what are you doing to offset the high gas prices?

[bopitaddict]

read an article on yahoo about this and with gas prices at $3.00/gallon for regular here in chicago...

how do they expect us to save up for a wedding?

for me it''s eating out less & cooking in more, taking public transportation, reading more and playing outside rather than going out and watching movies, trying to drive with other people to events and stuff, public transportation...

is anyone not buying diamonds until this gas craziness subsides?

 

[Mara]

Greg takes the train to work 3-4 days a week...it''s a 10 minute walk to the train station and his co has a shuttle that picks up at the train etc. It''s almost double the amount of time to get there and get home than it is to drive but he''s much more relaxed when he gets home.

I work from home half days most of the time so I drive alot less than I used to. So for us the high gas prices are not TOO bad and are not causing a real problem other than bulging eyeballs when we see how they are still rising. I only fill up about once every two weeks and same with Greg. But when you do fill up, it hurts! The local gas station near our place only sells $50 at once...interesting, so that doesn''t even fill Greg''s tank now! It fills mine and then some, because I have a small car.

 

[Mara]

woops double post.

 

[laney]

Well, we are kind of considering a hybrid for our next car. I say kind of as they will not save us money. We don''t mind the idea of helping the enviornment of course, but we''d really prefer the gov & car makers to make a REAL effort -- and expand upon maybe a better technology.

So that''s neither here nor there.

We both have low mileage vehicles. We carpool to work though, and only live about 10 minutes away. So it hasn''t hit too hard yet. About 2 years ago - we lived 45 mins away- which would have killed us w/these prices.

So nothing really, sadly..

 

[moremoremore]

I am looking into the Lexus suv hybrid (purely for purposes of conserving LOL) I have to have an SUV so I think I''ll go with that one...but still need to investigate it a bit..

 

[laney]

MMM - that''s the one we were looking at. A friend got one - and loves it.

We just don''t like the styling so much (with our big dogs and all).. And we agree that we wouldn''t be buying that particular car to save money.

But it is temping hubby.

 

[ame]

Right now very little unfortunately.

 

[mrs jam]

Buying less shoes.

 

[jorman]

I just moved to the Bay Area after living in podunk Texas for 8 years.

 

[JCJD]

Well, I''ve always done this, not just for high gas prices, but I bike the mile to school or take the bus if I''m feeling lazy. Hubby has to drive to customers'' homes - he replaces computer hardware on location - so he can''t do much. Luckily, he''s being hired on full time (temporary employee for 10 months now...) and they''ll start paying his mileage directly soon. Has a high mileage car too.

 

[kenny]

I already have a hybrid car.
I am getting over 60 MPG, even though the EPA rates my car at 47 / 48 MPG.
I hold the honor of the highest mileage for the Honda Civic Hybrid CVT on greenhybrid's website;

www.greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/car.php?cid=281

But I still do things to save even more gas.
I walk to the store if I don't have too much to carry.
If I drive to a store I'll do it right after work.
All cars get terrible mileage as they warm up so short trips are to be avoided.
If I need something at night I'll do without it for a day.

I slightly over inflate my tires.
The sticker on the doorjamb says 32 PSI. (Lower pressure makes the ride cushier.)
The tire sidewall says 44-PSI max.
I keep it at 40.
This gives me 3 more MPG.
I have to top off the tires every 3 weeks.

I accelerate VERY gradually.
I lift my foot off the gas when I see a red light 2 blocks away; by the time I get to the light it has turned green.
I take turns at a higher speed so I don't lose momentum.

I drive 55 MPH in cruise control in the rightmost of 5 lanes on the freeway.
Cruise control prevents the natural tendency to speed up.
I always leave a lot of space in front of me on the freeway or in the city. (My brakes will last forever.)
If traffic slows down I gently lift my foot from the accelerator a bit.
Not too much though.
Just enough to match the rate the car would decelerate if I had popped it into neutral.
This prevents using gas to make the engine to slow me down.

The goal is to keep going at the same speed as much as possible
If you have to change speed do it as little and as gradually as possible.

Another way to sum up hypermiling (the term for what I do) is to drive as if your brakes had failed.

