Happy 4th of July!

Me, my husband and my daughter went with my Aunt & Uncle to their annual family reunion today! It was great to be able to spend time with them, they are truly a huge blessing in our lives.

They let us ride with them on the 45 minute journey to the reunion. I'm very frugal, so by me not driving all the way there was a true blessing. Plus, they don't mind, I think they liked the company.

It was very hot today! So, my uncle had the car AC on full blast. Most of the journey was via the interstate, but when he had to exit, he had to go down a lot of side roads. In total for the entire journey, he must have used 1/4 of a tank of gas. For his size car, which is just a tiny bit bigger than mine, the gas for 1/4 of a tank of gas is easily $17. It doesn't seem like that much, but it is.

When I think back to how much gas was just a year ago, the cost of 1/4 of a tank of gas was around $12.50. That is a huge increase in just one year. By my calculations, I personally am paying around $1,000 more a year just to fill my tank. That is a huge increase, but is the population really seeing how this is or will affect your income? My $1,000 increase is probably on the low scale of the "normal" driver's increase. I don't drive that much and normally only fill my tank up four times a month. So, say I was one of my past co-workers that had to fill up their tanks three times a week, because they live a lot further away from their job than I do. That is twelve times a month. Their increase would be around $3,000 more a year just to fill up their tank. THAT IS HUGE!!!!

So, I hear on the news the other day that the gas prices may go up to $7 per gallon????? Did anyone else hear this? Who has that kind of money for gas? It would probably be cheaper for most of us to just find a job close to where we live, even if it means taking a huge pay cut. Because after paying for all of that gas, we have to determine if our job is worth it.

A few things I have heard of people doing, to cut back on gas, is some are getting cheap motorcycles (which I do not know how to ride), and some are selling their homes and moving closer to their job by renting.

So, if anyone is actually reading this blog, do you have any tips you would like to share on how to save gas? Or, if you have another tip, please do share.