Lazy Man and Money

35+ Tips to Save Money on Gas

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Save Money on Gas

Everyone is talking about gas prices. People in my Nextdoor app are blaming it on pipelines and US political decisions. I want to explain that gas prices are high all over the world. No country has a magic pipeline that suddenly makes the cost of a barrel of oil to go from $110 to $55. Oil companies in the US produce oil as they see fit… they don’t ask political leaders for permission.

Today, I’ve got an article from 2008. That was a long time ago. Gas prices were through the roof. Oil reached around $180 a barrel. The spike that high was quick, but oil (and gas) prices still stayed above $120 a barrel for months.

A friend of mine cheered on the high oil prices. His theory was that it would be the push necessary for everyone to go to green alternatives. Instead, we just went to fracking to get more oil easier. There’s nothing to cheer about now with high oil prices. It does seem that some countries (especially in Europe) are learning their lesson about depending on foreign oil and switching to green alternatives. I’m hoping that United States makes a greater push for green alternatives.

Those greener alternatives are coming. When I wrote this article, I would be 7 years away from buying solar panels. Now I’ve had them for 7 years. Our next car will be an electric one. Until then, we still are looking at ways to save money on gas:

    Be a More Efficient Driver

  1. Brakes are your enemy. When you step on them, you have spent gas to go nowhere. Think ahead to limit the amount of brakes that you need to use. Trust me, it becomes a habit very quickly and you no longer have to think.
  2. Coast to red lights. Why use gas when you are going to have to stop?
  3. Coast down hills. I see a lot of people gunning it just to have to brake when they reach person in front of them.
  4. Coast to green lights far ahead of you. If it has been green for a LONG time, you might not make that light by the time you get there. That will force you to brake (see #1).
  5. Don’t tailgate… …In fact do the opposite. Leave plenty of room between you and the person in front of you. If the person needs to slow down a little, you can coast to catch up a little instead of using your brakes.
  6. Take three rights instead of a left. UPS drivers do this in metro areas like NYC and found that they save fuel that would have been spent idling. Only look to do this at those really difficult left turns.
  7. Use Cruise Control. A constant speed is the most fuel efficient.
  8. Drive between 40-60 miles per hour. If you have a lighter car, you can aim for the 60 MPH number. If you have a heavier car, you’ll want to go 40 MPH.
  9. Avoid Traffic. Don’t drive during times of high traffic if you can avoid it.
  10. Use a GPS tracker. Time spent lost is gas wasted.
  11. Avoid air conditioning (if you stand it). Some tests seem to show that it’s not a big factor, so if it really impacts your comfort level, you might want to consider using air conditioning.

    12. Make Your Car More Efficient

  12. Don’t carry extra weight in your trunk. I do like to have some emergency supplies in the my trunk, but I won’t leave a bunch of weight in there if I’m not going to use it.
  13. Convert your car to run on vegetable oil. Then filter your own oil from the stuff that restaurants don’t use.
  14. Remove any obvious wind resistance. This includes any bike racks, antenna ornaments, etc. Some say that rolling the windows down creates drag and others say it’s not a significant factor.
  15. Get low rolling resistance tires. These are tires designed to minimize the wasted energy due to the normal friction with the road.
  16. Check your air filter. The Balance says it reduces gasoline mileage up to 10%.
  17. Check the tire pressure Air pressure matters. Follow your manual and you’ll get more miles for every gallon. You can get a highly-rated tire pressure gauge from Amazon for less than $25.
  18. Use a fuel injector cleaner. You can pick this up an any car part store. Add to a tank full of gas or as instructed.

    19. Get the Best Price on Gas

  19. Get a gas rewards credit card. The Chase Perfect Card with give you 6% cash back on your gas purchases for the first 90 days, then 3% after that. That’s like getting a 12 cents a gallon discount.
  20. Consider not using a credit card. This goes against the above idea. There are gas stations near me that give discounts if you pay with cash or debit cards. Find what works for you.
  21. Use the web to find the cheapest station near you. I like to use GasBuddy myself.
  22. Don’t drive out of your way for the best price. It doesn’t make sense to spend a gallon of gas driving out of your way to save a couple of pennies. You’d have to have a huge tank and a very fuel efficient car to make it work.
  23. Find cheap gas in unusual places. When I lived in Boston, the cheapest gas was from a local grocery store chain. My wife, who lived a little further out west, found that the warehouse club she belonged to had better prices most of the time.
  24. Don’t buy premium grade… unless your car requires it.

