My next fill-up I will get $1.00 off PER gallon up to 30 gallons.
With discounts like that, I have not altered my driving. But then I hardly drive anyways.... less than 38K miles on a 4 year old vehicle.

How did you get the discount Western ? A grocery store here has a promotion that get's you up to 30 Cents a gallon off - (If you buy a ton of groceries ! ) How do you get a discount ? Can everyone ? ( Wishing ! )

Gas did not last more than a week or two here over $3, but when it was I did not drive at all. If it had lasted much longer I would have had to go to the grocery store, but it didn't.

Did you know that the gas pumps cut out at $75? Yup they do. At least around here. If I want to fill up, I have to run the card through twice. I drive a 15 passenger van.

When I go to town, I do all my errands at once. I plan the route. I stock up my groceries. I fill up probably once every three weeks.

Have I changed my habits? Probably not much, other than the boycott when gas went over $3 a gallon. But with the vehicle I drive, it's always cost a lot to fill it up. =0)

DO I have to drive a lot of miles? Usually no. But when your vehicle gets 12-13 mpg, it doesn't take many miles.

Mil

We have 2 vehicles here. DH's is a HOG, so we almost always drive mine which gets almost 35 mpg. Yes...it's very painful @ the pump, but you gotta do it.

I worry sometimes about my gas going stale so I quit filling up the tank and just buy $20 when it starts dipping below half full.

Buy big containers and lots of grocery's because I hate shopping. Grocery is maybe 3/4 mile one way. Hardware store and most everything else is half mile. I always plan my trips to save blocks driven.

Living within city limits and purposely choosing local retailers, I don't have to drive that much. Honestly, much of my driving is a convenience rather than a necessity (e.g., I could take the bus to work, but that's much harder to do if I don't restrict my work schedule or if it's winter and I have to walk on streets without sidewalks). I drive about 12,000 miles a year ferrying around myself and others. But I get 45 mpg or so, so I really only have to fill up once every 3 or 4 weeks. It's still a bit of sticker shock ($45 to fill a vehicle that barely cost $15 to fill about 8 years ago). But it's a little easier to take when it's not a weekly occurrence. :-)

My secret is The Giant Eagle "FuelPerks" program... some new prescriptions I get filled there, and two kids who like to eat!

I remember the days when you could "get a fill-up" for $5. I remember the tanks selling at $.259 a gallon. Yes, I am a near-geezer! So these days I easily spend $90 a week for our three cars, his, hers and our live-at-home daughter. It's a major chunk to me.

I remember those days Jannie ! We'd have a car full of kids and we'd all chip in a buck to fill the tank ! LOL

You may have heard me refer to the guy who wrote in our personal money management magazine how he retired at 34.

He wrote another article a while ago about feeling a bit badly about the price that he pays at the gas pump.

But not too badly - cause he owns some stocks in oil and gas companies ...

... whose value has increased, lately.

Trouble is - there's so few of them left ...

... the U.S. folks and other foreigners are buying up all of the companies!

And some U.S. market commentators, possibly some politicians, were saying a while ago that Chinese companies should be blocked from buying them.

Life do have its problems!

ole joyful

When they're drilling more holes ...

... and getting lower ... and slower ... production out of most of them ...

... and drilling far out at sea ...

... and in the inhospitable arctic (which is also a long way from markets - how many of us choose willingly to live in the arctic?) ...

... it looks as though the supply of petroleum is diminishing.

As we see the rising prosperity of many in the formerly unprosperous world, it doesn't take much wisdom to know that there'll be increasing demand for petroleum products.

Which results in rising prices, right?

So - did you buy some stock in quality producers and refiners of petroleum products, a number of years ago?

If so, rising gas/oil prices might cause your eyes to cry ...

... but your mouth would be smiling.

Right?

ole joyful

P.S. I didn't buy any, either.

But I bought shares in a pipeline about 15 years ago.

o j

I had to fill my gas tank to use some gas treatment, and it was outrageous. I didn't do it all at once. I put in $20 at $3.06, and by the time I got back to get the rest, it was $3.09. I ended up putting $28 back in, so I've spent $48 this week for gas. I never go anywhere anymore. I've changed my habits considerably. I usually spend about $20 a week, unless I have to go somewhere far away, like this week I had to go to another town to a doctor, which ended up costing me $12 in gas. I'll get reimbursed for some of that, but still, it's depressing.

I make under $25,000 a year, so I'm really hurting right now with the price of everything skyrocketing.

I do miss my mini pickup which got far better mileage than my present mini van. But I couldn't get myself to spend the money to put it into comparable condition and there was not a lot of choice.

