STORM2K

By BRAD WATSON / WFAA ABC 8

As gas prices edge closer to $3 a gallon, there are ways to free cash to cover the cost. You could start first thing in the morning by brewing your own coffee instead of going out and spending about $2 a day on one. Considering you work about 220 days a year you can save $440 a year right there.

Or, if the company offers it, you can drink it at work for free. This way you get the added bonus of feeling like you stuck it to the man!

You can save even more money while the coffee brews by ironing your own shirts. You know, it costs about a $1.50 now to launder a shirt, and again since you work about 220 days a year that's $330 you can save.

And the starch, it's 99¢ a can. A little inside tip, I iron my own shirts, and I'm on TV!

Then there's the thermostat. The Department of Energy says you can save three percent on your energy bill for every degree you adjust your thermostat.

So for instance, if you adjusted it up three degrees in the summer or down three degrees in the winter, that's a nine percent savings. Using about 1,000 kilowatt hours per month, that's a savings per year of $162.

You can really cut your budget by cutting your own grass.

At $25 a week, over the nine months that the lawn is really active, that's $900.

The ways to save up, can add up, while prices go up.

http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/w ... f7208.html

Good advice.

Also to save money when you drive, drive slower and don't keep a lot of weight in the trunk. In order to keep myself from driving unnecessarily I think of the amount of distance and then convert it to dollars. It's a lot easier to stay home when you realize it'd cost 10 dollars to just get somewhere and back.

The unseen killer with the oil prices is the economic impact beyond our squeaking at the pumps. With every oil price jump, it then costs that much more for virtually every product we buy to be manufactured and transported. This can cause customers to buy less, and reduced sales can bump off some companies. Jobs are then lost, with these people then buying less, and so on and so forth. It becomes a vicious cycle. Oil has the potential to cripple us well beyond our driving habits.

Use a rewards-earning credit card for every purchase. You can get anything from frequent flyer miles to 5% cash back, depending on the card and the purchase. Paying cash these days is like paying a little extra for everything.

Just be certain to pay the bill in full every month, as credit card interest can eat you alive.