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Posted
Sep 22 2007, 07:39 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Carpooling for work often isn't practical. So look for other ways to combine trips and save time, gas money, and wear and tear on your car.
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Posted
Sep 24 2007, 08:12 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog Get Rich Slowly. When I went to the street to get the mail on Saturday, the latest issue of The New Yorker was in the box. Walking up the sidewalk to the house, I idly began to remove the subscription cards. I stopped, though, when I came to a full-page cardstock advertisement. I read the front of the ad. I read the back. At the kitchen table, I carefully removed the ad from the magazine, carried it upstairs, and sat down at my computer. I typed in the listed URL, and for the next two hours, I was at the mercy of the advertiser. What was this ad for? The 2007 MINI Cooper. I hate my current vehicle -- a 2000 Ford Focus. I bought it in a hurry after my 1992 Geo Storm was totaled by a wayward tractor-trailer rig. I've loathed the Focus since Day One.
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Posted
Sep 25 2007, 03:09 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
If you really, really need to replace your vehicle, resist the temptation to buy a new model. A well-made, no-frills used car that's properly maintained can provide dependable transportation while saving you thousands. Do your research, insist on a low price and, if you can't pay cash, shop around for a low interest rate. When the loan is paid off, save your extra money for your next car.
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Posted
Oct 02 2007, 07:27 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
People who call themselves freegans take frugality to the extreme -- going through garbage for food, giving up cars -- in the name of protesting consumerism and waste in modern society. Writer Raina Kelley detailed a month spent as a freegan. Some people find fault with their methods and thinking.
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Posted
Oct 04 2007, 08:51 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Suddenly Frugal is defying an American tradition of waste and over-consumption and setting an example for us all. This married mother of two notes that Americans on average produce 4.4 pounds of trash each day. Her family throws out four pounds every four or so days, and meanwhile her compost pile grows larger. Before embracing frugality, she bought gas every three days. She hasn't filled the tank in more than a week, and she and the family dog are fitter because of it.
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Posted
Oct 05 2007, 11:17 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Today it's official. Blogger Dollar Buy Dollar begins a month of living car-free as part of Seattle's One Less Car Challenge . DBD appreciates the Car Challenge incentives, including $50 in Flexcar credits and a discount membership with the Cascade Bicycle Club , not to mention better health and fitness, and money saved. We'll keep track of DBD's progress. The next step in Seattle's challenge: selling or donating your car and not replacing it for a year.
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Posted
Oct 15 2007, 06:41 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog Get Rich Slowly . I know a man who drives to work, even though he lives half a mile from his office. Why does he drive? Because he may need the car for some errand during the day. How many errands did he run during the workday last week? None. The week before? None. I have a cousin who will circle a parking lot looking for the perfect space. In the time it takes her to find the right spot, she could park farther from the entrance and burn some calories by walking a few hundred feet to the store. Another friend lives just over a mile from her brother. She always drives. Why? Because walking would take too long. (The drive takes five minutes because of the road layout; walking would take about 20 minutes.) In the United States, we value our cars. We're a nation of drivers. It rarely occurs to us that walking might be an option, even for short journeys. In many suburban areas of the country, 80 percent of trips of less than a mile are made by car. If we could
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Posted
Oct 16 2007, 11:40 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Personal finance bloggers made impressive contributions to Monday's Blog Action Day on behalf of the planet, so we thought we'd recap a few more. Brip Blap has more time to read the latest Harry Potter book since he started taking a bus to the train station and leaving the car at home. He's saving time and money, and wonders, "Why are people so unwilling to give up their cars in this country?" Blogger Dumb Little Man spent hours on the computer researching ways to recycle all kinds of stuff we normally throw away. Electronic devices, foam packaging, eye glasses, shoes, carpeting and drywall are on his list. The Silicon Valley Blogger offered 10 tips , including going paperless and buying used, rather than new. Another topic for bloggers: "green" credit cards .
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Posted
Oct 25 2007, 07:41 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Clever Dude explores how the concept of opportunity cost applies to daily living and concludes that life is not just about the bottom line . He explains a decision (he acknowledges was "lambasted" by some readers "as a frivolous waste of money") to buy his wife, Stacie, a new MINI Cooper after considering other options, like saving or investing the money, donating it or paying down other debt. "Opportunity cost is also more than just calculating numbers," he writes. In the end, what was most important was providing Stacie with dependable transportation in a car that makes her smile.
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Posted
Oct 30 2007, 07:43 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity . One thing I don't like about typical gas-saving posts is that they give great tips you'll never use. They're great tips you will absolutely, without a doubt, 100%, take-no-prisoners ignore until you're blue in the face. You'll ignore them because you don't like the tips. Here are four tips you'll ignore, and why you (and I) ignore them. Then I'll follow with some tips I think you won't ignore, because they're easy. Drive 55 mph. This tip is by far the one you'll ignore the most because we all like to get where we're going as quickly as possible. In fact, despite studies showing an increase in fuel efficiency at 55 mph, the bottom line is that when the feds adopted that speed limit because of the 1973 oil crisis, gasoline consumption dropped only 1% . You are most likely to ignore this rule because the speed limit on most highways is now 65 mph, and many drivers exceed that. Driving at 55 mph puts you at risk as aggressive
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