I’m on a macro-economics-meets-personal-finance kick on the blog these days – I’ve already delved into rising commodity costs, the credit crunch, and the falling US dollar. What about saving a buck at the gas pump?

Rising gas prices don’t seem like much of a mystery in a macro-economic sense: we’re just plain running out of oil, and the oil that we still have is getting increasingly difficult and expensive to extract and refine. Throw in the galloping demand for oil from China (and yes, maybe some impact from speculative trading), and it’s easy (if depressing) to see why prices at the pump are only moving in one direction: skyward.

Even so, how’s a guy to cope in the short-term?

Well, for one thing you can use Web 2.0 tools to scan for the best gas prices in your area. Cruise on over to fueleconomy.gov to find state-by-state links to communities tracking the very cheapest gas prices in your area (or an area you’ll be traveling to).

If you’re thinking about ditching your old beater for a hybrid, WSJ has done all of the calculations for you. This article weighs selling your SUV for a hybrid, and this one explores when to “trade up” on your old car in a more general light. Bottom line, you’ll need to bite the bullet a little upfront if you go for a more fuel-efficient car that’s newer, but savings do tend to add up over time (even as those switching costs decline).

You can also adjust your driving style and car maintenance and pick up a little extra fuel efficiency. Gasbuddy tells you exactly how.

If you’re really creative, check out this hack for making your own “green” Hummer. Pretty sharp, eh?

Maybe you’re really ready to get serious and start carpooling to work. ErideShare and CarPoolWorld are just two of many community sites linking would-be riders and drivers in various locations across the country. If you can’t immediately find a match, just Google “carpool” and your route name, and I’m sure you’ll come up with even more results.

And don’t forget: U.S. gas is still pretty cheap by worldwide standards. La Marguerite posted this table comparing our prices to other developed countries’ – ouch!

What about you guys? Have you adjusted your car, your lifestyle, or anything else to squeeze a little more fuel efficiency into your driving?  I notice more motor scooters in the parking lot here at our Boca headquarters – I’m not sure if that’s a purely local phenom since they work as year-round transportation down here. (I own a sweet 2000 Yamaha Zuma, myself – a screaming 49ccs of raw power!)


[image: Beer is cheaper than gas by frotzed on flickr]
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Or you could get a water powered car!

http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=84561 

Side question, why is gas so much more expensive in Europe? 

I believe Europe has very very high taxes on gas....

 They also tax cars based on the volume displacement of the engine, so a car guy like me would be royally taxed out the wazoo, I think I'd have to begin gathering up barrells of tea for a protest!

The biggest thing I've noticed with higher gas prices in my area is many more people are using the bus system to get back and forth to work.   I also noticed people are driving more slowly - especially those driving SUVs and Pickups.   The max speed limit on the freeway I take back and forth to work every day is 70 MPH.   Prior to the rise in gas prices,  it was common that people would fly by you doing 85 MPH.   I rarely see that anymore.  In fact, more people now seem to be driving under the speed limit - it's now commom for people to drive 60-65 MPH.  

Actually,  I was at a BBQ yesterday,  and one of the guys there was saying they if someone in their family goes to the store without asking others in the household if they need anything,  they get scolded because that means an extra trip to the store someone else .     I thought that was kind of extreme, but it goes to show how some families are being hit hard by this.

In several school districts,  there's talk of going from a 5 day school week to a 4 day school week in order to cut cost of bus fuel.  

In some counties fairly close to where I live,  police patrols are also being scaled back.  Where as before there would be only one officer per car for each patrol,   they're now putting two offices in each car per patrol - so the same number of officers are on duty,  but there are less cars available to get back and forth to emergency calls.

UPod, I'd like to know where you live because where I live, I don't see much change in driving habits.  One road I travel on has a speed limit of 55, and I usually drive between 55 and 60 when I'm on this road.  It should also be noted that there are only two or three safe passing zones on this road since there are a lot of twists and turns along a 12-mile stretch between two major intersections.  Although I'm driving the posted speed limit, I still see drivers that like to drive 70 on this road or pass multiple vehicles in one go.  Just wait and one of these fools will realize the error they are making when they see an oncoming car and they can't get back over since someone is next to them and can't brake soon enough to create a gap for them to go back in.

If my truck would just run on beer..... 

Get even, buy oil stocks! :)

Hey Marcus....how about this...we all get together and form a group of disgruntled citizens buying up oil stocks and then use our leverage as a group of stockholders to make them do whatever we want?  Dance CEO...I SAID DANCE!...lol

Something for folks in more rural areas to consider is the distance to the pump.  It costs me about 25 cents a mile to drive my truck in town, so if I have to go three extra miles to get gas, it's eaten up the two cents I save, even if I'm putting 30 gallons in.  I always try to plan filling up when I'm driving somewhere else, then at least I can justify going a bit out of the way to get cheaper gas.

Fortunately, I carpool to work, so I only have to drive about 10 miles a week in my gas guzzler.  Even carpooling, we are spending about $100 a week for 5 guys to get to work, things aren't going to get easier.  The wife and I drive our mitsubishi for longer trips and shopping, but our gas bill still isn't cheap.

As for upgrading vehicles, I'm still on the fence about hybrids.  From a purely economic standpoint, it looks better for us to go with a cheap, fuel efficient car over a hybrid.  Total cost of ownership looks to be far less on a $12,000 Yaris than it is on a $21,000 Prius.  It's only rated at 29/35 vs the 48/45/46 of the Prius, but your payment is halved and you don't have to worry about the environmental impact of batteries, nor the replacement costs.

By the way, I believe that speculation has much more to do with the current prices than supply and demand.  Oil futures are up what, 35% since January?  We didn't just discover the oil shortage.  Best of all, we get to pay tomorrow's prices for today's gasoline.  I do agree that gas prices are going to rise with a dwindling supply and an increasing demand, but imo speculators could easily be accountable for 30 cents on the dollar of our current gas prices.

Next time I need to strike up a little cocktail-party conversation, now I know for sure which topic we all have something to say about...
 
Nice points, all. Upod, your points about the school bussing and police patrol in your town were pretty eye-opening. If that's already happening, it really gets you wondering what other of our social structures and daily rhythms may change, simply to save on gas. While traveling in the San Francisco area last week, I was staying at the Gateway Sheraton near SFO airport.  They and many other hotels in the area offer a free shuttle service to and from the airport and hotel.  While waiting for my Sheraton van, I noticed many of the vans had placards for more than one hotel chain on them.  In chatting up the airport attendant at the shuttle stand about this, he told me that recently a bunch of the hotels had joined together for these shuttle services, sharing buses to save on gas. You also mentioned another potentially big shift you're seeing towards public transit; there was a big article in the New York Times on that very trend last month - and the story isn't just about transit use in NYC, but in the heartland, too: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/10/business/10transit.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=public+transit&st=nyt&oref=login
 
Ivan, I was wondering about European gas prices myself and found this article in the Houston Chronicle. Two words explain the price discrepancy between us and them: more taxes. Check it out: http://www..chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/5837274.html
 
RetireOnTime, you beat me to the punch - reading this, I was wondering if K-Man lives in a less rural, spread-out place than Upod, accounting for this difference. The Times also did a story a week or so ago about how rural America is getting hit hardest by high gas prices. Between the farmers' dependance on gas for their livelihood and the long, long distances between pumps, it sounds rough out there: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/09/business/09gas.html?scp=2&sq=rural+oil&st=nyt
 
Marcus and Corbin2, NOW you're talking! (I'm just glad it's not a general-CEO-dance, or I'd be in trouble with my two left feet...)