Don't speed.
It's amazing what a difference decent gas mileage makes. My car already gets good gas mileage and I've always had efficient driving habits, but I experimented in the past two weeks with using cruise control and staying under 60mph on my way to work on the freeway. I can only do this for about half the trip, when I'm on I-405 going against the flow of traffic. But it's a made a difference. I used to fill up about once every 1 1/2 weeks or so, but I've made it 2 and I'm just now getting towards E. I think I've gotten 2 extra trips, maybe 3. At over $4 a gallon that's a big difference.
I rode the bus yesterday for the first time, and plan on that twice a week. It really inflates my commute time, but the time I have to read and the bit of extra exercise (it's a half mile walk at either end) make it worth it. So between cruise control, bussing, and working at home Fridays, I will be cutting my gas bill at least in half. I'm already in the habit of not driving on the weekends if I can possibly avoid it, mostly because once I find a parking spot on Thursday evening I camp there.
In other transpo news, now that I've decided to get a bike this summer I'm a woman possessed. Or is that obsessed? Either way, I can't stop thinking about it. Next Saturday my 'rents and I are going to go bike window shopping, as at least my mom is in the market and perhaps my dad as well. I hope to get to a shop with fixed and single-speeds, so I can toodle around the parking lot and see if either one is a possibility. Otherwise I'll likely get a basic road bike. The more I think about it, though, the more I really, really love the idea of a really simple, stripped-down bike, since all the goddamn gearing is one of the things I don't like about my old bike (though, to be honest I think the gearing on that one is crappy). But just futzing with it messes up the ride and annoys me, especially on inclines. So for me it seems like a worthy trade-off between standing up to mash up the hills or messing with gears to get up them more efficiently.
I rode the bus yesterday for the first time, and plan on that twice a week. It really inflates my commute time, but the time I have to read and the bit of extra exercise (it's a half mile walk at either end) make it worth it. So between cruise control, bussing, and working at home Fridays, I will be cutting my gas bill at least in half. I'm already in the habit of not driving on the weekends if I can possibly avoid it, mostly because once I find a parking spot on Thursday evening I camp there.
In other transpo news, now that I've decided to get a bike this summer I'm a woman possessed. Or is that obsessed? Either way, I can't stop thinking about it. Next Saturday my 'rents and I are going to go bike window shopping, as at least my mom is in the market and perhaps my dad as well. I hope to get to a shop with fixed and single-speeds, so I can toodle around the parking lot and see if either one is a possibility. Otherwise I'll likely get a basic road bike. The more I think about it, though, the more I really, really love the idea of a really simple, stripped-down bike, since all the goddamn gearing is one of the things I don't like about my old bike (though, to be honest I think the gearing on that one is crappy). But just futzing with it messes up the ride and annoys me, especially on inclines. So for me it seems like a worthy trade-off between standing up to mash up the hills or messing with gears to get up them more efficiently.