I know this all sounds crazy.
But if you are getting 15 MPG and I'm getting 60 it is like you are paying $3.00 a gallon while I am paying 75 cents.
And you call ME crazy?

 

[bopitaddict]

mara, must be nice to work from home. unfortunately, i''m not disciplined enough and would end up watching tv or surfing the web (unlike work, where i just surf the web.

)

laney, mmm, isn''t there some sort of tax break if you get a hybrid? there''s an suv hybrid? isn''t that an oxymoron or something?

ame, i hear ya... i don''t know what to do either... i''ve got about an hour commute each way to work, so yup, it hurts...

feydakin, i''ve heard that they do have cars that can do that kind of mileage, but then the car companies would be taking themselves out of business... go figure...

mrs jam, haha, maybe i''ll suggest that to FI... *ducks and hides*

jorman, doesn''t that add to the high gas prices?

jcjd, if i worked closer to home and the weather would be consistent, i''d consider buying a vespa or some other type of scooter... but the weather here is just so inconsistent...

kenny, i''ll try some of those suggestions and see how it works out. and if it does, i''ll stop calling you crazy.

 

[movie zombie]

Date: 8/22/2005 5:42:06 PM
Author: Feydakin
I quit driving the truck (14mpg) every day and switched to the bike (45mpg) or the vette (27mpg) when the weather is bad..

It just blows my mind that my 350hp vette gets 27mpg in town (as long as I can keep from doing burnouts at every light) and 28 to 20mpg running down the highway at 80mph.. If they can do that with a vette, why is it that a ''hybrid'' v6 only gets 35mpg??

good point re hybrids!!! who would have thought a corvette would be so practical?!

we live on 20 acres and actually use our truck as a truck... but it is not practical for errand running, etc. so, i''ve taken to going over the hill with my husband when he leaves for work in the morning, running my errands in the bay area and returning with him in the evening. his car: 1993 honda accord gets about 30 miles per gallon.

peace, movie zombie

 

[tawn]

We bought my husband a Yamaha R1 motorcycle a few days ago. In sunny So.Ca, it makes a good year-round second vehicle! Of course, I''m not exactly sure why it has to go 198mph?

On the news last night, they interviewed the Vespa dealer and sales have gone through the roof! It reminds me of when we were in Italy, and they zoom around like little bumble bees! I don''t know how safe I''d feel in heavy traffic though...most San Diegans are pretty scary drivers IMO!

 

[AsscherGirl]

Since summer hours are about to end at work & I''ll be working a normal 8:30-5 schedule again, my bf and I have decided to start carpooling to work (silly that we never did - we live 3 miles away from eachother and our jobs are 3 miles away from eachother - we are bad conservationists

).

I also think twice about driving my car for a short trip and try and plan all my errands on my way home from work. I don''t go out for lunch very often anymore either.

I get around 30 mpg in my car right now & I did consider a hybrid when I initially bought the car - but the payback time was almost 4 years! I don''t even know if I''ll still have my current car by then! (I live in NJ so our gas prices are a little lower than the rest of you - and I don''t have to pump it myself

)

 

[fire&ice]

I find myself stacking my errands & try to find all the stores I need to frequent closer to each other.

We have been thinking about a hybrid. But, I have read that the repair costs are higher & something about needing a new battery in 5 years at 3k.

I''m not in an area that has HOV lanes. If I were, that singularly would be my reason for one.

Also - is there a tax break still?

 

[JC]

Well fortunately I will have my car paid off in one year. So at least then I will not feel the gas price effect as much at that point seeing that the monthly car payment will be gone. I most likely would have went and got a new car, but I''ll probably just dirive the car until it dies now just to save money. My wife still has an SUV though. Having an SUV when gas prices are like this makes you regret ever getting one. You have to wonder if we will ever see those days when gas prices were under $2 again......

 

[DiamanteBlu]

Gas price sign

 

[kenny]

Fire&ice wrote:
“I find myself stacking my errands & try to find all the stores I need to frequent closer to each other.
We have been thinking about a hybrid. But, I have read that the repair costs are higher & something about needing a new battery in 5 years at 3k.
I'm not in an area that has HOV lanes. If I were, that singularly would be my reason for one.
Also - is there a tax break still?”


