Writer's Block: Saving Money

[erastes]

[Error: unknown template qotd]Petrol please, petrol. And PLEASE don't let me get started on how cheap American petrol is compared to here (but then, shoulder to shoulder, notwithstanding we don't COUNT...)  i'm paying £1.20 PER LITRE BTW.

Anyway, back to the question...

1. Drive less. Use your bike to nip to the shop
2. Car Share/Car pool for work, picking up the kids
3. BUY A SMALLER CAR. You can buy cars that do 40 miles to the gallon and more.
4. Drive slower - I've dropped to a maximum of 50 miles an hour now, and it's really made a big difference
5. Shop online.  I buy just about everything online - and a tesco delivery deliveies 100s of orders with just one truck.  I also order my library books online which means I don't have to drive 20 miles to the big library hoping they'll have the book I want. for 55p I can have any book I want delivered to my local library.
6. Shop more efficiently. Buy everything you need at once so it's only a weekly thing. Bulk buy.
7. Encourage the kids to use their bikes a lot more
8. Get rid of the extra cars - do you really need 2 or 3?
9. Keep your tyres pumped up, flat tyres use more petrrol
10. Keep your car serviced

Comments

[angrboda]

I don't have a driver's license so it's not something I pay much attention to but I think that's about the same we pay here. 11-13 kr I think.

[suryaofvulcan.livejournal.com]

11. Live in the middle of a town/village

I barely use my car any more (except the business mileage I have to do for work). Supermarket, shops, restaurants, theatre, library, etc are all within walking distance. I do a 'heavy stuff' supermarket shop about once every 3 months for cleaning supplies etc, usually on my way back from a work visit somewhere. Otherwise I do it all on foot. There's a bus route on my doorstp, and the bus and train stations are also within walking distance.

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

Actually, we do need 2. My husband works 30 miles away. While I CAN bike the 2 miles to work, it leaves me too sore to do my work. 300lbs + bicycle=bruised ass for a week. Not to mention a large bayou in the middle of it all that sends me 1/2 a mile out of my way on the bike path if I don't want to brave the service road and traffic between 45 and 70 mph.

We always combined trips.
We stay home more. We don't just jaunt across town for dinner or shopping.
The kids walk to school and home. (3/4 mile for the littles, 1.5 miles for the bigger ones)

Cheeky me...

[ggymeta.wordpress.com (from livejournal.com)]

1. Drive less. Use your bike to nip to the shop
Not an option in Texas, unless you live in a metro area...and even then...try bicycling in 103 degree weather [BTW, we have 100 degree days on a weekly basis. ^_-]

2. Car Share/Car pool for work, picking up the kids
I've actually done this; so I at least get 1 point--right?

3. BUY A SMALLER CAR.
BUWHA! Yeah right. I'm American--we're all about car culture, our entire country is built around people getting in their cars and living. I must admit though...getting a vespa or a motorcycle, can be just as cool [until it rains.]

4. Drive slower -
See # 3.

5. Shop online.
I do this. 2 Points.

6. Shop more efficiently. Buy everything you need at once so it's only a weekly thing. Bulk buy.
This is real easy to do if you have no kids. :) I've shopped with kids on occasion and I'm lucky if I remember my name at the check out counter--and mind you, I'm not a full time parent. :/ I've seen people struggle with this...it's sad.

7. Encourage the kids to use their bikes a lot more
Not always an option these days--too many sickos out there; gone are the days when you can kick your kids out of the house at 8 am and expect them back at lunch and/or by dark. :/ My kids do bike to their friends--but only ones that are about a block away.

8. Get rid of the extra cars - do you really need 2 or 3?
Yes, we need two cars.

9. Keep your tyres pumped up, flat tyres use more petrrol
That's common sense. :) Even in America, where we use tires. [LOL!]

10. Keep your car serviced
Sadly, this one of America's biggest problems. :/ Most people can't even go to the doctors for maintenance visits, let along taking care of their car. :(

Me being an American Ass...

[ctrl-issue.livejournal.com]

When I was living at the outskirts of Pensacola, FL, I needed a car as there wasn't anything near-by. Even if I lived IN Pensacola, I would have needed a car, as there was no public transit. None.

When I lived out in rural GA, we had four cars. One for my mom, who had to play driver to my two sisters plus all the domestic chores as well as driving to work (where she had another truck to drive around in). One for my dad who worked 1.5 hours away for twelve hour shifts. One for myself, who had work and school at various times of the day. And one for my dad's parents who didn't drive all that much, so the car just kind of sat there until they had doctor appointments or groceries to get, and even then they usually got my Mom to drive them or rode with her when she went into town for food. In essence, that fourth car was there to be our "emergency" car, and I, for one, had to use it on a number of occasions.

When I owned a car, way back in the day, I made damn sure to take care of it. Always had routine check up, even if I hadn't seen a doctor in five years. I relied on that car, so it made sense for me to keep it up. That being said, I was born poor, so I got whatever car I could afford. Sometimes it was an old beater, and sometimes it was a hand-down from a family member, but I've never owned a car built after 1995.

I'm not going to comment on the driving slower part. As someone with two speeding tickets on my record, I think it'd be rather... sad. *shifty eyes*

As for on-line shopping, it's one of the reasons I'm no longer able to save money. Things are so much easier to find and get on-line, that it's hard to save even five bucks. ;_; I used to be so good at saving money...

Buying in bulk? Well, not every place offers that option. Small towns means small supplies.

Using a bike? Sure, did that, but it's not like I ever got anywhere. I mean, I'm no Lance Armstrong, and that's who I'd have to be in order to get to someplace that wasn't a "neighbor's" house. (How you could be a neighbor when you have no idea who each other is, or how many people live there, I'll never know. I guess it's because we waved to each other as we drove by their property.)

*giggle* Don't worry erastes, you Brits count! But to put it a bit more into perspective, I have plans to go to the UK next spring. Looking at a map, the entire place looks to be about the size of GA. I do believe I'll be able to hit all the tourist traps I "need to" in a week. On the other hand, it took me THREE FULL DAYS to cross Texas (and there wasn't a damn thing to see while I did it, not that I had time to stop). We're not just a "car nation", but we're also built BIG. Most every city west of the Mississippi was built with the car in mind. But then, I'd say that really, only the North Eastern US was built to be a pedestrian's place because even the south wasn't that pedestrian friendly (with the exception of the REALLY big cities like Tampa, Atlanta, Montgomery, and a few others).