Holiday travel forecast

I'm expecting gas to rise to the $2.49 level.  Will it reach this height around Thanksgiving? or Christmas?  one of the two...

in the meantime,  keep enjoying this relatively cheap gas!!!!

The New Normal: Living with a "almost $0 gas" budget

For people like me growing up during the Cold war years,  gas prices only went low like this once before.  Many of us thought we wouldn't see them this low again especially during the $4 /gal gas of the GW Bush era.  Yet today I sit here, realizing i was too young to know how to react to the low gas prices that we saw in (was it the late 80s or early 90s).  Heck I didn't even own a car back then. 

Today i realize there "could be" a new normal.  -considering a gas credit card in these low prices?  -still using gas coupons from your local grocery store to get up to $1.50/ gal off?  well,  if you budget,  it seems possible to achieve close to free gas.  Like I said, i thought this day would never come.

A grocery store chain about 200 miles from me advertises $1.50 / gal off of gas when you buy about $100 of groceries .  Yes, of course, "there's no such thing as a free lunch".  But there is now a thing for the soccer mom who paid $100 a week for groceries for her family.  Ladies and Gentleman
"free gas is possible"  in some places. 

case in point:  you find a grocery store with the $1.50 or even just $1/gal off.  step 1:  fully using this sytem.  It's pretty easy to use the gas coupons once you get the hang of it.  step 2:  seems that there are a few of the older gas stations offering 5 cents/gallon or even 10 cents/gallon off when you use  a gas credit card through Shell, Exxon Mobil,  and possibly Visa.  This has been around for quite some time and was very valuable during the high gas price era.  BUT NOW if you , yes you, want to achieve "free gas"  well and you live in , say, Minneapolis you can do this math:
$2.19 /gal gas price as of July 2017
-$1.50/gal gas when shopping at Cub foods
-.10/gal gas when using a gas credit card
_____________________
59 cents/gallon is what you have to spend.  I think with enough time, i could seriously get the price down to about 5 dollars for a 15 gallon tank of gas.  Sure that's not entirely free but it's quite amazing,,,
quite amazing that we can achieve this.  Now,  in the summer of 2017.

All of this!

yes

Using a Stick Shift explained with Death Metal

4 lane highways allow hypermilers to not obstruct traffic

"Hypermilers obstruct traffic by driving slowly on the road" is something I've heard, and i appreciate people being honest with me about concerns of hypermiling.  The solution is:
find your 4 lane highways where you live.  For me there are two if not three.  If I am in a position where I need to really focus on hypermiling (such as carrying a heavy load or gas above $3.50 / gallon) I will consider a 4 lane highway.  2 lane highways/the interstate are fine but it could be risky if you are in rush hour.

Thanks and re: if questions!

Hypermiling for trucks

http://faircompanies.com/blogs/view/mad-max-hypermiler-questions-and-comments-answered/

great stuff!  this guy wrote this on his own.  A special article on how to hypermile your pick up truck is very helpful.

East coast Prices and new target

While visiting the east coast I saw firsthand that prices seem to be around $2.55 or higher.  It's important to know that baselines I use (which currently is $2.11) are for a reference of the midwest.  So I hope you are adjusting whether or not you are considering hypermiling due to the price you see where you live.  If you haven't read my other posts, here is sort of the spectrum


$2.11 not much hyper miling needed (1)
$2.25 introducing hypermiling to save gas (2)
$2.50  hypermile as usual (3)
$3.00 where gas would be in a normal cycle.  consider getting windgusts off of trucks and such, but don't do it all the time  (4)
$3.50  gas is higher than expected.  Look for other hypermilers near you and discuss positive uses of hypermiling  (5)
$4.00 the "highest level", as which was seen from around 2003-2006.  using public transportation, bicycling, walking, at least once a day is required.  (6)
$4.50 or higher.  Hypermiling required.  (7)


having said all this, it has been unusually nice to have a break from hypermiling.  But i also am excited that when $2.50 is the new target I will integrate the usual techniques.  (rolling through not busy 4 way stops, throwing the car into neutral on hills, etc.)

I expect gas to increase to about $2.50 or so late summer and into september.