    25. Pick the Right Car

  25. Consider a different car. Do you drive great distances in an car that gets poor gas mileage? If so, you might save more money selling your current car and buying a different one. It’s not a common situation, but one worth checking out.
  26. Buy a Hybrid or Electric Car. One of the great things about updating an article from 2008 is that electric cars weren’t readily available. If you buy a hybrid cars, take note – not all amazing gas mileage.
  27. Buy a Small Car. Smaller cars weigh less. It’s simple physics that moving a bigger object requires more power. Small cars also typically come with engines that have four cylinders which often get better gas mileage.
  28. Buy a Motorcycle. Though I consider them quite dangerous, it is a way to save on gas. As a bonus you may get to ride in many high occupancy vehicle lanes
  29. Don’t buy a car that requires premium grade gas.

    30. Don’t Drive as Much

  30. Use a bike or walk. It’s also good exercise, so you kill two birds with one stone.
  31. Park far away. This is typically a health tip, but I see too many spending their gas going up and down the lanes looking for the best possible parking spot.
  32. Reduce your commute by moving closer to your job. My Money Blog did a great example on commuting showing the math vs. living in higher cost cities. Since he did it in March, his cost estimate for gas is conservative.

    33. Get Gas at the Right Time

  33. Follow the price of crude oil. I like to look at CNBC every now and again. If it rises today, there’s a good chance gas prices will go up in 3-4 days. If it drops, it might be wise to wait for that to filter to your local gas station.
  34. Explore buy gas on Wednesdays. I’ve read that statistically gas is cheaper on Wednesdays. That’s helpful, but others say that there are so many other factors to consider that it’s worthwhile. Perhaps you might want to futher investigate yourself or just do it if it’s convenient.
  35. Buy gas a few days before a holiday. Have you ever tried to get gas on Memorial or Labor Day weekends? It seems like gas station always raise rates, knowing that you are going to pay it.

Bonus Myth

  1. Fill up when it’s cool. People think that cooler gas is denser, but some studies show that the temperature coming out of the tank is the same.

Did I miss any gas-saving tips? Let me know in the comments.

Myth: No One Ever Got Rich by [X]

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I’ve read many personal finance bloggers repeat some from of “No One Ever Got Rich by [X].” It may not be a complete lie, but it’s dishonest nonetheless.

Usually [X] is “saving money on coffee.” Sometimes it’s saving money on other things. Recently, I read a new twist, “You’re not going to get rich on credit card points.”

If you take each claim by itself, it is probably true. However, coffee could cost you a 1/3 of a million dollars. (That example includes a lot about compound interest. However, that’s simply what is possible when you save money and invest it over a lifetime.)

The problem is that these are singular claims. It ignores that your total money mindset is made up of many beliefs and actions. It’s unlikely that you are going to be frugal in just one area. Usually, if you are saving money on coffee by making it at home, you are also the kind of person who brings their lunch to work. It doesn’t have to be every day, but it’s probably going to happen more often than not.

Credit card points add up over time. I probably get $750 back a year or more. My grocery card gives me 6% (American Express Blue Cash Preferred) on at least $6,000 in groceries a year. That’s more than $350. I’ve been getting cashback for probably at least 20 years now, so that’s about $15,000. My car, Subaru Forester, was around $20,000, so it’s kind of close to getting a free car. I probably made up the other $5,000 with the bonuses when signing up for credit cards. It’s fairly easy to get $500 if you are spending a certain minimum anyway.

Let’s sum up this whole idea in one sentence:

“Success is the sum of small efforts – repeated day in and day out.” – Robert Collier

The quote wasn’t necessary about personal finance. It works in many areas and personal finance is just one of them.

It’s very important to get the big things right too. You definitely don’t want to make a huge mistake buying a house or skipping health insurance. It’s not great if your car payment eats up half your paycheck. Keeping all your money under your mattress instead of investing isn’t smart either.

The big things are important. The small things that happen a lot are important.

Everyone’s heard the stories of a janitor who died with millions and millions dollars. He is the guy who “Got Rich by [X].”

Frugality and FIRE Friends

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It’s still a very busy summer for dog sitting, so rather than be 80% blogger and 20% dog sitter, it’s close to 95% dog sitter and 5% blogger. I expect that to change when kids go back to school in September and families stop traveling.

Last week this Tweet caught my attention:

It’s simple and straight to the point. However, I read it and think of it from a historical perspective. My blogging mentality is still stuck in 2006 and 2007 when I started.

Frugality Bashing Over Time

There were bloggers in 2006 who were into extreme frugality. I remember reading an article where the person calculated that opening the refrigerator costs four cents. So before opening the fridge, he planned his attack to grab all the items as quick as possible. There were also jokes that if you by 2-ply toilet paper, you can just pull one ply apart and “BAM!” double your toilet paper. Some of the extreme frugality got a little weird.

