En Money Saving Ideas to Help Pay Your Gas Bills

1. Find the leaks in your house and fix them. If you have a water leak, this is costing you money. If it's a small leak, you can save about $10 to $20 per month by fixing it. If it's a big leak, who knows how much you'll save! If you can fix it yourself, you'll save even more money. If you have a leak with a water source you don't need, you could just turn it off until you can afford to fix it. I had a leaking outside spicket that I just turned off for now. I'll minimize using my hose this summer.

2. Look at your window wells around your house. If they are letting in air, you are spending more on air conditioning and heating as it escapes through the holes. Many people don't realize that the window wells from the basement windows have wood that is rotten from overexposure to the elements. Not only can water and air get in, but so can mice! It's about time to deal with this problem.

3. Schedule your children's activities in the same location and on the same day. The best way to do this is to find a place that offers more than one activity, like a YMCA. Here, your son could take swimming lessons while one daughter plays soccer and the other takes gymnastic lessons, all on a Saturday morning. This will save time and gas!

4. Pack the kids into the smaller vehicle. If you have an SUV and a car, use the car for now. This will save on gas bills.

5. Stop using the SUV for a period and use the car, and change your insurance policy on the SUV. You could increase the deductible on the SUV each month while you aren't using it, which will temporarily lower your monthly insurance payments!

6. Sew your clothes instead of buying new ones. You know how your socks starting getting holes in the toes not too long after you buy them? It takes about five minutes to sew this hole. The rest of the sock is usually still in good shape. Or, if you get a rip in your jeans, just sew it. Of course, rips in jeans are the style today anyway. If a button falls off, replace it. If a zipper breaks, fix it.

7. Take the extra features off of your cell phone. If you can do without text messaging, you'll probably save $10 per month on the bill. If you can give up the early free nights starting at 7 pm instead of 9 pm, you can save $5 more per month on most plans.

8. Do your own yard work. If you're paying someone like Tru Green Chemlawn to put chemicals on your lawn, stop. You can go buy the chemicals at Home Depot or Walmart yourself, and a sprayer, and start doing this on your own. You could save yourself up to $300 a summer or more!

9. If you dine out, skip the appetizers and dessert. Just order the basic meal. This will take up to 30% off your total check! Limit yourself to one alcoholic beverage if you must have a drink.

10. Give up one vice. If you smoke, drink, and get in the weekly football pool, make the sacrifice to stop one thing. You could vow that in week one you don't drink, week two you don't smoke, and in week three there's no betting or gambling. I realize this is probably easier said than done, so if you really have problems, just reduce your vice. Smoke one pack a day instead of two. Something's better than nothing...