Drive, drive, drive

I passed my state real estate exam in May 2005, but before I joined with Century 21, I had to do some analyses of where my money was going to go while I was going to be trying to make it, so I made a list of expected Top 10 expenses:

1. Gasoline
2. Gasoline
3. Gasoline
4. Gasoline
5. Gasoline
6. Gasoline
7. Gasoline
8. Gasoline
9. Gasoline
10. Everything else

And that was before gas prices rose so rapidly this past February to June. Yep, I thought I would be doing a lot of driving since my farming area was pretty big.

So I sat down to see how I could control those expenses and this is what I came up with, which, by the way, has helped me control those gas expenses:

• Buy the smallest car with the smallest engine that will comfortably hold three adults and two children and get me up the Interstate 805 bridge over Mission Valley.
• Keep my car as aerodynamic as possible with removeable roof racks, etc.
• Don't carry around lots of crap that I don't need. Just because I own it doesn't mean that I have to have it with me in the car. Sure I'm proud of that first million-dollar escrow, but that was three years ago. Let it go and leave the file at home.
• Avoid warming up the engine, even inadvertently. I used to get in the car and start it, and then sit for five minutes buckling my seat belt, adjusting the mirrors and seat, writing down my start mileate and destination, and mapping out my route. Now I do all that before I ever even put the key in the ignition.
• Drive the speed limit, even if it means a few honks, yells, and obscene gestures from other drives. To keep those honks, yells, and obscene gestures (road rage) to a minimum, drive in the lanes that are driving the speed limit.
• Learn to use cruise control. This was a difficult one because I was never comfortable letting an inanimate object run the car that I was a passenger in. Once I realized that airplanes fly on cruise control all the time, it became a little easier.
• Shut off the engine rather than let it idle, especially downtown when a long train is going by, in a traffic jam where all traffic is stopped, etc.
• Maintain my car. When it's time to get the oil changed, the oil gets changed. Tire pressure gets checked the first Saturday of each month. Tired get checked each morning before I leave to make sure that one isn't low or damaged.
• Consolidate errands. I thought this would be most critical because I used to love to go get gas, come home, go out to eat, come home, go to the store, come home, go get the car washed, come home, etc. Now I go get gas, get the car washed, go out to eat, go to the store, and come home. What a difference, not only in gas savings, but in time savings, too. I have more time to do more things, like keep up with past and prospective Clients!

This is not what I bought.

Happy driving! Be safe!