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One of the best ways to get better mileage is to reprogram our thinking. Think about this. Since the day you got your first ride in a car you have been programmed that if the speed limit is 55 mph you drive at 65 mph. If it's 65 mph you drive at 75 mph. We live in a gotta get there in a hurry world. How many of you buy your gas with a piece of plastic? Want to get better mileage. Pay with cash. When you pay with plastic you don't realize how much it really cost you. When you pull all those twenty's out of your pocket you get a better picture of the cost. Yes, we have all these neat gadgets to help us today, but if you stop and think reprogramming yourself you will get better mileage.

i do agree with you about spending cash instead of plastic for our fills, and that we do need to reprogram. i don't quite agree with the programmed to drive 65 in a 55 zone, at least not based on what i grew up with. perhaps that's true for the younger generation, but i am old enough to remember when the speed limit meant something, and people didn't pass every time they came up on another car......and they didn't tailgate them when they were going the limit. this is where a lot of the teaching needs to be.

welcome. tell us about your vehicle and your driving.

On the 65 in a 55 thing, I think that's my generation talking. I don't exactly know how it got that way but I'm pretty sure our parents aren't quite innocent in the matter. That and the fact that in my "previous life" I lived by the nine-over rule...nine MPH over the highway speed limit and you won't have to worry about a ticket. And you know what? It worked. Law enforcement back home needed at least 10mph over to take notice, 15 if it was getting toward the end of a shift.

I can't personally agree with the plastic vs. cash thing, though. As far as I'm concerned there is no difference, and I track every single purchase as if it's money directly out of my pocket. The plastic gets paid in full every month, no exceptions. I hope I'm not too unique in that respect but I guess you never know?

Welcome, HD883XL!

There is certainly an element of reprogramming going on here... For me it wasn't so much speeding as learning how to safely travel at a much slower speed than surrounding traffic. There were also a whole slew of techniques I needed to become familiar with so that I could learn how to leave the engine off unless I really needed it.

As for the plastic part, I have to say that I view this the same way Tim does. I normally pay for purchases with a Check Card and I tally up the receipts nightly to be sure I'm within my operating budget. Only large or possibly insecure purchases go on my single credit card, and like Tim that gets paid in full every month. From what I hear, Tim, we are much more unique in that respect than we ought to be!

By the way, it is a good thing you've slowed down -- where I grew up in SC they will pull you over for as little as 3 mph over the limit and you'll have to contest them if you want out of it. They love the downhills there, too. ;)

yeah pulling out the plastic for me is more a message home than cash, I check my balance in the checking account every day, however I can rarely tell you how much cash is in my wallet. the only things i buy with cash are snacks from the vending machine at work and when i go to the bar I pay with paper most of the time

I agree with you Tim, plastic is the same to me as well, and I pay up every month.H

I pay with plastic for the 5% cash back my card gives me. Paid in full every month, of course. :D

Studies still show that people who use the card tend to spend more than those who use cash, even if they pay it off every month... I believe it's on the order of 10% or so.

But given the number of fuel misers in here, we may certainly be a population inversion for that study. :)

That is probably true. I just hate having to bother with cash. I once lost some cash, so now I don't carry it. H

Studies still show that people who use the card tend to spend more than those who use cash, even if they pay it off every month... I believe it's on the order of 10% or so.


I can easily believe that to be true for folks who have a tendency to spend on a whim. Handing over a wad of bills may present more of a "gut check" than forking over the piece of plastic that won't come due for a few weeks. I think I did that when I was a bit younger (i.e. when I first had money of my own to spend) but not so much anymore. It only took a few rounds of buyer's remorse and wondering "how on earth can this credit card bill be right?" to drive the message home. That led to my setting up a monthly budget for myself, which is based on reasonable estimates for all recurring expenses plus a small and rigid sum of entertainment/toy money. Savings is an expense category all by itself. Planning out my expenses in addition to tracking them has worked well, and I would recommend the strategy to anyone who needs a little help keeping money in the bank. It can even be a little fun.

We already had hypermiling, now we can have hyperbudgeting. :)