It is sad there is so much misinformation floating around about hybrids.
I suspect GM execs play golf with the execs of the corporate owners of the media.

I spend a lot of time correcting this concerted misinformation campaign.

Anyway, Not true about the battery lasting 5 years.
My Honda Civic Hybrid came with two warranties at no additional charge.
The regular 3-year or 36,000 bumper to bumper.
Then an additional longer warranty on all the components related to the hybrid system (15-year or 150,000 miles), and 10 year or 100,000 miles on the battery.

See photo:

BTW if you, like me, are in California or one of the other “clean” states, CA, MA, ME, NY or VT, your state requires the warranty to be even better than the “dirty” states.

So where I get a 10 year 150,000 mile battery warranty, the other states get only I think an 8 year 100,000 mile warranty. (Much better than the 3K you heard about.
Please slap whoever told you that.)
Also the hybrids sold in the clean states are different, they have super duper low emissions and are called AT-PZEV (short for advanced technology partial zero emissions vehicle)

About repair costs being higher I have two words, Honda and Toyota.
Look at their long track records.
Talk to their loyal owners.
They need far fewer repairs than most other makes.

Yes there still is a tax break.
It is more complicated but it is better I think.
The old tax break was a tax deduction; the new one is a tax credit.

Read about it here:
If clicking on link doesn't work copy and paste it into the address line and hit enter

http://greenhybrid.com/discuss/new-energy-bill-tax-credits-for-hybrids.2951.html

 

[fire&ice]

Thanks - that is interesting to know. Is the battery warranty standard with brands? Also, we drive less "in town" miles and more highway miles - does that effect the performance?

 

[kenny]

The warranty on the battery, and other hybrid-related components, in the "clean" states is imposed by the state not the manufacturers.

I do not know about the other states.
"Clean" states have more people and cars so more a bigger smog problem.
Other states generally have fewer people and cars and a smaller smog problem.
Also they have a different political climate, primarily red.

Post this question on greenhybrid.com or one of the other hybrid forums like priusonline.com.

Another common misunderstanding is hybrids only get great MPG in big cities.
Not quite true, but I do understand the reasoning behind this idea.
A ton of moving metal has a lot of kinetic energy.

Regular cars waste this energy in their brake pads.
Hybrids save much of it and reuse it a moment later when the light turns green.
So it might stand to reason that hybrids are better for city driving.
But according to my 16 months of experience driving mine, I say No.
I get better MPG on the highway than I do in the city.
I get about 65 MPG on the highway and only about 55 MPG in the city.
Also city means short trips.
Short trips mean bad MPG.
So it is a complicated thing to compare city and highway MPG.
Keep in mind I am an extreme hypermiler on the highway AND in the city.

A more typical driver who accelerates like the rest of traffic and brakes at the last minute in the city, and goes 70 MPH on the highway and closely follows the car in front of him so nobody can pull in - and consequently has to brake 50 times more than I do - will get different results.

BTW the EPA rates my car at 47 City and 48 Highway, not much differenct.
Also look at it from another angle:
For how YOU drive, you will ABSOLUTELY get better MPG in a hybrid than a non-hybrid in the city AND on the highway.

This "hybrids are only good in the city" thing is just more GM-Media crap.
Ten years ago GM should have been investing hybrid R&D instead of relying on the huge profits they get from SUVs.
I imagine the oil cororate execs were in on this too.
Now GM is caught with its pants down and is screaming like a spoiled brat for government bailouts and resorting to trying to appeal to customer's patriotism.

Sorry, I don't buy it.
The free market is one of the things that make America, and other free countries, great.
GM blew it.
Now let them suffer the consequenses of bad business decisions, like any other business.

Sorry about my GM rant; I can't help but suspect that they are the source inventing and leaking all this hybrid misinformation.
Sour grapes.

