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RE: gas prices - 4/30/2008 4:51:09 PM

FangsNfeet

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I have a 45 mile one way drive to work M - F.

To help save gas in my 4 cylinder, I do the following things.

1. I use a Toll Tag and take the Toll Roads too and from work.

2. I drive the speed limit. I never peel out. I ram the engine as little as possible.

3. I put my car into park when stoped at lights.

4. I do what I can to beat the traffic so I can avoid stop and go as much as possible.

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RE: gas prices - 4/30/2008 6:06:59 PM

Irishknight

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I have started working other people's horses and drive the el cheapo vehicle to their place to do it. I am working my schedule so that I go to one area and hit all of my jobs in that area on a certain day to try to conserve gas. There is still no getting around the gas guzzlers when I have to haul my horses somewhere for a show.

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RE: gas prices - 4/30/2008 7:21:51 PM

GoddessDustyGold

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Firebirdseeking

Sorry but I am fed up with the responses that put the responsibility squarely on us. I dont have a gas guzzler, and if I could find work where I could car pool or use public transportation, I surely would. The fact is that I dont; my work is in rural communities 18 miles from where I live and there is no other way for me to get there but to drive.

So, are there any reasonable suggestions?

I am and was not trying to be cheeky...well, maybe I was, and I apologize. But the sad fact of the matter is that as long as we continue to have a high demand for fuel, a reasonable portion of that at the pump, we are all at their mercy. Until everyone starts pulling together to make changes in their lifestyle, nothing substantial is likely to happen.
I have not flipped to your profile, so I have no idea where you live. You say you do not drive a gas guzzler, and you cannot carpool. Okay...
I know a lot of people (and I am glad I am not one of them) who drive more than 18 miles each way to work. They get stuck in rush hour and are filling 20+ gallon SUV tanks twice a week or more. I ran out of sympthy a long time ago.
18 miles is not all that much. But I have no real details of your personal situation so I can only do a bit of math based on basic assumptions. If you have a car that is getting 20 miles to the gallon (not all that much in this day and age), you would be using a little less than 2 gallons per day. Admittedly this is a lot at $3.50 or so per gallon. Still with an average tank (12.5 - 14) in a non-gas guzzler, you should not have to be filling up more than once a week if you are consolidating your errands, and mostly just driving to and from work. Maintaining your vehicle as to oil/filter changes, watching tire pressure, etc, also helps with mileage.
Some businesses are rearranging schedules to 4 10 hour days (which saves a day of commuting), or arranging for employees to do some work from home to save commuting. There have been several other good suggestions and you should probably look at everything.
Even with My extra doctor visits in the next town over which causes commutes of 25 -30 miles round trip, I am still only needing to fill up about 3 times (or less) a month. I am not happy, but I am also trying to be careful and not running to the store/restaurant because I am in the mood for some ice cream. Unfortunately, gone are the days when we can just get up and go at a whim.
People are apathetic. I did not mean to be snarky, but I often find that many people throw out a general complaint without giving much thought to how they can help their own situation with a little creativity. And if a much bigger percentage of people started doing these things, the demand for gas at the pump would drop drastically.
There is no other real solution. Money talks...less profit talks louder.

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RE: gas prices - 5/1/2008 4:04:36 AM

LadyEllen

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Youre spot on Dusty - but one would question whether anything we in the west might do would help, when there are so many millions in India, China and other places now either already driving or about to or aspiring to. Whatever economies we might be able to make will be more than outweighed by the huge growth in other places in demand.

Other places, where the governments fix the price of fuel at affordable prices so there is no incentive to reduce consumption, regardless of global markets' influence on pump prices.

A gallon here is now £5.00 or US$10-00, of which around $7.50 is taxation, including taxation to encourage us to go green by reducing our consumption. Very noble of course - except that the same worldwide demographics apply; whatever we do to reduce consumption is a drop in the ocean compared to the emissions coming out of the developing world. Yet it would be difficult to argue at best, that they are not entitled to our standards of living, and all this is driven not by their evil minds but by their natural aspiration to live as we do and the insistence of global markets that our wealth should decline whilst theirs increases.

E

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RE: gas prices - 5/1/2008 5:47:50 AM

orfunboi

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My housemate does conversions on cars and trucks. Her site is www.flexfuelmyride.com

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RE: gas prices - 5/1/2008 6:18:27 AM

Sanity

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Do you read what you write? You turn your own argument on its head. Our governments are taxing us to "go green" (or for whatever reason they care to give) thereby forcing us to a lower standard of living by default.

In other words, why are they entitled while we are not?

It makes no sense. Green taxes only serve to punish the poor (children and elderly suffer the most) in whatever locale in which the punishing taxes are leveled. They allow Liberals to feel good because they are "doing something" while the fuel gets burned anyway, in China or Mexico, or a hundred other places.

