Don't be Bamboozled by Lower Prices @ the Pump!

"Really? Are you sure?"I questioned my Hubby as made a James Bond-like u-turn in the middle of a crowded boulevard last night. He was certain that he'd eyed a sign touting gasoline at just $2.37 a gallon. We almost took out three Punks and a Goth that were bicycling their ways from club to club. Apparently they think it's better to be drunk behind the handle bars than the wheel--but it's a great way to save gas!

Anyway, my husband was right about the price and we filled the tank for about $10 less than we had just two weeks prior. By "we" I mean "he". I almost never have to touch the filthy handle of a gas pump because I am loved and spoiled!

Do you remember the last time gas was under $3 per gallon? According to AAA, it's been about 7 months. It's about 25% of the price just a few months ago. And many people view the savings that way - as if they now have to spend 3/4 of what they were paying to fill their tank. I don't view myself as a pessimist, but as a realist when I view it as still costing me 33% more than a year ago.

We are a frugal gas family. We do our very best to stretch our gasoline budget as far as we can and these are some the lesser known tricks that we use to do that.


Wants vs. Needs

Good stewardship requires that you determine your wants vs. your needs when you shop, however you also have to determine your wants vs. needs when you are going shopping. Ask yourself the following questions before you pull out of your driveway:

• Do I really need to go on that errand?
• Do I really need to go on that errand today?
• Would it be more efficient to piggy back it onto another trip that I have to make?
  
  

Route Your Day

If I don't know the shortest routes between point A and point B (and C and D and...) I Mapquest it. http://www.mapquest.com/ Just plug in the stops in a logical order and it will spit out step by step directions to guide you through your entire route.


Trade Cars for the Day

This is the one that seems to surprise people the most. Generally speaking, you probably have a car that you consider "your" car and your husband probably sticks to driving "his" car everyday. We recently put an end to that mind set in our household. We decided that whoever is going to drive the most miles in a particular day drives the car that gets the best mileage. Some days I drive the wagon, some days I drive the van. It took a bit of adjustment and it requires a bit of advanced planning, but the potential savings can really add up.


Pay Attention to your Hubby's Route

My husband has started running a lot more of the errands for me. Often he is going to drive past the post office and the library on a day that I am going the opposite direction. He'll run in to pick up my hold items and ship a package that ordinarily I would have taken care of while he was at work.


Be Neighborly

Tell your neighbors when you are running to the grocery store or Walmart. Ask them what you can pick up for them. Once you have made the effort to pick something up for them, you can feel free to ask them to get something for you the next time you know they are going out. As it becomes habit, everyone benefits.

Also, my neighbors and I have started doing a lot more borrowing across the fence. Instead of sending our hubbies to the market, we send our kids across the street if we need a bit of milk for the morning or a few eggs to make supper.


Check for the Lowest Gas Prices

MSN has a fabulous website. Just enter your zip code to find the 30 lowest gas prices in your neighborhood.

http://autos.msn.com/everyday/gasstations.aspx

It's also fabulous for road trips. Plan ahead where your stops will be, find the best gas price and then print out the map. This eliminates the previously inevitable driving around a town you don't know in hopes of stumbling across a good price. So, you aren't wasting gas to find a station and you know you are getting a grand deal.

Leave a comment and share your best gas budget stretching tip! I'd love to hear them!

Finding Peace In Christ in Times of Financial Turmoil

“And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7 KJ).

This is the worst global economic era of my life time. The economy seems to be crumbling before our eyes. I actually have been diverting my eyes from the news because it makes my heart heavy and the more I watch the financial news, the less I focus on the fact that God is in control. I sat in front of the TV one day, obsessing over the Dow Ticker at the top of the screen. Every time it changed I compelled to yell out the number of points it jumped down. I don't know who I was yelling to, but I found myself obsessed with it - like a car accident. I didn't want to see the gruesome details, but I just could tear myself away. Not healthy. Yesterday I actually set aside the Business Section, normally my favorite Sunday morning indulgence (we are Saturday Night church people), because knew I had to be in the right frame of mind before reading it or I would let it bring me down instead of just letting it inform me. I don't want to let the newspaper have that kind of power over me.

