Stretching a buck

Even before Congress’s historic $700 billion bailout of the nation’s home mortgage industry, Baton Rougeans were feeling the pinch of inflation, from $4-per-gallon gasoline to nearly $6-per-gallon milk.

With a national recession looming, River City residents are already taking steps to stretch a dollar, even if our local economy isn’t shrinking the way it is in some other cities.

We queried our readers a few months ago about how they were coping with inflation, and asked what steps people are taking to offset the effects of rising prices.

We tallied the survey results, and in some cases contacted respondents to dig a little deeper and to share some creative and effective tricks our neighbors are employing to make ends meet.

1. Save on gasoline

With prices hovering from $3.50 to $4 per gallon for months, here are some of the ways readers are cutting fuel expenses.

Consolidate and reduce errands

As one of the people who has to commute long distances to work each day, reader Reneé Bourgeois Payton devised several tricks to keeping her mileage high and her gas consumption low. She’s tried simply cutting down on the amount of errands she runs and consolidating them. Driving from Prairieville to her job downtown at the Shaw Center, where she’s an events coordinator at the LSU Museum of Art, Payton has learned to confine errands to a single day of the week—and a single exit of the interstate, if she can help it. “I used to just stop off on an exit a day,” she says, adding that she was “amazed” at the difference that just combining individual errands made.

Several readers reported using the same tack. “I plan all errands to the same side of town and knock them out in one day,” said one. “I don’t shop for anything but food and household necessities,” said another.

Others shop online to avoid wasting the gas. Busy mother of three Lauren Thom found herself doing the bulk of her back-to-school shopping online this year to avoid having to run from one side of town to the other.

Know when to buy

Graphic designer Casey Muller tries to time his gas fill-ups to crude oil reports. “I listen to NPR Marketplace,” he says. “They report the closing prices of crude oil, and I’ve noticed that you see about a two-week gap between that price and the price at the pump. So I can tell which way the cost is going to go.” If it goes up, he knows to stockpile while prices are still relatively low. If it drops, he knows to buy conservatively for a couple of weeks until the savings are reflected at the pump.

Downsize

You might not be surprised at how many respondents mentioned they had chucked out the SUV in favor of a more economical vehicle. The 35 mpg of some hybrids is starting to sound like a siren song to those who are sick of getting gouged at the pump.

Muller, however, is one of the few who decided to make the switch to something even smaller. When gas hit $3.50 a gallon in June, he purchased an Aprilia—a motorized scooter similar to a Vespa. The zippy little Italian machine gets 65 mpg. “Between the rising cost of gas and groceries, it was just one of the cost-saving measures I took,” he says. Muller hopes the scooter will pay for itself within two years, and he believes it’s a wise long-term investment. In the meantime, though, it’s a still a slick way to get around.

2. Curb spending in general

Just because money is tighter doesn’t mean you have to give up everything you love. Sometimes, a little outside-the-box thinking presents you with a cheaper solution (that might even be more fun).

Find new ways to treat yourself

Goodbye, $5 Starbucks lattes—several people mentioned they were giving up their caffeinated beverages in order to keep money in their pockets instead.

Bert McCoy, however, has an alternative solution. “[I’m] making my own lattes with frozen espresso shots from the grocery store,” she says. “I thought about giving up my coffee treats, but didn’t have to. I’m going to the grocery store anyway. It helps me wake up for less money.”

An anonymous respondent had an economical way to host a child’s birthday party without sacrificing the fun: “Instead of hiring a space walk, we put together baby pools and sprinklers and had a splash party.”

“I can tell you every day of the week which restaurant has a kids’ night,” says Lauren Thom, busy mom of three. She and her kids used to eat out once a week, but as she says, “Once gas skyrocketed like it did, it took what little income we had and cut it in half.”

Suddenly, things that were once routine were no longer options, and Thom had to find creative substitutes. For example, when Domino’s pizza became a pricey extra, she and the kids made pizza at home. “It was cheaper, it tasted better, and the kids had a blast doing it,” she says.

More than 300 readers took part in our survey about spending, saving and what we’re doing to stretch a dollar. We asked readers to tell us how inflation is affecting them and what they’re doing to cope. The survey was conducted in July and August.

How are we stretching our dollars?

Consolidating errands 26%

Eating out less 13%

Carpooling or using more fuel-efficient vehicle 9%

Clipping coupons 8%

Raising the thermostat 30%

Doing nothing differently 14%

Is this a one-time deal?

Have you changed your habits permanently or do you expect to return to old ways when things get better?

Permanent 64.2%

Temporary 35.8%

How much of our income are we saving?

Up to 10% 7%

From 11% to 20% 11%

Nothing 15%

Don’t know 49%

Other amounts 18%

Best financial advice you’ve heard

• Don’t borrow from your IRA

• Spend less than you make

• No impulse buys

• Get a bike

• Tithe 10%, save 10%, live on 80%

• Eat at home more

• Sleep on it

• Develop a budget, live by it

Many respondents mentioned they had swapped out the Blockbuster card for a library card. The East Baton Rouge Parish Library has thousands of books, DVDs, and CDs available for free, and with the new OverDrive system, you can even download audiobooks and movies to your home computer with a valid library card.

Is it a need or a want?

