Finding the Best Gas Prices in Your Local Area

Okay, so gas prices are past ridiculous at this point, and since there is not much we can do about them, other than complain or rush right out and buy a hybrid (like the economy is doing well enough for the people hit hardest by the prices to do that in the first place, right?) the next best thing is doing a bit of research to find out where the best gas prices are in your area.

According to GasBuddy.com, the average national price for a gallon of regular unleaded fuel is $4.086.  A year ago, $3.015!  Well, the good news is that by using GasBuddy.com, not only can you find the best prices in your area, but you can also help others by reporting what you are paying at the pump, and where.  *This feature does require a sign-up, but why not help your neighbors out and report it every time you get back from filling up?*

To find the gas prices at your local stations, click your state.  Then you will come to a list of counties, so choose the one you live in.  From there, you’ll get a city selection, and you will see the listings.

Sometimes you may find that the cheapest gas station is a little out of your way, but when it comes down to it, not much can be done to avoid the impact on your wallet at the pump.

How much are you paying in your area?  How often do you see the prices fluctuate?  Share your thoughts below.

Image from wisegeek.com and links to an interesting article (where the image is present) about the 9/10 cent on each gallon of gas!

Subscribe to this blog's RSS feed

Weddings can be such lovely, joyful affairs, and staying out of debt attending them can be a feat in itself for many families. From airfare to accommodations and garb to gifts, fancy weddings can be quite expensive.

As many families tighten their budgets to better afford gas and groceries, gift giving is taking a hit as well. Linens N’ Things, where I registered as a bride, recently declared bankruptcy. Retail sales are down, even in the traditional wedding-related sector.

I recommend making your own wedding gift if possible, but realize this doesn’t have to mean something that looks tacky or especially homemade.

Think about your skills, your family members’ talents, and family businesses or enterprises. What about these ideas:

~ Professionally framing the couple’s wedding invitation. My friend’s father owned a framing shop, and I received an elegant framed display of my wedding invitation that I treasure to this day.

~ Gift certificate for services. If you or your spouse are self-employed, what about a gift certificate? Services such as gutter cleaning, hardwood finishing, pet sitting or vehicle tune-up would be practical and much appreciated by many couples.

~ Elegant crafts. Do you make scrapbooks, notecards, or gift baskets? What about making items for the bride’s wedding gift?

~ Thrift stores and discount shops. After looking through the couple’s registry to get an idea of their taste and style, look for very inexpensive yet new items at thrift outlets. You’ll be surprised at the bargains and quality you’ll find.

To avoid overspending on wedding gifts, Kiplinger advises sticking to a budget or teaming up with friends for a group gift. They even go so low as to advise re-gifting. Hey, don’t laugh–soon re-gifting may be mainstream as purse strings continue to tighten for many.

Are you scaling back on gift giving because of finances or the economy? What budget wedding gifts do you recommend?

Knowing how to create a budget is important, even essential, for financial success. However, it’s not often taught in high school or even college. Many people begin married life with no concept of balancing the budget, or sticking to a spending plan.

How to Make a Budget presents the basic steps involved in budgeting your money. Rather than repeat the whole article, I’ll simply summarize the steps:

1. Create a list of all set expenses and estimates for groceries, gas and personal.

2. Tally your income, from all sources.

3. Compare the two numbers. If you earn more than you have listed under expenses, allocate the “extra” for savings, investing, and charity. If you have more expenses than income, trim your expenses (or increase income–fast!)

4. Hold a weekly budget meeting with yourself (or your spouse if married) and stay accountable to your spending plan.

As the saying goes … if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Cliche? Maybe, but with finances as with many other things, it’s true.

With oil at nearly $130 a barrel, everyone is looking for ways to save money on gas. After combining all your errands and telecommuting if possible, follow the tips in this video to save even more:

Now, I don’t 100% agree with getting a gas card, but for the super-disciplined, it may be a viable option. Personally, I won’t take on any more credit card debt. I’d rather look for a station that offers a discount for using cash.

How do you save money on gas?

In aspiring to teach my son about money, to show him the value, and to respect his belongings, I am going to be giving him an allowance, at age four. Instead of rewards for good behavior and for doing his chores, he now gets a stipend that I choose based on whatever my budget allows. We are going to be getting an ATM Bank that will allow him to keep track of his savings. I will keep the ATM card and PIN, until he is old enough to have the information himself, as this toy is recommended for older children. By having your children save money this way, they can keep track of how much money they have at all times, and this will help them learn about spending, saving, as well as how much money it takes to buy things they want, and things they need.

What are your thoughts on ways to teach your children money management skills? How early is too early? Share them below.

Picture is credited to Amazon.com and depicts the ATM Bank toy mentioned.

Today, we are taking a look at some tips that will help you save gas in light of the rising prices!

Skip the prolonged engine warm-ups in the winter time, and getting the car cooled down for your passengers in the summer. 30-45 seconds is good enough to warm up the engine and get going. It will avoid wasting fuel. In the summer time, get in and go. As long as you roll the windows down you are good. Using the A/C kills gas mileage!

Avoid starting and stopping the engine more than you have to. Starting your engine uses gasoline that idling the engine for one minute uses. If you’ll be waiting awhile, go ahead and shut it off, otherwise, leave her running.

Keep your car tuned up and eyes on the oil. The better your car is tuned up, the better mileage you’ll get. Several things impact your gas mileage, so you need to be sure your car is in optimum condition.

Fill up at the coolest time of the day. You are charged for volume of purchase, so it is during the coolest time of day that gasoline is densest. This means you’ll get the most for your money.

