Can you believe that the average gas price is now $4 per gallon?! When I used to sneak my parents’ car out at night when I was 16 I only had to shell out about $1 per gallon to make sure they wouldn’t notice my midnight joyrides 
Here are some quick tips that you can put into action today to save some dollars this month on fuel.
- Extend the life of your car and maintain fuel efficiency with regular tune ups, oil changes and belt changes.
- Check out area gas prices for the best deal by visiting Gas Buddy or Gas Price Watch
- Slow down. Cars are a lot more fuel efficient at 65 mph on the highway than 80 mph. Use cruise control if you have it and don’t break hard for exit ramps and stop lights.
- Track your mileage by jotting down your odometer reading next time you fill up. You can also use online services like My Mile Marker and Fuel Frog.
- Go green by carpooling or giving your public transit system a whirl. If you have one, hop online and check out the routes for your daily commute or see if there are any carpools available in your area by logging onto sites like eRideShare or Carpool Connect.
No Credit Needed has released a free ebook! It’s a simple, step-by-step guide to reducing debt with resources such as debt reduction methods, reducing monthly interest charges, building an emergency fund, maximizing savings and more. Although some of these topics you may already be familiar with, it never hurts to have a refresher.
You can download the ebook by clicking here.
Apologies about my blog being down for the past few days! I had a heck of a time messing around with my directory permissions and .htaccess files to resolve the dreaded “Internal Server Error” message that was being spit out. Seeing as how it took me awhile to figure it out I thought I would post my solution here for future victims desperately googling for a cure.
1. Clear your .htacess file
2. Make sure your .htacess file permissions are set at 777
3. Set all other directories to 755 NOT 777. WordPress does not like 777. Nope, nope.
More awesome posts coming soon about my debt payoff update! (It’s good).
Whether we like to admit it or not, we are our parents…the good, bad and the ugly. Let your children learn from your mistakes instead of repeating them by having an open line of communication about money and personal finance. Here are some resources and tools for raising your children with positive money values.
Sample Allowance Contract - Encourage a work ethic and allow your child to make smart choices with the money they earn.
Moneywise Kids - This game looks pretty fun for the geek in me. It contains two simple and fun games that help kids understand how money works, in terms of dollar value and spending power.
My Money - The Federal Government’s website dedicated to helping Americans understand more about their money – how to save it, invest it, etc. (Maybe the government should read this too)
Some other Money Teaching Tips and Ideas
- Determine the right age appropriate allowance.
- Send the right messages through your own spending habits.
- Buy your child a piggy bank or open a savings account.
- Try not to talk about money negatively in front of your children.
- Talk about investments and the stock market.
- Don’t miss an opportunity for a money teaching lesson.
- Discuss the value of what you are getting for your money.
- Go over sales flyers and find the best bargains.
