to stop, and then organize the trip so there's no backtracking! NOW, I've extended me calculations to include considerations like "is that sale price enough to justify spending the gas to go get it?"

[Warpy]

4. I use an electric moped

for short trips when I don't have to haul a lot of stuff. I ride it wherever I'd ride a bicycle if my arthritis would still allow me to ride a bicycle.

It's got a range of about 25 miles and draws a whopping 24 watts at full charge. It's a hell of a lot more economical than even my 4 cylinder econobox of a car.

Check out scooters and mopeds as alternative transportation on nice days.

[grasswire]

5. I gave up my car four years ago

When my vintage Volvo gave up the ghost, I decided to go car-less. At the time, I lived in a place where the city bus stopped a block away and I could walk to four different grocery stores. Now I live in a place where the closest supermarket is eight blocks away and the city bus four blocks. I carry groceries unless the load is too big; then I take a taxi. We, in the household, just take a cab if it's pouring rain or we're out at night. It's cheaper than keeping a car, and more in keeping with our values.

You might want to consider the long-term ramifications of living away from public transportation and plan ahead.

[leftyladyfrommo]

7. I am on the bus line. The trouble is that the buses don't go

anywhere anyone needs to go. The one that goes by me runs every hour during the week and on Sat. No service on Suday. And it just goes downtown and then back. So you have to go downtown and transfer. It just takes for ever to get anywhere - that is if you can even get there.

But I could do it if I just need to get to the grocery store. Everything else I would have to take a cab.

But I saw where driving a car costs about 7,000 a year with gas & insurance and everything. I could take a lot of cabs for that amount of money.

I'm still not to the point where I will give up my Jeep - but I surely don't just go out and drive around for fun anymore.

[napi21]

8. I wish I could. I grew up in Pgh. Pa. I lived in a rather rural

community, but there was still bus serice; not every 1/2 hour like some of the more urban areas, but adequate. I rode the bus every day to work, or went to a ball game. Saved a LOT OF $ on parking fees alone! I was relocated to the South in 1987, and they just don't use public transportation like they do in the NE. I'm getting older now, and I've been looking for a house where I could walk to the grocery store, but I haven't found one. The few that I did find were either too expensive, or in a heavy crime area, and I'm too old and too chicken to deal with that. I've even looked into a senior condo where they have shuttle service, but all the ones I've found are really pricey.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. check your PM...

It's a website for my new place. I'm loving it, I can walk to anywhere, and there's a huge park behind me. Urban renewal at it's finest. :)

[MadHound]

9. No, I haven't cut back

Living out in the middle of nowhere, with the nearest store fifteen miles away, I learned long ago how to consolidate many errands into one trip.

What I have changed however is what I drive. Up until last September, I drove a '98 Nissan Frontier pickup. A modest four banger, it got decent gas mileage. But with rising gas prices, I took the opportunity to buy this:



A 2005 Bajaj Chetak scooter. It gets 100mpg, it cruises at 55-60mph. And I've alread put 3500 miles on it since then. I use it whenever possible for my daily commute, which is a fifty two mile round trip. Now I only get the truck out when it's raining, snowing, below thirty degrees, or when I actually need to haul someting for the farm. Other than that, it stays parked. If my wife and I need to go somewhere together, we have a '98 Honda Civic that gets over thirty mpg to travel in.

If you live in an area where you wouldn't have to use four lane highways, I highly recommend one of these scooters. With a nice top end, and four speed manual transmission(handlebar shifter), they keep up with traffic easily. They're fun to drive, have great handling, and are easy to maintain. The only caveat is that with a 145cc motor, in most states you are going to have to put plates on them, insure them, and get a motorcycle permit. Still and all though, they're well worth it. Current asking price is aprox. $2800.00. For more information check out <http://www. bajajusa.com>

[Kazak]

10. I only wish!!

One of these day I'll find work within walking distance (heck, one of these days we'll ALL have too).