Drive the speed limit! Gas efficiency decreases the faster you drive!

For more, check out this website: http://www.howtoadvice.com/savinggas

This week, we are going to take a look at saving money, and some ways that you can go about it. We know how important it is to save money, so we’re going to skip that and go straight to some methods you can use to save money.

Keep the change. Each day, you should empty your pockets full of change into a jar. A bank account will sometimes allow you to round the purchase amount up to the nearest dollar, and transfer the rest into your savings account. You will be surprised how quickly this adds up. Occasionally, throw all your single bills in there, too.

Open a Savings account. Each month, deposit your change savings into your bank account, and/or have a set amount transfer over from checking. Never touch the savings, unless it qualifies as an expense that you need the savings for, such as a vacation, or an emergency.

Re-Evaluate your budget. Take a look at your expenses. See where you can cut them. For instance, if you spend $20 a month on movie rentals at the store, switch to an online store, spend $15. You’ll get more movies each month, and some money to save! Keep the budget the same even though you cut it. Throw the difference in savings.

Check out online programs. Programs like MyPoints, Upromise, and others will have you earning money or points on to use on gift cards or college savings. It will help your budget, and will not take much time each day. There are also coupon websites you can join to get coupons to use at the grocery store.

How do you save money? Share your thoughts below! I’m sure we can learn a lot from each other!

Our premier edition of the Financial Tips Blog Carnival, with the theme “Ready for Recession” has arrived. If you’re included in this carnival, please provide a timely link back to this post.

The theme “Ready for Recession?” was not meant to merely be a statement of my personal opinion concerning the economic climate; however, it is a popular topic and many in the personal finance blog world have touched on it in some manner over the past few months, some quite regularly.

First up is Michael at Debt Prison’s post, “Why Americans Can’t Afford Credit.” After taxes (including hidden taxes in your phone bill, property taxes and sales tax), inflation and mandatory insurances, there is not much left to spend. Don’t miss this article.

Grandpa and the Great Depression, submitted by Bryce, was one of my personal favorites. It’s a first-person account of a man born in 1915 and gives a glimpse of what life was like during the Depression.

Aaron’s lengthy article on “17 Economists on recessions, stimulation plans, and what they might mean to you” is chock full of links and resources. He contends that many economists don’t think the government interference will be effective, and will likely do more harm than good. I think he’s right.

In case you’re wondering how we got into this mess, Lisa presents an extensive answer in When People Go Bad: A History of the Subprime Mess. Hint: It didn’t happen overnight.

Christine describes in detail Eating in France on 10 Euro per Day for 2 People at her blog. Given the weakness of the dollar against European currencies, this is a timely subject.

Spending less and repaying debt more quickly can help you weather a recession, and to that end Brice shares with us 3 Steps to a Lower Interest Rate on his blog.

Frugal shopping is taken to a new level with Erica’s post on “Secret” eBay and Craigslist Hacks That Will Save You Thousands of Dollars Online. Check it out–I had no idea you could get an RSS feed for Craigslist searches you save. I’m not in the market for $400 purses, but maybe it will help me snag a hard-to-find Ergo baby carrier I want.

FIRE Finance suggests Riding the Recession with Awareness, Planning and Investment.

Michael isn’t investing in Apple anymore, and explains Why I Sold My Apple Shares Today to the curious.

Steve answers What is the Mortgage Foreclosure Process? in a very detailed, informative post on his blog. Unfortunately, this process may become familiar to many in the coming months and years.

With bad credit and tougher lending standards, you might find yourself unable to get a loan. Finance Tips explains The Pros And Cons Of Personal Loans.

But then, asks Sarah, Are you Ready to buy a House? Considering the damage done by banks and borrowers who rushed the process, many would do well to consider her post.

I’ve written about growing a Depression Garden to help save on groceries, but Eric takes it a step further and suggests growing money.

If you couldn’t decide by yourself, you can read about How to Spend Stimulus Checks and Tax Refunds in 2008.

In case things get drastic, check out How to Survive Total Economic Collapse. Yikes.

Not everyone was impressed by my theme. One submitter sent a link to a blog post completely unrelated to the topic at hand, stating “Nope nothing like that! I don’t believe in recessions!”

If only it were so easy.

Preparation is important. And nobody really knows what’s next for our economy. If a recession, or depression, looms, let’s do what we can to minimize its effects on our families. Are you ready for a recession?

Carnival photo by Craig Jewell

This week’s freebie list:

Free Pictures from Snapfish: http://www.snapfish.com/

Free Sample of Scott Xtreme Rags: http://www.kcdiy.com/xtreme/Xtreme.aspx

Free Health Stuff: http://www.qualityhealth.com/psp/registration.jspa?rf=17630&hydraPID=10496

Sorry for the short list this week, but I’ve got to get back in the swing of things with maintaining the blog! If you have any freebies, send them my way at LWatrous21@hotmail.com

Today, we are going to take a look at investing in the stock market, and how you can invest one share at a time!

Take a look at this article I wrote for Demand Studios/eHow for step-by-step guidelines for buying stock one step at a time!

Before writing that, I had no idea that you could buy just one stock at a time. If you find the right firm that will not charge an arm and a leg for trades, you can definitely ease your way into the stock market.

There are specialty services that allow you to purchase one share of stock as a commemorative for birthdays, and other special occasions. This is a nice service for that purpose, but if you really want to get into the stock market, you want to look at online brokerage firms.

Are you in the stock market? What tips can you share with us?