Dealing with Higher Gas Prices

In case you've been living on another planet for the past few months, you've probably noticed that fuel prices have gone sky-high. Gas is as much as $5 a gallon some places in the states. Here in Canada it's been nearly $5 for a couple of years, so my husband and I have been trying to conserve fuel for quite a while now.

Believe it or not, even with higher fuel prices, we spend less than 100 dollars a month on gas (between 60 and 90 depending on how much recreational driving we do). For comparison, AAA reports that the average American family will be spending 1,100 dollars for gas between June and August this year (that's $370 a month).

How do we do it?

1. My husband and I share our car. I realize this is not possible for a lot of couples, but it works really well for us.

2. We live near the downtown core and the University, so we're both close to work (I'm within walking distance). This is obviously helps a lot! Generally I walk to work and he drives (but he's close enough that he could walk--if he left every morning an hour early!).

3. Use public transportation. If I want to go downtown I ususally take the LRT or the bus. For a while this wasn't such a big savings, but now that fuel prices are higher, it's a great deal.

4. We drive a V4. This was a little bit of a battle with my dear husband at first. We're all conditioned to think that V6 is best, but it uses so much more gas that it's just not worth it. I would NEVER go back to a V6. I think now that people are more conscious about fuel economy, V6 and V8 engines will be a hard sell.

5. What we don't do: we actually aren't obsessive about fuel economy. I don't think most of those crazy tips help that much anyway (like letting the car "coast" to avoid braking and stuff like that). We let the car idle sometimes (horrors!) and use a fair bit of AC in the summer.

My advice overall? Try to live close to work, or work from home a couple of days a week. Increasing fuel economy is more about driving less than it is about crazy ways of increasing your gas mileage. Also, don't get obsessive: we take plenty of recreational trips each month, especially in the summer. I don't feel guilty about it AT ALL. In the end, it's about doing the best you can with what you've got.