05 Aug 08 Miles Per Gallon – Saving Gas

Ride the bus if you can. That’s the biggest gas saver of all!
Chill out! I’ve found over and over again, that driving like a bat out of hell is not only more likely to get you a ticket, get you in an accident, raise your blood pressure and stress levels, but it wastes gas, and wears out the car quicker! Driving at a constant speed can lower your gas mileage by up to 33% on the highway, which is over a $1 a gallon right now!
I know McCain has been making fun of Obama about it, but keeping your tires at the correct pressure, can save you another 3%, or about ten cents on the gallon.
Another 10% can be had by making sure your air filter isn’t clogged.
Get rid of all the stuff in your car that you don’t need. You can save another 1% on your fuel for every 50lbs of excess weight you dump. No, that doesn’t mean making the mother-in-law walk.
Don’t be idle. It’s reckoned that standing with the engine running costs over $70 billion in wasted gas in the US alone.
On the highway use cruise control, to maintain a constant speed but on hilly terrain don’t.
Don’t waste money on premium gas. Most cars, trucks and SUVs simply don’t need it. It won’t make your car go faster. It’s simply wasting money.
Be sure and use the correct oil for your engine.
As well as driving at a constant speed, try and keep your speed down. It varies from car to car, and model to model but generally speaking, gas mileage decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph. As a general rule, every 5 mph you go over 60 costs an extra thirty cents per gallon.
Remember to check the gas tank cap! If you don’t close the cap correctly, you gas could be simply evaporating into thin air!

Tags: air filter, bat out of hell, blood pressure, chill out, correct oil, cruise control, excess weight, gas mileage, gas tank, hilly terrain, mccain, mileage, mother in law, obama, running costs, speed down, stress levels, suvs, tires, waste money

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08 Feb 08 Real Needs vs Perceived Needs

I was reading this article at Home Economics 101

I so agree with Heather’s comments. We’d bought many of those gadgets over time, and when we moved we sold many of them on eBay, and we’ve not replaced them. Some people would probably say that some things go into the “cant live without” category, but we really didn’t use them, when we bought them before!

Electric Popcorn Maker
Deep Fat Fryer
Ice Cream Maker

Sure, everyone’s mileage varies, but, for us, these were items that seemed such a good idea at the time, but rarely ever got used.

Regarding everyday cleaning items. We’ve reduced our use of bleach containing products which really aren’t good for the environment, and instead we have one of those spray bottles, that we fill with a 3% peroxide solution. You can use this for so many things from sterilizing counter tops, to using it on cuts. You can’t do the latter with that bleach-containing spray cleaner. You can use it in the washing machine too, instead of bleach, it’s kinder to fabrics.

We keep oil in a spray bottle too, and although we don’t fry a great deal of food, it’s great for using a minimal amount when we do shallow fry, and it’s good on the grill too.

I tend to “turn off” with advertising. I seldom watch TV, but if I do, within an hour, I could possibly be convinced that I need at least two new pills to alleviate the symptoms of the illness I didn’t know I had until now. I should also be eager to reach old age, so I can take advantage of that too good to be true reverse mortgage offer.