 

[fire&ice]

Date: 8/24/2005 2:19:04 PM
Author: kenny
This ''hybrids are only good in the city'' thing is just more GM-Media crap.
Ten years ago GM should have been investing hybrid R&D instead of relying on the huge profits they get from SUVs.
I imagine the oil cororate execs were in on this too.
Now GM is caught with its pants down and is screaming like a spoiled brat for government bailouts and resorting to trying to appeal to customer''s patriotism.

Sorry, I don''t buy it.
The free market is one of the things that make America, and other free countries, great.
GM blew it.
Now let them suffer the consequenses of bad business decisions, like any other business.

Sorry about my GM rant; I can''t help but suspect that they are the source inventing and leaking all this hybrid misinformation.
Sour grapes.

I completely hole heartedly agree about GM. They made their own bed.

I''m unsure about GM leaking the hybrid misinformation. Sure does scream sour grapes though.

But, the thing about the city driving came from a business neighbor who was singing the praises of hers. She''s a city person & that''s where she sees the most difference from her old car. So, I was wondering whether the reverse was true as to highway miles as we don''t have much stop and go.

However, when I am in any kind of stop and go traffic, I''m the kind to stop on a dime and speed up.

But, I never tailgate.

I''m pretty certain we don''t live in a clean state. But, if it''s 8 years/100,000 miles than that''s pretty good.

O.K. - one more important question - we must have a bigger car to haul two dog crates and all of our junk. Which would fit the bill for that? Any station wagons, minivans? or only SUV''s?

 

[kenny]

Well my Civic Hybrid is out of the question; it's back seats don't even fold down.

Go look at a Prius.
It MAY work for you since it is larger than the Civic, the back seats go down and it is a hatchback.
It also has superb mileage (EPA over 50 I think.)

Minivans?
Toyota Highlander now has a hybrid model.
Ford Escape (small SUV) comes in a Hybrid.
Then the Lexus SUV has a hybrid now too.

Many more hybrids will come out in the next few years.


Have fun shopping.
P.S. Send me a check for half of all the gas you save.

Oh and once you get a hybrid your driving style may change.
the dash tells you every second what your MPG is.
Also I zero one of my trip meters every moring so I can see my MPG for my morning commute.
The next day I can't help buy try to top it.
The other trip meter I zero at every fill up, and keep trying to improve that too.
It is like a fun video game.

 

[movie zombie]

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/12492407.htm?source=yahoodist&content=sjm_news

$$$ spent on gas takes away from other areas of the economy. but we knew that already. interesting article anyway as it does show what some people in the bay area are doing.

peace, movie zombie

 

[AGBF]

Hurricane Katrina is about to hit the Gulf Coast and the radio here has reported that the ports are, therefore, closed. When the markets open up tomorrow, the price of oil is supposed to skyrocket. I guess we will see if they do.

Deborah

 

[Diamonds4Me]

Well..this is just wonderful.

As of tomorrow our gas will now be rationed...well, the gas stations that WILL have gas. In our county alone just about every gas station is OUT. NO GAS. The ones that still have a little gas left to offer have already said that regular will be over $4.00/G maybe starting tomorrow. We've already been told that NC can be looking at two weeks before we have gas again.

The lines at the existing pumps are insane!

 

[EdSkinner]

I plan on driving as little as possible and start riding a bike again. But what also concerns me is what is going to happen to the price of heating oil. I live in the northeast and the farmers almanac predicts that it is going to be the coldest part of the country. I hope my pipes don''t freeze.

 

[mepearl53]

Ask my wife for a loan

 

[Shay37]

I just prepaid for my heating oil for the winter. It was either that or replace my dinosaur boiler. Boiler would just about knock off the savings account. With the economy the way it is right now, I need a cushion for sanity''s sake. So the only other choice was to go ahead and buy our oil for what it costs today. 2.54.9 per gallon. It was 2.39.9 last week. I don''t need a house to fall on me to see a trend a startin''.

Shay

 

[tawn]

I think I''m going to be happy we''re in So CA and don''t have to deal with the heating prices this winter! And, it shouldn''t be so bad for our renters in WA state because it''s Hydro power there! I feel badly for the people with oil heat...

Let me tell ya...we''ve been on the motorcycle a lot more than in our truck with the Hemi! It''s hard riding with a backpack full of stuff though!