Summer nears its end...

I cannot believe that it is already August, which means that school will be starting back up again soon and we will all be back to those hectic routines of making sure everyone gets to where they need to be on time. Gone are the lazy, relaxed, carefree mornings; instead it will be waking up to that blaring alarm clock and just wanting to hit the snooze button one more time. Afternoons will be filled with sports practice, music lessons, tutoring or even just having to buy more groceries. Although most people will have hectic schedules once fall rolls around, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t enough time to save some money in fuel consumption.

There are vast opportunities to save on fuel this fall, and even with a busy schedule it can be easy. For those of you with kids going back to school, see if neighbors would be interested in carpooling, not only will it give you some more time in the morning to get ready, but is a great way to get to know neighbors and make more friends. Or an even better option is to have all the kids take the bus, if there is a bus service available.

When it comes to back to school shopping, or time to get new supplies, consider setting aside a weekend devoted to buying everything off of that list. Make sure to prepare a list well in advance with everything that needs to be bought, and what stores they can be purchased at. Not only will this save you time, but also will prevent you from having to make more trips out later on. This means fewer trips to the gas station to re-fuel the family car. A good weekend for buying school supplies and clothes is Labor Day weekend, as that is when most stores will be having sales.

A really good tip for those of you with hectic schedules is to write out everything on a giant blank calendar. Blank calendars can be found almost anywhere; here is a website that provides you with many different options: http://www.calendarlabs.com. Not only will it prevent you from forgetting that someone had soccer practice an hour ago, but it will also allow you to see just how many trips are taken in one week. This way you can plan ahead and determine if any of the trips that need to be taken can be combined into one car trip. This is a time saver and it helps prevent those repetitive trips.

Kick back, relax and enjoy what’s left of summer break and have a relaxing and saving-full fall! For further general fuel saving tips please click here: http://alternativefuels.about.com/od/lifestylecleangreen/a/fuelsavingtips.htm

By: Rebecca Mark