Cents and Sensibility, Day 19. Let's talk about gas.

As you may recall if you've been following the progress of my little experiment, I filled up my gas tank on May 31. I had about a quarter of a tank, kind of the amount I have now. It cost 3.59.9 (let's round that up a micro-percentage and call it 3.60, shall we?) a gallon, and I spent $33.

As of today, 19 days later, I've driven 318.8 miles. That's an average of 16.78 miles per day. And I still have a touch less than a quarter of a tank left.

I think I can go a few more days before I need to get gas. I work from home tomorrow, and there's the entertaining Peasants Feast tomorrow night for which we're making latkes with the potatoes we bought last week. No need to go to the store for anything.

I have Tuesday off, work from home Wednesday, and have Thursday and Friday off. So conceivably, if I stick close to home, I may not need to get gas until next Saturday. If that happens, I'll have gone 25 days without buying gas.

I understand that not everyone has the good fortune to work from home, and I know that most people operate like I did before May 31. I used to go wherever I wanted to go, whenever I felt like it.

So you might be wondering how I've kept the gauge away from the E for this long. Of course the telecommuting helps. Entertaining here at the house instead of going out has been so much fun. And I've been staying home more.

Actually, I've been staying home a lot. I'm not considering renaming my house Grey Gardens any time soon, but staying home has been more enjoyable than I thought it would be. Being a homebody is out of my ken. I like to ramble.

But instead, I've been walking more when I feel the need to get away. Walking instead of driving has helped the bottom line on more than one level, if you know what I mean. And when I do drive, I drive like a grandma. No offense to grandmas.

There are tons of tips to be found on how burn gas a bit more slowly. Here's one: http://gasbuddy.com/gb_tips.aspx.

The pain at the pump I got 19 days ago is barely a dull ache today.

We all complain about the wallet-gouging price of gas, but there seems to be a fairly easy way to fight back.

Just stop.