But, even with the bad news all around me, I don't feel like this is the worst economic era in my own life. I spent years pretending that my personal finances were just fine. Those were the years when the debt was piling up as was the stack of unpaid bills and the phone messages from the collectors. I was so inept at facing my financial reality that my boyfriend at the time (now my fabulous husband) and I had a joint checking account so that he could help me untangle the horrible web of selfdestruction that I had created.
That period of my life was a low point. I was afraid to answer the phone for fear that it might be Master Card calling to make threats that I didn't know how to respond to. I was afraid to open my mail box in fear that it would contain more bills to throw into the stack of unopened mail, a guilt filled daily ritual. I was even afraid to buy things that I wanted or even needed because I didn't know if I had money in my checking account or room on my credit cards. Ignorance is not bliss.
However, handing it all over to God - now that's bliss. My current financial situation is one that would have most people in a worried tizzy. Our savings has been depleted over the past 5 months of my husband's unemployment. Our ARM on our mortgage just adjusted (yes - I know this has stupid written all over it, but that's another blog post for another day), and our retirement savings are going down the tubes along with everyone else's. But now have an amazing tool in my box that didn't use to be there. Now I have peace that transcends all understanding.
"Oh sure, it's easy for you to have peace about finances, Karen, you're the Money Honey, you understand all this stuff." My peace doesn't come from reading the Wall Street Journal, it comes from reading the Bible. My peace doesn't come from talking to my financial advisor, it comes from talking to my Heavenly Father. He's my rock, my salvation, my life preserver, my friend.
I challenge you -- the next time you feel your blood pressure elevating or heart quickening when your mind turns to money, just pray. Pray that God will help you use the resources available to you to be the best steward that you can be. Pray that you will make wise decisions based on what His word teaches us about money. Pray that His peace will fill your spirit and over power the worry and the stress, that you can move forward taking the best care of your financial household.
"Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life." Philippians 4:6-7 The Message

Queen of the Land

If "Living With Out a Primary Source of Income" were a place, I would be the Queen of the Land. I do not accept this title willingly, but God has repeatedly given me the opportunity to learn how to manage our household on an irregular, minimal budget. I keep thinking that if I learn whatever it is that he trying to teach me through these episodes of unemployment, I will never have to face another. In the mean time, I've picked up some great tips:

PRAY
That should be a no brainer. But, it isn't always. When it comes to practical things like how to pay the mortgage and how to choose new health insurance, I tend to dive in thinking I can fix it all on my own. After I start hitting my head against the wall, I remember that God is ready and waiting to help. All I have to do is ask. I'm His girl and he loves me. He wants to take care of me. But, always the gentlemen, He is just waiting for my invitation to participate in the details.

BE HUMBLE
Instead of only asking for help from God, you need to allow yourself to accept help from other people and ministries or agencies that are equipped to help in times of need. I joke that the food bank at my church is my new favorite grocery store, but the truth is I actually do more "shopping" there lately than I do anywhere else and it doesn't cost a dime. Sometimes I feel a bit selfconcious and even embarrassed about relying on charity until I start bagging my goods and I realize that God knew I was going to be there that day so He put special items on the shelf just for me. If I didn't already know He's omniscient, I would wonder if God read over my shoulder while I was writing out my grocery list! It's the little stuff, like the one remaining bag of organic coffee beans (the only kind my stomach will tolerate) and the exact brand of body wash that I prefer to use when the budget allows, that reassure me that I am being good steward by using the help that is available.

TAKE INVENTORY
Make a list of your assets before deciding if panic is really the most apropriate reaction to your new found income situation. After taking a good look at your budget, determine how long you can live on your savings. It might be a day and half, but still don't panic. There are plenty of ways to generate some quick cash with things around your house. Make a list of all the things that you could sell on EBay or at garage sale and add up their values. How long can you live on that money? Have any extra vehicles that you could sell? An RV or a boat? How long could your family live on that money? Go through the house and find all of the things that could be returned to the store. I've never heard of anyone that couldn't find at least one item. I have a girl friend that took all of the canned goods out of the pantry and back to the grocery store in exchange for credit to use on perishables. I have another friend who returned over $600 worth unworn shoes and and unopened power tools. Get creative, you may be suprised at what you come up with.

PRAY SOME MORE

Thank God in advance for the great plans He has for you, for how He will carry you through this rough patch, and for the lessons that you will learn along the way.

Phillipians 4:6-7 Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.