That’s right! If you want to see real savings at the gas pump, start with how you plan your route around town! This is such a big deal that a full day complete with charts before and after, takes place in my course, “The Poor Man’s Budget: a 5 Week Course – Learning to live within your means”. This course is available for sale on my author website, as well as from (paid link)Amazon .
The first thing you need to do is assess your daily travels, your weekly travels and your monthly travels. There might be something you only do twice a month, but it has to fit into your daily routine in order to make the best use of the gas you are paying for. You might only engage in a given trip once a week, but it too has to fit into your daily travel routine.
In assessing your trips around town, use a map. Or use several copies of the same map if that helps. Draw on the map the route you typically drive in a day. Do you see any figure eight’s happening? Are there any loops taking place? Did you draw any zig-zag’s? These route types will drain your gas tank faster than if you planned to make each stop along a single direction. Careful planning of your daily route in this way will not only save you gas expenses, but will have the added benefit of saving you time as well.
Good time management lowers stress, lowers rushing around, reduces the perceived need to hurry all the time, and will translate into healthier driving habits and a brighter attitude about life. When seeking to save money translates into better time management and by extension a healthier lifestyle and attitude, the benefits far outweigh the original intentions!
Life tends to be interconnected like that. Aim to improve one area of your life, such as your finances, and you end up improving one or more other areas at the same time. Give it a shot! You might be pleasantly surprised.