In general, though, people were just doing common sense things to save money. Make coffee at home, bring lunch to work, that kind of thing. However, people have started attacking those kinds of frugal suggestions. Their argument is, “No one got rich making coffee at home.” That may be true, but brewing coffee at home makes sense.

One decision repeated many times over a long time can make a significant difference. However, it’s more than that one decision. That one decision can grow into creating many mindful and frugal spending habits. When I developed these habits, I had more money left over to max out my 401k at a fairly young age (the maximum allowable contribution was lower then). This 45-year-old is thanking his younger self for doing that.

You have to have money to invest money. Not everyone can have a high-paying career (I did, fortunately), so frugality can be the path to having that money.

If you read a money guru and they are against frugality, it’s probably a good idea to shop for a new guru. They have not walked a mile in your shoes. I haven’t either. However, I’m not going to shut the door and bash an idea that mathematically is proven to help so many people.

Bashing of the FIRE Community

When I read “FIRE community”, my 2006 dinosaur brain interprets it as “personal finance community.” For all practical purposes, they are synonyms. FIRE is a better marketing term and “Financial Independence, Retire Early” evokes a sense of freedom to do whatever you want in life. There are no new money tips and tricks in FIRE that weren’t already in the personal finance community. We could call it all a “money community” and everyone would know what we are talking about.

The thing about defining a money community is that it’s nebulous. There are money communities in website forums (Bogleheads for example), blogs (this one for example), Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit. Sometimes the people in one community don’t know who I am, but in another community, they know me quite well. Finding the community that supports you as you work towards your money goals is what’s important.

I don’t understand why anyone would bash a supportive group. I suppose I can imagine a person with enough hate in their hearts to do that. I imagine the bashing happens mostly on social media where people may just be trying to get attention (even negative attention) or entertain themselves. That used to get me going and angrily responding. Now, I just feel a little sad for that person, because he/she does not seem to have a focus and/or a community to help themselves move forward.

Final Thoughts

Frugality and FIRE communities are tremendously useful money tools. They’ve worked for countless people for decades. It makes no more sense to bash them than it does to bash being in a high-paying career or investing. My 8th-grade math teacher used to say, “There’s more than one way to Moody Street” (a big street in my hometown). There are many money tools that can get you to financial independence. Use the ones that work for you.

Yard Sales are Very Weird

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This past weekend, my wife and I participated in a church yard sale. By “my wife and I”, I mostly mean my wife as she ran the show.

I usually have strong feelings about everything. It’s just in my nature to lean towards everything being either black or white. I know there’s lots of gray. I’m trying to get more comfortable with that as I get older, but it just isn’t natural to me.

Yard sales baffle me. They are one of the few things that I’m wishy-washy about.

Here are some thoughts about each side of the coin… I’ll leave it to you to determine the context on how I feel about each item.

As a Yard Sale Seller

  • So Much Work – There’s a reason why my wife runs the show at yard sales. It’s a lot of work… and I’m so very Lazy. That said, I was up an hour early making coffee and doing other household chores to help make the yard sale work.
  • So Little Money – A couple of years ago, my wife sold a ton of baby stuff at “high ticket” prices. It netted around $200. After the $25 table buy-in, we (she) made about $30. I won’t even look up what a per-diem pharmacist could get with a single hour of work… that would depress me.
  • No More “Stuff” – Kids grow and the old stuff needs to be replaced with new stuff. This includes books, toys, and clothes. We’ve accumulated so much of all it. I’m guilty for some of the toys, because I have zero impulse control on anything with “STEM” in it. Toys aren’t terrible… I can see how a new toy lights up the mind of my kids. It could be quite possibly the best feeling I can think of.
  • Recycling – I hate seeing anything thrown into a landfill. Kid stuff should last through multiple kids. They grow so fast (at least through age 5) that clothes are still good.
  • Bargaining – One person said that she bought clothes at $0.25 a piece at the last yard sale she was at. I wish I was quick enough to say, “It’s a $25 buy-in to a very good charity. So you are asking us to sell 100 pieces of clothes to just break even with our time here?

As a Yard Sale Buyer

  • Bargaining – I respect game. The person above had game. I think it’s best to take the game elsewhere. You are getting things for pennies on the dollar. I never bargain. Please don’t bargain at yard sales unless you know an item is overpriced.
  • Treasure Hunt – I love a modern-day treasure hunt, without the work of “hunting.” I went to see what other people were selling. I found a General Hospital board game from the early 80s for $4. It seemed like it could be worth more, but more importantly, my wife thought that she could use it for a possible social connection in her past. I didn’t think about money because those social connections are priceless.

    I also bought a 260-piece Harry Potter puzzle for 25 cents. It says “8+” on it, which would turn-off my kids (age 5 and 6) normally. However, I pointed out that they are 11 combined, so they can work together and do it. The next day my oldest said, “Since I’m 6 and a half, and my brother is 5 and half, it’s like we’re 12.”

