Wise driving can ease “gas pains”

Growing up, I was taught to change the things I can and not to worry too much about the things I can't. This rule definitely applies to $3 gas prices. Here's why.

Gasoline is now selling for $3/gallon once again. I, alone, cannot change that. However, I don't really give 2 cents (pardon the pun) about the actual price per gallon of gasoline. All I care about is how much money I spend total to get from point A to point B. For example, let's say I live 10 miles from work, and my vehicle gets 20 miles per gallon (mpg). Simple math says that it takes 1 gallon of gasoline to get to and from work each day. At $3/gallon, that's $15/week and $60/month just to go to work! Well, I have to go to work, so I'm won't waste energy worrying about that. If gas goes to $4/gallon like experts say it could, then I'll just have to spend $80/month to get to work because I can't change that, so why worry about it?

Now, let's take a look at what I like to call "extracurricular driving." These are the trips we take that aren't absolutely necessary. For example, until gas prices got so high, I would go home on my lunch break to chill out for a minute and grab a bite to eat. That means 2 trips to and from work each day for me. That's another $60/month that I'm no longer spending by packing the same lunch the night before and eating it in the break room.

Here's another example. The gym I use is about 5 miles from home. A trip to and from the gym is 1/2 gallon of gas, or about $1.50 per day. I work out about 4 days a week, so that's an extra $6 a week/$24 a month of gas just to stay in shape. In the old days, I would go home after work, change clothes, then go back to the gym in a separate trip. Nowadays, I bring gym clothes with me to work, change at the gym which is on the way home from my workplace and cut out that extra trip each day saving another $24/month. I also do my grocery shopping on the way home from work rather than making a separate trip in the evening which saves another small chunk of change.

So what's my point? The point is, think before you drive! Plan ahead and combine errands when possible. By taking the steps above, I'm spending about $100 less per month in gasoline than I used to throw away at the pump. This isn't profound or hard to do, but if we all cut back where we can, the high gas prices will eventually take care of themselves.