What are you doing with your gas savings?

[greentea]

What are you doing with the savings you've been reaping from the lower gas prices? Has it gone into your general budget or have you decided to do something specific with it? I'm using it to pay down some of my debt more quickly than I have been.

[feh]

I don't have any gas "savings". I have gas expenses, just as I always have.

Every month, whatever income isn't spent is saved.

[bjl584]

Nothing. Anything extra that I'm not spending on gas is just sitting in my checking account. If it sits there long enough I'll transfer it to my savings account.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Yes, just leaving it in the checking account.

[kork13]

Nothing. Anything extra that I'm not spending on gas is just sitting in my checking account. If it sits there long enough I'll transfer it to my savings account.

Ditto.

[greenskeeper]

all 3 of our vehicles are diesel so no "gasoline" use here. Even so the drop in fuel prices doesn't matter much in our budget (we drive very little, less than 10k miles per year combined)

[cardtrick]

No car here, so no savings. : ( I need to get an SUV just so I can take advantage of the low gas prices.

[LizfromtheBronx]

I budget $50 every two weeks for gas...this past pay period, I only spent $35 to fill up, so the extra $15 went to debt re-payment. I'm keeping the line item at $50 for now, while I'm paying things down.

Any changes to the budget are in a holding pattern until the end of March - health insurance went up and have not seen the full effect of that on net pay just yet (will know next Friday - have estimated but like to see actuals). I think I need to change my tax withholding from 2 to 1 (as soon as W-2's come in, hopefully by next week, I will make the decision). And lastly, our annual review/promotional/raise cycle is just beginning at work. I am up for a promotion which should include a significant raise, and that will be effective at the end of March.

Once all of the possible changes have gone into effect, then I am going to take a look at the budget and re-jigger some things. I may adjust the gas line at that time, but for right now, all it does is give me $$ to put elsewhere as a "bonus".

[ua_guy]

No car here, so no savings. : ( I need to get an SUV just so I can take advantage of the low gas prices.

LOL, yeah, that's it... Because prices are going to go right back up once OPEC puts enough producers with higher production costs out of business.

[Scanner]

Putting it towards a car payment on a more gas efficient car.

I went from a 2003 Chevy Venture minivan to a 2006 Chevy HHR. (no, I am actually NOT a Chevy maven but it was a good price, low mileage, and it did remind me of my fathers VW Hatchback when I was a kid)

Figured at 15,000 miles/year I am saving $40/month in gas (no matter the price) - the actual price of gas going down. Maybe now saving another $35/month with gas being $1.99/gallon here in S. Jersey.

Heater broke. . .$800 to repair. Time to throw in the towel.

[disneysteve]

I don't spend that much on gas so the lower price isn't really significant.

Let's say you drive 12,000 miles/year which is about average. Your car gets 25mpg. That's 480 gallons of gas. So if the price drops from $3.50 to $2.00, you save $720 in a year or $60/month. That's barely a blip in the budget. One meal out. That wouldn't even buy one ticket to a show.

[Drake3287]

Anything I have left over at the end of a pay period goes into my vacation fund, makes for easy savings.

[marvholly]

I'm basically doing nothing. Gas comes out of my personal spending money so it is just NOT being spent these days, just getting put aside to ease the pain when gas goes back up to $3.50-$4/gal. That is prob going to happen during the summer heavy driving months.

[greenskeeper]

I don't spend that much on gas so the lower price isn't really significant.

Let's say you drive 12,000 miles/year which is about average. Your car gets 25mpg. That's 480 gallons of gas. So if the price drops from $3.50 to $2.00, you save $720 in a year or $60/month. That's barely a blip in the budget. One meal out. That wouldn't even buy one ticket to a show.

exactly. I'll never understand why so many people get emotional when gas goes up or down. I guess because they see the price difference every time they fill up. Far more important things they could adjust in their budgets if the price of gas throws them into a fit.

[disneysteve]

exactly. I'll never understand why so many people get emotional when gas goes up or down. I guess because they see the price difference every time they fill up. Far more important things they could adjust in their budgets if the price of gas throws them into a fit.

And if your car is more efficient and gets 30 or 35mpg, the savings is even smaller.

Of course, if you're a road warrior and drive 25K or 50K/year, the savings is greater.

For us personally, not a huge deal.