    Perhaps the best 25 cents ever spent?

Another person at the yard sale spend about 15 minutes negotiating about the prices. He ended up buying about a quarter of our stuff. After the negotiattion, he pulled out a stack of $100 bills. He didn’t have change. This exploded my mind.

If you have a way to put my mind back together (or have other yard sale thoughts), let me know in the comments.

Jay Leno ($13 Million Mansion and 180 Cars) Says He’s Frugal

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Jay Leno is my neighbor. He’s not my next-door neighbor, but our small Newport, RI community consists of around 60,000 people. Even though I’ve never met him, I hear he’s an extremely nice guy. That’s why this is a uniquely difficult article to write.

A couple of days ago I was reading Money Magazine and came across the following article:

Jay Leno Money Magazine
(Note: I’m including the article here because the free online version from a year earlier is a little less tone-deaf and contains the same basic information. My fair-use to criticize is dependent on the print version above.)

I haven’t seen a money/celebrity article this bad since the famous Men’s Health/Erin Burnett article of late 2007. A few days after I pointed it out it started to make headline news.

This isn’t as bad as that one was, but it reminded me of it. (Now I wonder if the Kylie Jenner self-made billionaire mess was as bad.)

Let’s start with the subheader, “The comedian enjoys the fastlane – but lives like he’s on his last dime.”

I had trouble reconciling that with this piece of news from about 15 months ago, Jay Leno just bought a $13.5 million oceanfront mansion in Newport, R.I. — take a look inside

Here are some nuggets from the article according to the real estate listing:

A gated entrance and winding drive leads up to the estate, which sits on a 9-acre lot and features 15,851 square feet of living space. The home has 12 bedrooms, 12 full bathrooms and three half-baths, according to the listing. It’s also packed with luxe amenities, including a carriage house, walled garden and tennis court.

(Grrr… no Oxford comma!)

There’s more to the description, but a $13.5 million home tells you all you need to know. Using standard estimates on maintenance of a home of 1% of annual price per year, he’ll spend about $135,000 a year just to keep it as it is. Maybe it’s even more with the extensive landscaping.

Jay Leno’s “last dime” must be Scrooge McDuck lucky one.

Originally, I thought that the online version of May 15, 2018 was before he bought the mansion, but it was after.

The Money Magazine article above also mentions that he has around 350 motor vehicles. That includes one he bought in 1999 for $800,000. That’s over 1.2 million in inflation-adjusted dollars today.

I found only one thing in the article that led me to believe he’s frugal. Leno says he doesn’t spend much on clothes.

Leno does make an attempt to preach good financial habits. He says that he never bought anything before he could afford it, never bought anything on credit, and that cash is king. Unfortunately, these are all things that Paris Hilton could say as soon as she was old enough to talk. While Leno made his fortune himself, it’s doesn’t mean he’s frugal. Those financial habits are very easy to follow… if you have a net worth of $350 million.

The Money Magazine article finished up with a quote of “I live pretty frugally.”

If a $13.5 million home and a $70 million car collection*, is living frugally then, you too, can be frugal!

I’m having a lot of difficulty in trying to stretch that to be frugal… even in celebrity terms. I haven’t seen his car show, but if someone is making a show to show off dozens of millions of dollars of your purchases… you can’t say you “live pretty frugally.”

I’m almost having a lot of trouble trying to figure out what feels worse to me about this. Should it be:

  1. Jay Leno himself – I actually think that Jay Leno might deserve the least blame. He’s just saying things like they are for him and giving a little background in his past.
  2. Jay Leno’s publicist – Shouldn’t his publicist take a look at this and say, “Ummm, Jay, this comes off like an alcoholic claiming he isn’t one because he rarely drinks tequila. Instead he only drinks 2 liters of vodka by noon each day”?
  3. Money Magazine – Shouldn’t an editor at Money Magazine take a look at this and say, “We lose a lot of credibility when we blindly equate spending dozens of millions of dollars with being frugal. Only Larry Ellison** can relate when he reads this. The rest of our audience is going to collectively think WTF“?

I’m also confused about why Money Magazine would recycle this interview from about a year ago now. I wonder if they ran out of production time and quickly edited something old as filler.

I’m going to leave those questions up to you, the reader to answer. Let me know your thoughts in comments.

And if I’ve been a little harsh to Jay Leno here and he’s reading it, hopefully he has a sense of humor ;-). I’m not nearly as bad as John Oliver was a little over a week ago:

* This is estimated by adding the 50 more cars mentioned in this interview to the $50 million mentioned at that link.

** Larry Ellison is one of my other rich “neighbors”.