We can't drill for oil because the precious planet might be allergic, and now for example the poor in Haiti literally eat mud cakes so that everyone else can drive ethanol or biodiesel (food) powered vehicles.

You're definitely seeing pieces of the puzzle, but in my opinion you're really fitting them together funny.

quote:

ORIGINAL: LadyEllen

Youre spot on Dusty - but one would question whether anything we in the west might do would help, when there are so many millions in India, China and other places now either already driving or about to or aspiring to. Whatever economies we might be able to make will be more than outweighed by the huge growth in other places in demand.

Other places, where the governments fix the price of fuel at affordable prices so there is no incentive to reduce consumption, regardless of global markets' influence on pump prices.

A gallon here is now £5.00 or US$10-00, of which around $7.50 is taxation, including taxation to encourage us to go green by reducing our consumption. Very noble of course - except that the same worldwide demographics apply; whatever we do to reduce consumption is a drop in the ocean compared to the emissions coming out of the developing world. Yet it would be difficult to argue at best, that they are not entitled to our standards of living, and all this is driven not by their evil minds but by their natural aspiration to live as we do and the insistence of global markets that our wealth should decline whilst theirs increases.

E

< Message edited by Sanity -- 5/1/2008 6:26:25 AM >

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RE: gas prices - 5/1/2008 7:33:26 AM

orfunboi

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I just spotted this on Yahoo's home page and thought of this thread....

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/104865/The-15-Minute-Tip-Err-on-the-Side-of-More-Air

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RE: gas prices - 5/1/2008 7:37:15 AM

LadyEllen

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oh dear me Sanity........did you read what I wrote, or just react to what you thought you read? Did I in my post support the green taxes? Did I argue that we are not entitled to our standard of living?

My point, (my entire point) was that whether we reduce our consumption either on environmental grounds or to save ourselves money and perhaps by reducing demand bring down the prices - is absolutely irrelevant when other parts of the world have such rapidly growing usage.

E

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RE: gas prices - 5/1/2008 9:54:40 AM

winterlight

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gas is $3.93 to $4.08 here for regular unleaded. I am sure it will get to over $5.00 by the summer. I hear Europe has it worse than us.

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RE: gas prices - 5/1/2008 12:53:03 PM

QuietlySeeking

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I recently bought a FlexFuel car.

I live in Metro Atlanta and had hoped to fill up occasionally on E85; the nearest station that has E85 is 25 miles away. The price of E85 is about 5 cents cheaper per gallon here. Given the lower mileage and higher maintenance costs, I estimate that E85 is about 25-30% MORE expensive than gasoline where I live.

It might be cheap and easy in the Corn-Belt, but it's just not worth it in the South.

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RE: gas prices - 5/1/2008 1:11:56 PM

meatcleaver

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Aneirin

Better still for the UK at least, cut the tax paid on fuel to help the economy. So, the treasury will lose out, but what is better, the treasury losing or numerous families losing out ?

Public transport, forget it, too expensive and not to be relied upon, despite what politicians tell us to do. I use public transport, and have worked out a journey taken on a bus works out more expensive than what it cost to run my car for the same journey. I get travel sickness on a bus, never got that by car. Bus takes 45 to 50 minutes to do the journey, car took twenty minutes. Bus fares are going up again very soon and even now I struggle with the cost.

Oh, I got rid of the car, so public transport is my only option, that is until I get a two stroke motorcycle, as that will be the cheapest option other than walk.

Oh interestingly where I used to live in Oxford, there was much hoohar about the new alternative fuel buses, how theywere going to save the planet etc. Last I heard, those buses got quietly decommissioned as being too expensive and problematic to run economicaly.

The last time I caught the train in England was last November, it cost me 138 pounds return from London to Sheffield. About two weeks ago I went from Amsterdam to Berlin and stayed two nights in a good hotel for 162 pounds. Bear in mind the euro has strengthed dramatically against the pound recently and London to Sheffield is 170 miles while Amsterdam to Berlin is more than twice the distance at 400 miles. (and the hotel was far better than the equivalent British hotel for the same money)

British politicians talk crap about public transport. Just don't get me started on buses.

< Message edited by meatcleaver -- 5/1/2008 1:13:15 PM >

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RE: gas prices - 5/1/2008 2:28:58 PM

Smith117

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Firebirdseeking

Well, what CAN we do about the price of gas?? its outrageous.

Ohhh I dunno. Not 'every' effect of high gas prices is 'bad.'

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/30/immigrant.worker/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/01/navarrette/index.html

< Message edited by Smith117 -- 5/1/2008 2:31:04 PM >

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