Tuesday’s Tips: Gas Saving Tips

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

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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!

This week, we’re looking at tips to stretch the money you do have to make the most of your budget without sacrificing much of anything.

Look for sales. Look through local circulars and find the best deals for the things you need to buy. Wherever you see the best sales, is where you need to do your shopping.

Use coupons. Find coupons for the stuff you buy and use them. Remember, coupons only help when use them on things you normally buy! If you use them on things you do not usually purchase, they will only cost you more money in the long run.

Shop at Wholesale Clubs, and stock up! When there is something you use frequently, you save money by purchasing it in larger quantities and storing the extras until you need them.

Cook meals ahead of time and freeze them. You save time and money by doing this. When there are times you do not feel like cooking and you want to go out to eat instead–you can still have a quick dinner if you have frozen something, and you do not spend the money you would have by dining out.

What are some of the ways you stretch your money?

Any Mom, especially those who stay at home with their children and live on one income, is usually interested in finding new, and unique ways to save money. In an effort to help you stretch that dollar even further, here are some money saving tips and tricks that any Mom can use, regardless of the size of her family.

Plan. If you plan out as much as can, from the money you have coming in, to the money you have going out, and what it is being spent on, to how you are going to spend the money you have left after you bills are paid, and what you are spending that on, you will be much more successful in stretching your money than with a series of impulsive purchases.

Use coupons only on products you normally buy. Many times coupons actually cause you to spend more money because you use them to save money on things you may not normally buy. This in turn saves you nothing. It actually costs you more time, too, because you stopped to clip them. If you see something on product you use frequently, then by all means, go ahead. Otherwise, stay away!

Make your own cleaning products. Vinegar is a great cleaning solution, much cheaper than the commercialized products. It is also free from potentially harmful chemicals, and works for nearly any cleaning application you have. So, when you stop and think about how you have separate cleaners for everything in the house, even if you are already saving by using generic options, you would save more by creating your own. Save the bottles from your store bought products, to hold the ones you make.

Shop alone as much as possible. Shopping with kids is a pain. Shopping with your husband may end up creating more items that you do not need, as they tend to be impulsive and sneak things in, too. If you shop alone, you can make your list, stick to it, and comparison shop, in peace. This may be the only alone time you get, but it is still worth it.

Use and re-use as much as you can. Buy something, and re-use the containers if possible. This saves you money on Tupperware like storage containers. Find as many uses for items as possible. Save your grocery store bags to use as garbage bags in the small trash cans in your bathroom and in your children’s bedrooms (if they have them). This prevents having to purchase an extra set of garbage bags, at the special small size.

Go to the grocery store full. Shopping hungry leads to impulsive unnecessary junk, which adds up quickly. Going full, will ward off cravings and keep food that you don’t need from looking good, thus saving you money!

Shop at many different stores, instead of limiting yourself to one. Shopping at different stores means you have access to different sales. For instance, I shop at three different stores. The first two, are the generic grocery stores. The last one is the commercialized store, and that is only for the items that are out of stock, or unavailable from either of the previous stores.

Consider once-a-month cooking. While it is time consuming for a day or two, it makes for a large monthly trip to the store, rather than several small ones. It will save you a considerable amount of money over the course of the month. If you don’t believe me, try it, and compare it to your spending in the previous month. I save $50-$100 this way, which covers another utility!

Save water. You know the water that goes down the drain as you wait for it to heat up to fill the sink for dishes? Save it in a bowl. Use it for the dog, cat, or your house plants. Less water waste maximizes your consumption, and reduces your bill.

Reduce power consumption. Besides turning the light off when you leave a room, switch to lower wattage bulbs, everywhere. Turn your water heater down (unless it’s already set at the standard 120 degrees), and use your dryer less. This will reduce your bill in no time.

Following any one or combination of all of these money saving tips, will certainly help you add a little more money to your savings account, for the unexpected, or the family vacation. Each one of these small steps will certainly make a big difference in your finances.

What else can you think of to help fellow moms save money? Share some of your favorite frugal tendencies with all of us!

Submitted by: Cindy