Better Living > Frugal Living > AdviceJune 11, 2008

By Kelly Ann Butterbaugh

There's not much that would make me happier than seeing a dollar sign followed by the number two at gas stations. I long for the days that I complained about gas prices exceeding $2 per gallon. However, there's little that I can do to find immediate relief, so I'm going to try to make the best of things. Other than conserving and complaining, what other choice do I have?

More Family Time

Like many families, we've eliminated unnecessary trips to cut gas costs. Our fuel uses have dropped to only the necessary: work and sports practice. Our grocery shopping happens on the way home from one of the necessary trips. Yet, there's a silver lining to this. By staying at home to cut on gas use, families have the golden opportunity to spend more time together. Likewise, by combining our trips, we spend time together shopping for groceries and other family items. I've noticed more family effort at meal planning, and we have less complaining about meals since everyone has some say. We also have a better weekly meal plan since we sit down to write out our grocery needs instead of undertaking the 'shop and go' attitude.

Less Fast Food

I can't save on limiting trips along, and the budget has to be cut somewhere else. We've cut back on eating out. First of all, we have to drive to eat out, and we've cut excessive trips in the car. Second of all, we're spending more time at home, so we have more time to prepare meals at home. Finally, we plainly decided to limit our pizza deliveries and hoagie stops. The extra money went into the gas fund. Eating out is expensive when it adds up. True, a $15 dinner of hoagies after sports practice isn't bad, but a week's worth of dinners this way is the equivalent of my entire grocery bill for the week. Add in fast food lunches and a daily coffee stop and I've almost doubled my grocery bill. My at home meals average under $10 per meal with leftovers for lunch the next day. We've made a healthier, cheaper decision.

Less Shopping

Before the gas hike, we usually drove into town to shop at the department stores on a rainy Saturday. Now, it's not worth the trip. The bright side of this is fairly obvious; we save even more money by avoiding unnecessary shopping. Shopping for the sake of something to do is a bad habit; we buy things we don't need because we see them. No more hours are wasted commuting to and walking around stores only to purchase items that we didn't need. Instead, we find better family activities to do at home like family and movie time.

Overall Benefits

After cutting back on driving time and adjusting my fuel budget to the best of my ability, there's not much else I can do but look for the silver lining. It's not acceptance of the exorbitant gas prices; it's making the best of the situation at hand. When gas prices show consumer relief, we can learn from our lessons during this crisis. Rather than return to our original driving habits, learn the lessons from cutting back and save even more later. Less driving is better for the family, better for the environment, and better for the pocketbook.

Editor's Note: What "silver linings" have you and your family found because of the higher gas prices?

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