Archive for July, 2008
July 30th, 2008 at 06:35pm
Under Oil and Gas News
We’ve got a couple of formulas up that will be helpful for you as you work on saving gas - you can find the formulas here.
http://www.gasmileageguide.com/gas-formula.htm
The page that explains how to work things is here.
http://www.gasmileageguide.com/gas-formula-explained.html
We’ll work on making things beautiful next week :o)
Also oil prices went up today - A huge gain (biggest in three weeks) - tonight or tomorrow would be a good day to fill up. The main reasons were a decrease in oil and gas supplies.
By admin
July 29th, 2008 at 03:17pm
Under Uncategorized
Saving Money on Vacation - How to get a Cheaper Condo.
I’m by Nature a beach bum… have been for as long as I can remember.
We enjoy going to Myrtle Beach, below are 6 tips on how to get a room rate.
1. If you go to the same place every year, start developing a relationship with the real estate folks. Every year I spend 10 or 15 minutes chatting with the office manager. One way you can lower your rate is book while you’re leaving for next year. We’ve saved as much as 20 percent or so by doing this.
2. Ask when you arrive if there are any upgrades available. Some times the condo owners will call and tell them to make sure to rent their place, even if it means renting it at a discounted rate.
3. Ask for a discount when you call. Many times even if they don’t advertise one they’ll give you one. This year we got $200.00 off. Some years it’s free linen.
4. Make them an offer - offer to rent a certain condo at a rate you set. Sometimes it will work but the only thing they could say would be no.
5. Visit travel sites related to your vacation destination. Many times they will offer free books and they’ll have coupons in them (and you’ll be put on their mailing list and get more offers in the mail).
6. Usually although not always the later you wait for a reservation the better the deal. This works unless the week you’re traveling is a holiday or some big event is happening, then you’ll end up paying more.
We hope you have a wonderful day!
By admin
July 28th, 2008 at 06:05pm
Under Site News
Gas average was down for the week to $3.96.
We did have a great time at our Hannah Montana party… but everyone was camera shy so we didn’t get any good pictures. Don’t forget tomorrow we’ll be posting some more ways to save you money. Till then we hope everyone has a wonderful evening.
By admin
July 26th, 2008 at 11:44am
Under Out of Gas Newsletter
Out of Gas Newsletter - Issue 2 July 26th
+++++++++ This issue brought to you by ++++++++++++
Closeout.com - thousands of products / reasonable prices.
We hope to do a couple of things -
1. Teach you how the fuel industry works (in terms anyone can understand).
2. Keep you updated on the latest industry news - this may help you put off for a day or two when buying gas, because prices are trending lower or buy it today because prices are trending higher.
3. Give you some tips on saving money in other areas of your life - every Friday we’ll also post one of these tips on our blog.
If you find our tips useful please don’t hesitate to forward it to a friend… we’ll thank you and they’ll thank you as well.
++ News -
Hurricane Dolly - although it did quite a bit of damage in gulf, most of the damage was caused as it went on shore so the impact on oil prices was minimal.
Oil prices - gas fell below $4 a gallon in many places <applause> and crude oil fell to $123.26. One thing for crude oil prices they are usually for pick up at a future date (in this case Sept.).
++ The Oil Industry
Basics of supply and demand.
This week we’ll be talking about supply and demand - next week we’ll talk some about supply then demand - then we’ll work on talking about each one of the aspects of supply and demand individually.
In simple terms the more of something you have and the fewer people that want it, the cheaper it will be in the market place. The reverse is also true as well. If there isn’t much of a product and everyone and their brother wants (or needs) it then the price will go up.
In figuring out the price of gas there are many different things that change both the supply and demand. We’ll be talking about each of these in depth in the months and weeks ahead.
So how can I help my bottom line?
For now when you watch the news… start thinking about how current events may change the price of a gallon of gas.
A good example this week is Hurricane Dolly - any hurricane in the gulf will have some impact on the drilling platforms there. There are over 4,000 drilling platforms there. So would it just slow things down a bit (just a little glitch in the supply) or would it halt operations / destroy platforms (more than a little glitch).
As you continue to learn everything will become a bit clearer. If you have any questions or comments please don’t hesitate to leave us a comment.
Having Fun Saving you Money
The object is to use things you already have around your home and to not spend more than
$25 on the activity (and to use things you buy for multiple bits of fun).
Friday we talked about playing capture the flag - you can find that here.
You can find Mexican train dominoes for usually around $20.00. If you want 2 or 3 hours of
fun in an evening I would highly recommend this. We’ve played it with people from ages
7 to age 71 and everyone had a wonderful time. The dominoes we got came with an instruction
sheet that included other games as well.
The game is super easy to learn, but it will take some thought and experience to master it.
You can also find a huge selection of other dominoe games here -
http://www.domino-games.com/
We started a family game night… once you buy the game I’m sure you will have
many, many nights of fun.
Extra Tidbit — tonight have a Hannah Montana party. Go to Wal-Mart, get some free 3-D glasses, then watch the concert tonight at 8… make sure you take some pictures. We’ll take some and have them posted up on Monday. We went to a concert in Lexington and she really does put on a good show.
===============
If you haven’t had a chance to buy our gas mileage guide we would encourage you to do so.
you can find it here.
Buy the Ebook — Donate to the Cause — Check out the Free Ebook 20+ Gas Saving Tips
By admin
July 25th, 2008 at 12:52pm
Under Things to do for less cash
Happy Friday to you.
Every Friday we hope to post a way for you to have fun without spending a ton of money.
Todays fun tip is all about water and capturing the flag.
Things you’ll need…
1. 2 wading pools (the cheap ones) you can find these for $6 or less at your local big retailer.
