Gas Prices Messing up Your Spending Plan?

I'm guessing that many people are feeling the pain of the increase in gas prices--I know I am. While I feel that I can't control the price at the pump, I do need to find ways to cut expenses in other areas to make my Spending Plan balance. Here's some ideas that may help:

• Make sure your car is well maintained and your tires are properly inflated--to help with gas consumption
• Combine and plan your driving trips to minimize the miles you have to drive
• According to Consumer Reports, not using your air conditioning and rolling down your windows does NOT save you any money on gas
• Use coupons for groceries, cosmetics and dining out--if the coupon makes sense for your buying habits--getting $1 off of cereal doesn't help if you have to buy 4 boxes of it and you won't use that much cereal in  a month
• Don't feel obligated to get everything on your child's "back to school shopping list". I have enough graph paper to last 10 years--only as scrap paper now since my kids are out of school and never used the "required" amount of graph paper.
• Don't buy bottled water at a convenience store if you can avoid it--if using your own water bottle doesn't work for you, buy water by the case--you can get it down to 13 cents a bottle vs $1.59 at most convenience stores. (Please recycle)
• Buy at bulk stores, again only if it makes sense for you--will you really use that huge jar of mayo which you got a great price--but will go bad before you can consume it?
• When cleaning out your garage or basement, consider have a yard sale to earn some extra cash and check for scrap metal that you can sell instead of dumping in your community's waste facility
• Check the cost of your vitamins which can be costly if you buy them at pharmacies or grocery stores--check for them at the bulk stores

Make the topic of money saving ideas the subject at a family dinner--you'd be surprised what ideas everyone will have. You could even adopt the practice that some local governments/businesses are doing--if an employee (family member) comes up with a viable idea to save money--they get some of the savings--that ought to encourage some creative ideas! For more money savings tips, see the Consumer Federation of America's website.