I've been working on cutting back on unnecessary driving for a long time and I'm getting more and more concentrated on that goal. First, why waste the time of the extra trips and the other benefit of savings. I drive a lot for work so that can hurt. But I do map things out these days to get the most efficient route.

Ever since a local bridge fell into the river, we've had to make do with alternative routes so it eliminates some of the shortcuts I used to be able to use. But that's the way it is.

One thing I get a kick out of is when I see them talk on TV about price of gas, and are people changing habits because of it. People drive and don't want to give it up. Few people cut their Thanksgiving travel. Few didn't go out shopping because of the price of gas. Few didn't take vacations because of it. Most people will not give up their vacations, travel, recreation, shopping and it doesn't matter what it costs. If more people would cut back, prices would drop and they'd have more money in their pockets.

Oh well, that's the way it is. Hope all enjoyed Thanksgiving (no matter when or whether you celebrate it)!

I have a little solar calculator purchased for $5.00 over 20 years ago. Even after heavy use, it still works fine. We need to encourage solar technology and research. I believe a very fine automobile could be manufactured to use solar power. With global warming, doesn't it make sense to put the free sunshine to work?

About 5 years ago DW & I moved from a stunningly rural farming town where I was 25 miles from by job, to a community where I am not 5 miles from work. We are also closer to other services, too.

Although I knew that gas would eventually go up in price, the main reason for moving wasn't to save money, it was to save time.

I walk to stores that are within a half mile. I consider the round-trip of one mile my exercise. I put about 100 miles on my car each week. I get a discount on my insurance becayse I was able to prove, with oil change receipts, that I drive under 7500 miles a year!

I haet my home with oil. Today I got a delivery of 110 gallons at $3.52 per gal. Ouch! That's more than I pay for gasoline for my car!!

jannie - I live on LI as well. I got a fillup in October when my capped price was still at $2.89/gal. Right now it's capped at $3.15/gal until next November. It still hurts!

Yes, I've tried to schedule work days around my school night. My employer has me with a Tuesday day off and I have a Tuesday night class so I try to make sure I'm not running to the city six days a week. I shop locally, even if it means food thats not as fresh and selections less plentiful. We watch pay per view movies instead of going out to the movies again saving a 28 mile one way trip. If we *do* go out to dinner we eat at the greasy spoon in town two blocks from here instead of the 28 miles to any "real" place.
DH and I even tried to carpool but he starts his job an hour before I start. So, it happened for a short time but didn't last long.

INTERESTING INFO ON FILLING YOUR GAS TANK

I've been in the petroleum pipeline business for about 31 years, currently working for a company in CA.

We deliver in a 24-hour period about 4 million gallons of gas from the pipeline; one day it's diesel, the next day it's jet fuel and gasoline. We have 34 storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 gallons. Here are some tricks I can share to help you get your money's worth:

1. Fill up your car or truck in the morning when the temperature is still cool. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground; and the colder the ground, the denser the gasoline.

When the temperature gets warmer, gasoline expands, so if you're filling up in the afternoon or in the evening, what should be a gallon may not exactly be a gallon.

In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and temperature of the fuel (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products) are significant. Every truckload that we load is temperature-compensated so that the indicated gallons are actually the amount pumped.

A one-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for businesses, but service stations don't have temperature compensation at their pumps.

2. If a tanker truck is filling the station's tank at the same time you want to buy gas, do not fill up; dirt and sludge in the storage tank is being stirred up when gas is being delivered, and you might be transferring that dirt from the bottom of the station's tank into your car's tank.

3. Fill up when your gas tank is half-full (or half-empty) because the more gas you have in your tank the less air there is and gasoline evaporates rapidly, especially when it's warm. (Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating "roof" membrane to act as a barrier between the gas and the atmosphere, thereby minimizing evaporation.)

4. If you look at the gas trigger, you'll see that it has three delivery settings: slow, medium and high. When you're filling up do not squeeze the high setting. You should be pumping at the slow setting, thereby minimizing vapors created while you are pumping.

Hoses at the pump are corrugated; the corrugations act as a return path for vapor recovery from gas that already has been metered. If you are pumping at the high setting, the agitated gasoline contains more vapor, which is being sucked back into the underground tank, so you're getting less gas for your money.

Hope this will help ease your "pain at the pump."

dreamgarden, interesting info.

Can you tell us how much the volume of gasoline increases for each one degree rise in temperature?

Dreamgarden thanks for the info. Sent it to my family and friends. Need all the help we can get.

Dora Lou

brewbeer wrote: "Can you tell us how much the volume of gasoline increases for each one degree rise in temperature?"

I don't know.

Maybe this link can explain it.
www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-gaslaws.html

texaspanhandler wrote: Thanks for the info.

Your welcome. Here are a few more tips that might be useful.

