What are you doing with your gas savings?

[MonkeyMama]

We don't drive that much and have gas efficient vehicles but I'd guess we are saving $100/month. That is 1.5% of my income. I don't agree that is no small beans. But we try to be very efficient with our money. Upping savings or debt payment by 1.5% of my income sounds awesome to me. That is what we do in the meantime.

The price of gas doesn't phase us but I Will certainly take advantage any time I Can save an additional 1% or so of my income without changing anything. The little stuff adds up.

[kork13]

While I agree that $60/mo is relatively minor in the grand scheme, how equally minor is the difference between 1% vs. 2% reward credit cards, or a .9% vs. 1.1% savings account that all of us fuss about periodically? Or how about the difference in paying $25/mo for a cell phone vs. $45/mo? $30-$40/mo cable?

I only mean to say that $60/mo really is a noteworthy savings. If I could trim my total utility bills (close correlation to auto gasoline/diesel in ubiquity & necessity) by a total of $60/mo, I'd be thrilled. So to have my car's monthly diesel costs go from $50/mo to about $25/mo, it's quite nice. Certainly not a budget-busting event, but it definitely gives a little bit of extra play in there.

[disneysteve]

While I agree that $60/mo is relatively minor in the grand scheme, how equally minor is the difference between 1% vs. 2% reward credit cards, or a .9% vs. 1.1% savings account that all of us fuss about periodically? Or how about the difference in paying $25/mo for a cell phone vs. $45/mo? $30-$40/mo cable?

I only mean to say that $60/mo really is a noteworthy savings.

Certainly $60/month isn't meaningless. I didn't mean to imply that it was. And I realize that for some people, $60 is a lot more than for others.

However, lots of people are getting all excited about lower gas prices while simultaneously ignoring higher prices elsewhere. I just walked in from the supermarket. The frozen dinners I buy used to be $2.50. Today they were $2.69. Tuna used to be $.99. Today it was $1.19. The price of milk, eggs, and almost everything else has gone up in the same period that the price of gas has come down. Utility costs have risen. Taxes have risen. So while we might be saving money at the pump, we're spending it other places. At the end of the day, we don't actually have more money in our pockets as a result of lower gas prices.

As for us personally, in the past week we bought a new refrigerator for $1,200 and replaced our heater for $4,000 so saving a few bucks on gas just isn't having any significant impact on our finances.

[LuckyRobin]

Right now, I'm keeping any extra in a gas fund envelope. That way if prices go back up again I'll have still been setting aside the money each month and won't be blind-sided by a cost increase when it inevitably happens. I don't want to get used to the lower prices as I am pretty sure they won't stick around forever. If the amount in there builds up over $200 than I will start banking the excess.

[Scanner]

Well, I for one, think $60/month is significant.

My new car payment is $189/month, so $60/month = $129/month. Now, the repair bills are out of the equation (more).

I just hope the lower fuel costs goes into lower food costs soon.