recreatingreality.com

Right now across the United States every American has the ability to save a few dollars every month.  It’s a matter of discipline.  But, the numbers will add up.

Gasoline prices are below $2.00 a gallon in 46 of the 50 states.  A month of so ago when we began to cut back on our gas consumption most of us were paying close to $4.00 a gallon.  We now have an opportunity to save a few dollars every month, by doing exactly what we did in October. 

In October most of us cut back on our gas consumption.  We cut back as a nation, forcing the price of gas to fall.  We would be delusional to think that gas prices are going to stay below $2.00 a gallon, but that is where they are now.  It’s time to take advantage of this golden opportunity.

When I fill my gas tank in October, I paid $3.899 a gallon.  In November I paid $2.259 per gallon.  This morning the best price I could find was $1.639 a gallon.  That is a savings of $2.26 per gallon between the October price and the December price.  For the sake of the math, let’s say that I purchase 50 gallons a month.  It’s an arbitrary number, but you can figure how many gallons you purchased in October. 

The math is simple.  In October I paid $194.95 for gasoline to go about my daily life… to work, to the grocery market, to the doctor or wherever.  I did not make too many extra trips, just for the hell of going somewhere.  I changed my habits to meet my pocketbook.

If I purchase 50 gallons of gas in December at the current price, my December gas expenditure will be $81.95.  That’s far more reasonable than October.  But, here is the real kicker.  If I purchase the same amount of gallons of gas this month as I purchased in October, I will have spent $113.00 less this month than two months ago.

Think about how you could use an extra $113.00 per month.  You could put the money in a savings account or make an additional payment on a credit card.  Or, you could just drive more and save nothing.

The point is simple.  Mentally, we all have a dollar amount that we can spend to get from here to there and back again.  When driving became too expensive we planned better, made less trips, cut our driving time and mileage.  Human nature will lead us into believing that because gas now costs half what it did two months ago that we can drive twice as much.  We will begin to tell ourselves that “it’s just one extra trip to the mall” or “I will run to the grocery store for that single loaf of bread.”  There will be any number of reasons we will devise to get into our cars and drive.

STOP!  Think!  You didn’t miss a thing by planning ahead in October.  You have begun to develop a good habit.  You are driving wisely and planning your trips.  Just because the price of gas has made a dip for a while, does not mean you should return to your old habits.  Look at this price drop as a gift.  Drive less and save the difference between the October prices and December prices.

And, look ahead.  Let’s say that for some reason gas prices stayed at their current rate.  Can you imagine what you could do with that $113 a month in savings?  That’s $1356.00 in savings over the course of a year.