Kathy Maust starts every transaction with the question of need or want. “Ninety-nine percent of the time, it’s a need,” she admits. “The wants aren’t even in the budget anymore.”

“‘A year from now, will this really matter?’” made me think about what impact my current decisions have in the next month, or year, or 10 years,” said another respondent. “Do I really need this or that? Will I be happier (or not)? Will it benefit someone other than just me?”

Many respondents mentioned saving themselves the stress by cutting down on even window-shopping. “I don’t ‘pop’ into expensive retail shops anymore,” one respondent said. “In other words, I don’t allow myself to be tempted by expensive clothes.”

Ask yourself the simple question, “Do I really need this?” If not, survey says put it down and walk away.

Dine in

Cooking at home instead of going out to a restaurant was another common response. But let’s face it: eating at home by yourself is no substitute for going out to socialize with friends. Bert McCoy and her friends have come up with a clever solution—they plan in-home meals with one another, with everyone bringing a dish. “In the past, I would never consider asking someone to do that,” she says. “Now I realize it gives others permission to do the same.”

Karla Long has also found herself eating in more. “I like to cook, so I’ve never eaten out every night, but sometimes I would find myself eating out two to three times a week.” She estimates that by staying home and cooking, she saves a nifty $75 per week.

Get by with a little help from friends

Temeke McCree-Perrin’s coworkers at Louisiana Lottery Corp. have started a coupon-swap at work. “We pass around the circulars and coupon books and everyone takes what they need,” she explains.

But savings may come in more than coupon form. Anna English started bartering with friends for goods and services. A friend cuts her lawn each week in exchange for dinner, and she and her roommate, both single moms, share childcare duties instead of hiring a babysitter.

“It helps my living expenses go down and stay down,” she says. “When I need to leave the house, I don’t have to hire someone or try to work around getting three kids in the car. It works out to be a great swap, since it’s less expensive and more convenient.”

3. Add some green to your life

You don’t have to cover your house in solar panels to live a cleaner, greener—and cheaper—existence. A couple of hours with a hammer or a wrench, or a few extra dollars for the fluorescent bulbs instead of regular bulbs, could provide you with thousands of dollars in savings in the long run.

Conserve in small ways

“I always wanted a clothesline,” says Martha Miller. “I felt like they were an easy way to save energy.” So in April, when she and her family moved to a larger house with a sunny backyard, a simple laundry line was among the first of her purchases.

She doesn’t mind the extra work involved. “There’s something really cathartic about hanging up your clothes in the sun,” she says with a laugh. As the average dryer cost during a year is around $130-$200, the extra effort is saving her a bundle.

Make your home energy-efficient

Some people have gone slightly farther with their energy-saving plans. Versa Stickle is one person who says she’s just “always lived frugally.”

“The current prices haven’t forced us to make changes,” she says. “We just live that way.”

Her job as a librarian for the Center for Energy Studies made a huge impact on her decision to go greener. “I could suddenly see the consumer aspects of energy,” she says, “and I realized that those were the places to put money.”

As she and her husband refurbished their home, every choice was influenced by energy efficiency. New windows were hung, new insulation installed, a new, more energy-efficient A/C unit purchased. “It all pays for itself,” she says firmly. “Not immediately, but it makes a huge difference.”

Bike instead

Don’t ask Mark Martin for gas-saving tips—he hasn’t owned a car in more than 17 years.

“It started when I was a grad student living in East Texas,” he says. “I couldn’t afford a car, so I bought a bike and started riding. Over time, I just got used to it.”

Martin doesn’t miss owning a vehicle. “The tradeoff of discomfort isn’t greater than the comfort that air conditioning provides. I sweat,” he says matter-of-factly. “And I drink a lot of water.”

Although he borrows or rents a car when he really needs one, he confesses, “it’s becoming less and less frequently that I do. It’s gotten to the point where being in a car is just really weird,” he adds.

With no insurance or vehicle maintenance, Martin figures he saves $9,000 a year by cycling. “If you figure that’s every year,” he says, “in 12 years you’d have saved over $100,000.”

Martin even manages Baton Rouge’s notoriously bicycle-unfriendly roads without incident. “I actually don’t find the city itself to be unfriendly to bicycles,” he says. “Sometimes the people in the automobiles can be unfriendly, though.”

He appears to be the exception to the rule. Stickle says she’d like to be able to ride her bicycle to work more often but feels that she’s taking her life into her hands when she does.

“I push hard for bicycle paths that actually go somewhere,” she says. Until then, her bike is going to go unused more often than not.

Minimize waste

Denise Porter has changed the way she cleans house ever since she picked up a book called The Safe Shopper’s Bible. “I learned how many household cleaners contained carcinogens or nerve-damaging agents,” she says. Since then, she’s learned to make her own cleaning supplies using household items. “It’s cheaper, and I don’t have to worry about anything potentially harmful.”

Baton Rouge’s tap water has consistently ranked among the cleanest and best-tasting in the country, yet many of us still drink bottled water.

“There’s no reason for it,” says Kathy Maust. “Our water is great.”

“I don’t buy bottled water anymore,” one anonymous respondent affirms. “Baton Rouge water tastes wonderful and that’s a ‘luxury’ item I can do without.”