We’ve been doing the Dave Ramsey envelope thing for a while. I have my budget on a spreadsheet and we have envelopes for eating out, fuel, and groceries. For several months, we have had $300 per month budgeted for fuel and $500 for groceries for a family of four with two working adults.
Putting fuel in my car last weekend cost me $80.00 for 18.25 gallons of the lowest rated fuel. We have Vacation Bible School this week so I’m driving a lot more right now. I will need to fill up again this weekend. That will be another $80 or more. I have $150 budeted for myself as husband gets the other half. In the span of 7 or 8 days, I will have spent my monthly budget for fuel. This is due to increased driving and rising prices at the fuel pump.
This is one reason why budgets have to be flexible and adjustable to some extent. The pessimist in me doesn’t see fuel prices dropping back to what they were six months ago and that these prices may become our new norm for the foreseeable future. The optimist hopes I’m wrong.
Other options would be to change habits in how much I drive. Right now, I take my kids to summer camp daily while my husband and I are at work. That’s not really anything I can change. However, I could order groceries online for pick up so that they are ready after work and I don’t have to make another trip from home to the store on the weekends. We could curtail driving around just to get out of the house and spend more time appreciating what we have at home. Consolidating trips would be another option when possible. Bigger lifestyle changes would be to get more fuel efficient vehicles but the car market seems rather sparse right now and we are getting closer to paid off vehicles.
What have higher fuel prices prompted you to do differently?
Going Green In Texas 