50 ways to save on gas
www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=4951682

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/gastips.asp

that is undetermined.

but i CAN tell you that number 1 is BS. gas storage tanks are several feet under ground. below ground temps do not vary over the course of a day. sure over the course of several days they may cool off/warm up, but not from morning to that afternoon.

number 2 is correct, though it is not as bad as they make it out.

3. and 4. do not matter. your tank has a vent system. if it were fully sealed then you could not pump gas INTO the tank inthe first place. think of a sink with a stopped up vent. if it flows at all, it goes in spurts. watch closely around your gas tank when you fill up next time, you can see the vapors going out into the air. that is why many pumps have the splash guards onthem now, to eliminate splashes and cut down on vapor release.

the BEST way to save on gas is to drive slow and accelerate at a steady pace. rabbit starts kill teh mileage. my stepdad has argued with me tha the gets as good of gas mileage as possible. i settled this on a long distance trip to install some equipment with him. i drove 1300 miles with the truck loaded with a couple thousand pounds. i got an average of 18mpg while using the cruise control most all the way. he drove the exact same route back home, but did not use the cruise and was constantly speeding up/slowing down. he got 14mpg, and we were 2000 pounds lighter in a 4x4 truck!

I got rid of the gas guzzlers.Why drive a pickup to work?Why drive a SUV with one person in it?I see it all the time and the funny thing is there the first to complain about the price of gas.

Although the tank is underground, some of the pipes leading to the pump are not far below surface, though even there the difference in temperature from morning to afternoon will not be large.

But the pipe above ground and the pump and the meter in the box above ground are cold. Remember how the warm water coming from your hot water tank is only tepid for a while until it warms up the pipe? While that gas is still chilly from the above-ground equipment cooling it as it passes through, it takes up less space, so you get more per cupful, which is how the meter works.

Probably a good idea to use a pump that has been sitting filled with gas for a few minutes, thus letting the cool ambient morning air get a chance to cool the piping down while it has gas sitting in it for a while.

I know that a number of people that I've heard express an opinion on the subject say that they don't fill at a gas station that is having a delivery, if they can avoid it, as they feel that sediment and crap, plus any water that has been sittig at the bottom of the tank, gets stirred up and may be carried through the pipes to their car's tank - which they prefer to avoid.

It seems to me that gas dropping in a slow stream into one's tank might be less turbulent and splash less, producing less vapour. I note that as I fill my tank, which I'm inclined to do as quickly as possible in cold weather, I note the smell of gasoline while I'm pumping ... which indicates that a substantial amount of vapour is being expelled from the tank beside the filler nozzle. Whether that is simply vapour-laden air that is being displaced by the gas, or super-vapourized air due to additional turbulence as the fresh gas rushes into the auto tank is debatable, I guess.

It's smart to keep your tank nearly filled for another reason, especially if you live in northern areas.

As the air cools, it drops moisture - on the grass, we call it dew, but in a gas tank we call it a pain in the butt. It gathers at the bottom of the tank and causes it to rust, over time.

It gets into the line and filter and sometime blocks it ... but if the weather is freezing, it sure as heck blocks it! For that reason the northern gas delivery people add some antifreeze to the gas during winter months and many motorists add gasline antifreeze to their tank.

Keeping a small amount of air in the tank means less condensation of water as ambient air cools, to add to one's list of potential sources of trouble. Being stranded at 40 degrees below is no fun! Especially if there are no warm houses nearbvy ... and one is wearing low shoes to trudge through snow. Best to stay in the (cold) car.

People trained to travel on the Prairies in winter carry lots of warm clothing, blankets, etc. in their cars in winter.

Do I detect a smidgeon of hot air flying around here, in addition to gasoline vapours?

ole joyful

Some interesting ideas .. from less than nine months ago.

Still relevant.

ole joyful

No matter what you drive, take steps to maximize the fuel efficiency:
1. Check for proper tire inflation WEEKLY when the tires are cool (before driving that day.)
2. Keep your engine in good repair; tuned up with a clean air filter.
3. Avoid idling when parked. It does not use more gas to shut down and restart; that is a myth. When idling, you're getting ZERO mpg.
4. On the highway, using the A/C on a hot day is OK. In slower traffic, do what is more comfortable for you. This debate will persevere forever...
5. Don't floor the accelerator except in an emergency avoidance maneuver.
6. SLOW DOWN. So many drivers are in such a rush nowadays. WHY??? Plan your day accordingly. Speed limits are MAXIMUMS, not MINIMUMS. Wind resistance increases as a square of velocity. That is, when speed doubles, wind resistance increases by 4X.

I have a V6 Chevy Lumina, and can get 30-32 mpg on the highway if I keep speed at 63-65 mph max.