2. Water balloons or squirt guns or both. Again these you can find for less than 10 bucks - take a trip to the dollar store and just get the cheap water guns.
3. The ‘flag’ (2) - this can be an old mop / broom etc.
Choose sides.
Get on opposite sides of the yard (or better yet your house).
Fill up the weapons and the pools. Each side places there pool somewhere within their ‘territory’.
One person must always be holding the flag and in the pool. This person can use water balloons or water guns but must stay in the pool and hold the flag with their ‘good’ hand. (If they’re a righty, in their right hand, lefty they must hold it with their left)
Try to capture the other flag. If you get hit with water .. you are out and must stop, freeze in place and count to 20 (slowly).
If the flag guardian gets hit they must drop the flag.
The person that captures a flag cannot run (they must walk slowly) and cannot fire a weapon.
The first team with both flags in their pool wins.
You can play this game with 4 people but the more people you have the more interesting it is. If you have an odd person then let that person be the referee and they get to kick someone off the loosing team and join them for the next game.
We hope you have a wonderful day!
By admin
July 23rd, 2008 at 06:26am
Under Uncategorized
Hurricane Dolly is fizziling out a bit and oil prices were down on Weds (from London) to around $127 a barrel. Good news. Enjoy your day.
By admin
July 22nd, 2008 at 03:45pm
Under Saving Money
This is the first in our series on saving money besides at the gas tank. We’re getting ready to have some storms here so this will be brief.
Even small steps will make a difference and many small steps will make a large difference… kind of like it takes a whole lot of ditches to make a creek but that creek flows into a river and finally the ocean.
Some thoughts to ponder - if you only used $5 in coupons a week. By the end of the year you would have saved (52 x $5.00 = $260.00). That will be the big concept with these tips… they may not seem like a lot but together they will make a big difference.
Stay safe and don’t forget to check out the post on Friday on having fun with little or no money.
By admin
July 22nd, 2008 at 06:48am
Under Oil and Gas News
The average gas price was down a few cents to $4.06 last week. So if you’re own the fence on buying the gas guide (because of the price) get it this week because I think the average gas prices will go a little higher next week.
This is mainly due to Hurricane Dolly. In the guide we talk some about how weather, especially hurricanes in the gulf can cause gas prices to increase. The main reason is because of the oil platforms in the gulf. I heard on the today show this morning that Shell was pulling their workers off the platforms. Here’s the update from the National Hurricane Center. You can find the projected path for the hurricane here (as well as get updates on the track.
Enjoy your day!
Tim
By admin
July 19th, 2008 at 10:29am
Under Out of Gas Newsletter
Out of Gas Newsletter - Issue 1
We want to welcome you to the first issue of Out of Gas.
+++++++++ This issue brought to you by ++++++++++++
Closeout.com - save $100’s of dollars on thousands of products. Click here to shop.
We are still in the process of putting the finishing touches on our blog / site / and the newsletter format. You’ll get the issue of Out of Gas every Saturday. On Fridays on our blog (make sure to bookmark it) we’ll give you some ideas on what you can do with your family with little or no cost (less than $25). On Tuesday we’ll put up an article that will help you save money in other ways.
We hope to do a couple of things with our newsletter -
1. Teach you how the fuel industry works (in terms anyone can understand).
2. Keep you updated on the latest industry news - this may help you put off for a day or two
when buying gas, because prices are trending lower or buy it today because prices are
trending higher.
3. Give you some tips on saving money in other areas of your life - every Friday we’ll also
post one of these tips on our blog.
News -
Crude oil as you know has been on the decline this week and has fallen about $16.00. Most of the ‘experts’ think that tensions have eased over some supply questions (mainly having to do with Iran). What does that mean for you - lower gas prices this week. If you’ve noticed a drop in the price in your area then now would be the time to buy. If you haven’t noticed a drop - hold out a bit if possible till they do drop. There are weekend diplomatic talks with Iran - if they go well then the price of oil will continue to drop, if they go poorly then they will stabilize or increase.
The Oil Industry
We’ll start with a bit of information about the fuel industry - next issue we’ll talk some
about supply and demand but today we’ll keep it pretty simple.
You hear it all the time …”Today the price of a barrel of oil went up $5.00 or down $5.00.
How many gallons are in a barrel of oil? How much gas can come from a barrel of oil?
There are 42 gallons of “crude” oil in a barrel, which makes about 44 gallons of products.
After refining that one barrel makes about 19.1 gallons of gas, 7 gallons of diesel
(plus other products as well).
Thursday a barrel closed at $129.29.
Saving you Money - having fun without driving anywhere
The object is to use things you already have around your home and to not spend more than
$25 on the activity (and to use things you buy for multiple bits of fun).
This activty requires no money - you will need something you can use for blindfolds and the
tv or your ipod. Choose teams or everyone can play. Start with one person (who is ‘it’) and then continue
to go clockwise around the room until everyone has had a turn.
The person who is ‘it’ chooses the music channel or an ipod tune. Everyone else puts on a
blindfold if you’re playing using music channels on TV.
You can choose to pick the name of the tune / the artist singing it or both. We play that
the tune gets one point / artist gets two points / both get 3 points. People raise their hands
as they figure out the answers. Someone also needs to keep the score. First person to 20 wins.
The fun part is the parents of course choose the oldies / the kids pick the new tunes.
===============
If you haven’t had a chance to buy our gas mileage guide we would encourage you to do so.
You can find it here.
By admin
July 9th, 2008 at 10:41am
Under Site News+ Uncategorized
We’re currently working on setting up the blog. We should have everything setup and start putting up some useful information next week.
By admin