And then there are people like me - perfectionists - who don't like their tanks to drop below 1/2 tank of gas.
This post is only going to contain two money-saving tips, because I have a little story to go with it. It's taken me a lot of courage to muster up to post this, so please be understanding, as this is a delicate situation to write about.
It's a very harsh reality to face - losing your job. To make a long and painful story short, I had worked for the same company for 7 years, and upon graduating with my bachelor's degree, I requested to be permanent staff with benefits and better pay (I also request a performance review, just so you understand it wasn't just demands I was placing). While the company gave me a shining review and a decent raise, they refused the benefits and permanent staff position. I asked them if they would support me in a job search, in that case, knowing I was looking, but allowing me to keep my job there anyway. We came to a mutual understanding (eventually).
I found a job 5 minutes from my home that would offer benefits and everything - but I would have to take a deep pay cut. This was less than 3 months into our marriage, and after a lot of discussion and prayer, Robert and I decided I should take it, as the work environment I was in currently was quite toxic for me for many reasons.
Less than 6 months into that job, I was told that I was no longer needed. The reason stated was unjust, in my opinion, but it was what it was. I had to deal with it. I think I was only shocked for about a week, numb for a week and a half, and over it by the second week. However, we'd lost a great percentage of our income. Robert was content to work what he was given as far as his hours went, but as soon as I lost my job, he ramped up the shifts he was picking up, worked twice as much as he did before (currently, he works quadruple the hours he did when we were first married), and it was still difficult to make ends meet.
I was granted unemployment after a short battle with the benefits people over it, but I ended up winning. Even with me collecting unemployment, teaching 6 students piano lessons, and nannying as much as I could for the family I was already working for, we still had an extremely tight budget.
Thankfully, less than a month and a half later was tax season, and I picked up still more hours doing that. But money was still tight.
All that to say.....I had to let go of my perfectionist tendencies related to my gas tank. That halfway mark hardly ever meant anything - we got gas when we needed to. For that matter, Robert was forced to learn to drive the Focus better (it's a manual), and leave the Trailblazer at home, since he did far more driving than I did.
And we made it through.
I'm not sorry for the circumstances; I'm grateful. We were taught to rely on the Lord so much more than we ever knew we could. We grew closer together as a married couple. The financial burdens lightened as we trusted the Lord to provide for us (and worked as much as we could!) Despite my expansive and unending quest to find work, I was never able to during the summer of 2011. I finally found part-time work in August, which we decided to settle for, even though I wanted full-time.
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| Us on Waikiki beach in May 2011. |
This leads me to my two tips for this post:
7) Fill up with fuel once per week, in the middle of the week. Yep, it's actually proven (by me! haha), that gasoline is cheaper on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays than it is any other day of the week! I can't remember where I first saw that pointed out, but I thought it was bogus.
It's not.
If you don't believe me, do a month-long test and use an app like Gas Buddy to help you price out fuel in your area.
It may not be much - just a few cents here and there - but the prices are legitimately lower by an average of $0.03-$0.10 per gallon on Wednesdays, especially! So, if you have a 12-gallon tank (like one of our vehicles), and you fill up once per week on Fridays or Mondays, the savings for you could be as follows:
Friday/ Monday price: $3.95/ gal. = $47.40/ week = $189.60/ month = $2,275.20/ year
Wednesday price: $3.85/ gal. = $46.20/ week = $184.80/ month = $2,217.60/ year
Total savings = $57.60/ year!
That may not seem like much, but wouldn't you prefer that $57 and change going into your savings account instead? Imagine the savings on a bigger vehicle! Our Trailblazer's savings (18-gal. tank) is as follows (for the scenario example above):
Friday/ Monday price: $3.95/gal. = $71.10/ week = $284.40/ month = $3,412.80/ year
Wednesday price: $3.85/gal. = $69.30/ week = $277.20/ month = $3,326.40/ year
Total savings = $86.40/ year!
Really and truly, it's worth it to fill up once a week, in the middle of the week for several reasons:
- You save time, only stopping once, as opposed to several times. (And stopping in the evening will save time waiting in line for fuel!)
- You save money (as outlined above)
- You end up getting more bang for your buck
8) If you own more than one vehicle, drive the one that gets the best gas mileage as much as you can. Pretty self-explanatory. If you drive 8 miles to work and your spouse drives 20, ask your spouse if he or she is willing to take the more economical car. If you're the one doing more driving, step up to the plate and take one for the team! (Remember, if you're married, saving money is a team effort, not a spectator sport!) As you're deciding who drives which vehicle, you may find it helpful to write down all the errands you're doing, and add the mileage together (use Google Maps to help you!)
Let me tell you that my husband did not under any circumstances ever want to drive my car! He completely refused to learn how to drive it for months while we were dating, until I finally convinced him to do what his entire family thought was impossible: TRY to learn how to drive my car. And try he did. Again and again. Popping the clutch, laying rubber on the ground - it was hilarious to watch! My hubby doesn't like to fail in front of people; he's so hard on himself! However, this is what he has to say about our circumstances and having to learn how to drive my car, and how he reflects on the whole situation today:
"I understand and respect my wife's desire to save us as much money as possible, which means making sacrifices here and there. I really don't enjoy driving a manual at all. I don't like having to think about my feet and shifting while driving. I want to get in, turn on the car and drive. Due to the price of gas and the mpg each of our vehicles gets, it's more economical for me to get out of my comfort zone and help my wife save us some money. We coordinate which vehicle each person drives on a given day, based on who is driving the furthest. I appreciate all that Kimi does to help save us as much money as possible."
I'm so thankful that my hubby is willing to work together with me to save us money, even when he may not enjoy it! He is so right when it comes to sacrifices! I prefer getting a Starbucks on my way to work every day, but I refuse to do it - based on the principle that I have to save us money. Now, if you see me with a Starbucks for any reason, you would rightly assume one of two things: 1) It was a gift or gesture of a blessing, or 2) I have a Starbucks gift card I am using to pay for it. Period.
Additionally, the two of us may want to go on vacations and purchase extravagant items, but we're willing to wait on the Lord to see what He has in store for us before we go wasting our money and our time. Because of my determination to save us money using coupons, sales and only spending what we needed to (with a few exceptions, of course), we were able to pay for our trip to Las Vegas in January of this year on the savings I had accumulated - just from coupons and sales, and combining that with self-control!
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| Las Vegas! New York, New York hotel & casino on January 20, 2012. |
Quite honestly, we aren't striving for spending not a penny more than what we are required to in order to live. We are only striving to be the best stewards we can be with what we have!
Getting out of an instant-gratification mindset early is the best way to accomplish our goals, we have found.
If you missed my post about our new couch, be sure to check it out here: The Lord had a plan for us to get a new couch in His timing, and we were patient and waited nearly 2 years to purchase one! Oh, sure, we found several that we liked and wanted. But our self-control and discipline to stick to our budget really and truly paid off!
He blessed us in His own way when we were more willing to wait on His timing for it, rather than force the issue and end up spending money we really couldn't afford to spend on a couch at a time that wasn't convenient for anyone. As it is, our neighborhood garage sales were happening right after we bought the couch, and my family ended up selling the old one at one of theirs less than 3 weeks after we bought the new couch! There's no way we could have timed that better, and we're so thankful it happened the way it did!
I am praying for success for all of you, my dear readers, in your money-saving endeavors! Please let me know how it's going for you! I love reading your comments. :)
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