[bryant69]

11. Yes.

I don't go to certain places in town unless i can make several stops at once - some book stores and record stores have lost my business to a certain extent because they are just too far to drive.

Bryant
check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[BiggJawn]

12. Nope.

I've already cut back. Consolidate errands, only one trip to town for shopping, and if I can't combine trips, I put it off. Unless it's a script refill, those are kinda important, and the pay cycle doesn't always let me wait unitl grocery night...

[Richard D]

13. A lot

And unfortunately, it's having an impact. I used to eat at a local cafe about 5 miles from my home 4 times a week or so. Now I'm down to a few times a month. THis is just one of many examples.

[shanti]

14. to a certain extent

i ride public transportation to work and live close to grocery stores, so i don't need to travel too far for the necessities.

however, my son plays competitive sports which requires twice (or more) weekly travel to practices, tournaments, etc. can't get out of that!

[seabeyond]

15. i always have been conservative in my driving

but..... for a couple years i have been especially conscious of my gas consumption

[MercutioATC]

16. Summer is when my low-mileage car comes out of storage...

I go from getting 32mpg (Honda) to 20mpg (Porsche).

Summers are more expensive, but I don't plan to drive any less.

[TheFarseer]

17. I did that about a year ago

I can't see how I can cut back much more unless I want to be totally anti-social and isolate myself.

[KatyaR]

18. Until this last January, I was able to get by on one tank of gas a month.

I started a new job which is a little farther away with more traffic, and now I'm using about a tank and a half. Still not bad, but it does add up.

I'm lucky in that I live less than a mile from a shopping center, my grocery store, a post office, a gas station, my bank, a Target, and several other shopping areas. I've learned to do all my shopping in those "corridors" to and from work each day. Ninety percent of the time I'm able to stay at home all weekend, and that helps me save gas and money.

I've always wanted to move back to my grandparents farm, but it's an hour commute from there to my present job, and I just can't afford it.

[Samurai_Writer]

19. I've always conserved on driving

I live 10 miles from the nearest store, gas station, laundromat, dumpster, recycle center, or anything else. Also from my work. I combine my errands and do them all on saturday morning -- dumpster, recycle center, gas station, car wash, laundromat and grocery store. I buy everything else online.

I drive a Toyota Tacoma pickup, which gets about 20 MPG. When Toyota comes out with their hybrids by 2012, I will be buying a hybrid Tacoma 4x4. I have rear-wheel drive now, and it's been tough getting up these roads in the winter, even with 240 pounds of sand bags in the back and studded snow tires.

[electron_blue]

20. yes, years ago. If people really want to make a difference, cut

back on everything. Now. Not just eliminating a few errands here and there, which will help you save maybe $50/month, but not really change anything in this country. Once oil gets high enough, everyone will be making cutbacks out of necessity that they could actually be making now.

The $ I've saved on gas isn't much, but at least it is more $ in my pocket and I'm less threatened by the manipulations of Bush & buddies.

[raccoon]

21. If Ford says that, they are indeed wrong.

With such geniuses at the helm, Ford has nothing to worry about.
:sarcasm:

I've tried to combine trips, and am working to change my driving habits, try to anticipate traffic lights more, brake and accelerate more gently.

[RB TexLa]

22. No

[alfredo]

23. Gas went from $2.71 to $2.95 this morning.

People are getting angry. You should have heard them on the noon newscast. One said it is bush's buddies gouging us.

[kineneb]

24. I wish I could

I need to drive Hubby to dialysis 3x/week which 25mi each way. With luck, the company will get its new unit built by the end of the summer, and the trip will be 10 mi. each way. Fortunately, our car get 30-34 mpg, but we still run through a tank of gas each week because everything is spread out in this rural area (which has a big lake plunk in the middle).

We did some planning when we bought our property, so that at least there is a grocery store, post office and other amenities within walking distance. But with all the rain here, it has been rather impossible (and unsafe) to do much walking. Summer, should it ever arrive, should be better for self-propelled transit.