Economy

Today, gasoline costs age unstable and may rise consistently. In such a situation, it is important to develop effective strategies of saving costs. At the same time, while looking for alternatives to using a car, it is possible to find solutions, which can not only save costs but also bring certain benefits. In this regard, it is worth mentioning the fact that, on applying different strategies to save money on gasoline, which led me to the revelation of substitution effects and income effects after introducing some changes in my lifestyle and behavior.
First of all, I decided to drive less and to purchase less gasoline. This strategy has proved to be quite effective because the reduction of driving has led to the consistent drop in the consumption of gasoline. As I did not drive as much as I used to, I could consume less gasoline. As a result, I saved costs on gasoline. At the same time, this strategy was inconvenient in terms of traveling because I had to refuse from using my car, when I have to go somewhere. Before, I used my car as I wished and when I wished but, as I decided to save costs and drive less, I had to refuse from using my car in some instances and I had to look for alternative means of transport, which could be less expensive than gasoline I would use for driving my car. In such a way, driving less is beneficial for me but needed the changes being introduced in my lifestyle. At the same time, driving less is extremely important and effective method of saving costs on gasoline.

Furthermore, I ate out less often. In fact, as I ate out less, I had to drive less because I did not have to use my car to drive to a restaurant to dine out, for instance. On the other hand, I could save costs even more because I did not spend money on eating out. However, I could not refuse from eating and I found a place to dine out, which is close to my place, where I could walk there without using my car. At the same time, as I ate out less, I could save costs on gasoline and find new places, where I could go instead of driving my car. On the other hand, as I decided to eat out less, I started to save on gasoline but eventually the idea occur to me that I should find a place close to my hope, where I could resume to eat out.

Furthermore, I started to spend less to maintain my automobile. In fact, it was a difficult and highly controversial decision. In this regard, it is important to place emphasis on the fact that the maintenance of the car is very important. First of all, the maintenance of my car is not just the matter of spending or saving money but it is rather the matter of my safety. If I fail to maintain my car properly, especially in a long-run perspective, I can face a risk of malfunctioning of my car that may cause an accident and severe damages to my car, at least, and to my health as well. At the same time, in a short-run perspective, the decision to spend less on the maintenance of my car has reduced consistently my spending. On the other hand, I grew conscious of the fact that the less I spend on maintenance now the more I will pay for repairmen of my car, when something goes wrong, whereas, in case of accident, the current saving become absolutely pointless, if not to say harmful for my health, car, and budget.

As I had to reduce driving consistently, I had to look for alternative means of transportation because I still needed to travel. In this regard, the decision to take public transportation more often was quite effective. To put it more precisely, I could use the public transportation to reach the target destination relatively fast and at lower costs compared to driving my own car. As a result, I saved costs on gasoline, although I had to spend more time on travel. Nevertheless, the use of public transportation has proved to be quite efficient, although I had to adapt my schedule to the routes and schedule of the public transportation but this adaptation did not cause a lot of troubles for me.

Moreover, eventually I bought a bicycle. This decision also contributed to saving costs on gasoline because I did not need to drive my car as I could use my bicycle instead. Moreover, using bicycle was also beneficial for my health. At first, I felt exhausted after riding bicycle instead of driving my car but, in the course of time, I grow accustomed to physical exercises and I rode my bicycle easily (Alison & Heymann 2004). In such a way, I have started to lead a more active lifestyle and saved money because I did not use my car and, therefore, did not spend my money on gasoline. Anyway, bicycle is a convenient and probably the cheapest means of transportation, which is useful for my health, although I have to spend more time on travel.
As gasoline price skyrocketed, I did not take a vacation away from home. In fact, this was a hard decision to take because I accustomed to spend my vacation with my friends outside my home town (Brief & Weiss 2000). However, this year, I decided to cut spending radically and refused from traveling somewhere from my home town. Instead, I spent all the time in my home town. However, I reduced spending but I still had to travel within the city and, if the distance of travel was long, I still had either to drive my car or to use the public transportation. Nevertheless, the refuse from vacation away from home saved my money but this was the provisional measure because I could not just stay at home all the time.
Finally, I decided to buy fewer clothes and to make due with more around the home. In such a way, I had to drive less and I saved money on clothes. Therefore, I reduced my spending even more, although I had to change my habits and my look.

Thus, I have managed to cut spending substantially just driving less and changing my lifestyle. In fact, I succeeded in saving costs because I drove less and I needed less gasoline. Instead, I used alternative means of transportation, such as public transportation and bicycle. In addition, I ate out less and bought fewer clothes.

REFERENCES
Alison, E. and S.J. Heymann. (2004). “Work, Family, and Social Class In How Healthy Are We?” A National Study of Well-Being at Midlife. OG. Brim, C.D. Ryff, and R.C. Kessler, eds., Chicago: The University of Chicago Press: 485-513.
Brief, A.P. and H.M. Weiss. (2000). “Organizational Behavior: Affect in the Workplace.” Annual Review of Psychology, 25, p.34-41.
Friedman, M. (Spring 1997). “John Maynard Keynes,” Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond Economic Quarterly, 83(2).
Piketty T. and Saez, E. (Winter 2007). “How Progressive is the US Federal Tax System?” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 21(1).