10 Ways to Make the High Cost of Gas Easier on Your Budget

Let's face it. The price of gas is too high. You could just decide not to buy gas, and bum a ride or walk everywhere you need to go. Or there are tricks you can do, such as making sure your tires are properly inflated, to get the best gas mileage. You could buy a Vespa scooter or take public transportation. But if these solutions aren't for you, or if you've tried them and you're looking for more ways to save on the high price of gas, keep reading.

I haven't found many solutions to make it cheaper to fill up your gas tank. I minimize the number of errands I have to run, and try not to think about how much more gas costs than it did when I first learned to drive. So I'm going to suggest 10 things you can do to save money on other things, so you have the extra money for gas without having to go in debt.

1. Look for deals on other items sold at local gas stations. One gas station near me has a great low price on a gallon jug of 2% milk. Another chain of convenience gas stores has a "milk club" that gives you a free half-gallon of milk or store brand juice after you buy 10 half gallons. If you're going to drive to the gas station, you might as well save money on something you need while doing it.

2. Find a less-expensive way to buy items you're used to buying individually. If you buy a cup of coffee or a bottle of soda when you gas up your car, you're spending a lot of extra money for the convenience. Make coffee at home or take advantage of the coffee machine at work. If your office doesn't have a coffee machine, buy one and bring it in. Buy soda bottles or bottled water in multi-packs from the grocery store or local beverage outlet to save money. Refill the water bottles from your tap to save even more. If you hit the vending machine for a candy bar every afternoon, buy the same candy in 6-pack packages at the grocery store.

3. Stop using paper towels, paper plates and paper cups, or save them only for special occasions. Limit your use of wipes. The basic idea here is to find re-usable things to use instead of paper. Eat off real plates, not paper ones. Use a cheap dish cloth or a sponge instead of paper towels (look for sponges in bulk quantities). If you have a baby, you might find you can get away using toilet paper or a wash cloth when the baby is just wet and save the wipes for the messy diapers.

4. Save money by making your own bread and pizza dough, or look for day-old bread stores. Bread machines are inexpensive. You can make pizza dough and bread dough quickly and easily. If you don't like the quality of bread baked in the machine, use it to make the dough and then shape the loaf and bake it in your oven. If you really can't get into baking, look for a thrift bake store near you, where you can shop for bread that is a bit too old to stay on regular store shelves but is still good to eat. Combine both of these tricks so you get to enjoy expensive store-bought bread at a discount and also fresh-baked loaves.

5. Buy foaming soap and make your own refill. This is a great money-saving trick. First, look for the dispensers of foaming soap in the liquid soap section of the supermarket. When you use it up, don't refill it with the packaged refill, however. Buy the full-strength liquid soap refill (store brand works fine) and pour about ¾ of an inch into the bottom of the soap dispenser. Fill it almost the rest of the way up with warm tap water (leave room for the large plastic thing at the top of the pump thing). Screw on the top securely and gently shake it a few times to mix it well. Eventually, the dispenser will stop working, but you can refill it for at least a year this way before you need to buy a new one.

6. For lunch on the go, look for ready-to-eat food in a grocery store, which is often cheaper than the local sub shop. Better yet, plan ahead by making your lunch at home and save even more money.

7. Switch to a VoIP phone service to save money on your home phone bill. Get a prepaid cell phone if you don't make many calls and keep your monthly phone bill costs down low.

8. Pare down the cable bill or cancel cable entirely, and look for ways to watch your shows online. Most network shows are available for free on the network's website after they air on TV, and the few that aren't can be purchased on iTunes. Even sports events can be watched online - my husband pays a monthly fee and is able to see every Red Sox game on his computer, even the ones that are not on TV in our area. Some form of broadband Internet is required to do this, but this makes the broadband pay for itself if you save on cable TV costs.

9. Save money on subscription costs and read newspapers and magazines on the Internet. Between number 7, 8 and 9, your Internet pays for itself.

10. If you rent DVDs more than once a month, you can save money by joining Netflix or Blockbuster's online movie rental service. For $4.99 a month for Netflix, or $8.99 a month for Blockbuster, you can join their least expensive plans. Assuming you promptly return your DVDs, the cost averages out to less than the rental store price, and you save on gas since you don't have to drive to a store. The more DVDs you get, the lower the cost per DVD.

These suggestions might not sound like much. It depends on how you already spend money. Sit down and do the math and see how much money it might add up to over the course of a month or a year.