Fuel Price Pro

Diana Ennen asked:


Rising Gas Prices Have You Down? Work From Home and Save Money at the Pump

With soaring gas prices fueling the strong need to work from home, now is the perfect time to become the business owner you always dreamed about. Think how great that short commute to your home-based office would be for those of you who can no longer afford to travel. You not only save money, but you get to experience the thrill of being your own boss and earning the kind of money you know you are worth.

One of the top businesses to start at home today is virtual assisting. Virtual Assistants are highly skilled professionals who provide service from a home office to anywhere in the world. Through the use of high-speed Internet access, e-mails, fax machines, mail services, as well as many web-based applications Virtual assistants handle such things as publicity, Internet research, word processing, event planning, real estate transactions, legal briefs, medical transcriptions, proofing, editing, publishing and so much more. The Virtual Assistant industry is growing at an amazing rate and is regularly featured in such renowned media outlets as Time Magazine and CNN News.

And just who are using VAs? Just about everyone from corporate professionals to doctors or attorneys who rely on these professional assistants to keep their businesses running smoothly. Not to mention the authors and online shops that use VAs for their marketing and publicity. Putting their many years of knowledge and advanced training to work for them, these virtual assistants can take over administrative duties while executives concentrate on increasing profits—it’s a perfect fit!

How do you get started? Easy. Diana Ennen and Kelly Poelker’s book, Virtual Assistant - The Series: Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA (Another 8 Hours Publishing) and the new accompanying VA The Series Workbook Edition provides you with everything you need to get well on your way to a successful new career. This book has already helped thousands of administrative professionals start their business and now with the help of the Workbook Edition, others are soon to follow.

Also here are a few tips on getting started in your VA business:

DO - Decide on a targeted market and initially focus your marketing efforts in that area. By developing a “niche” in your field, your reputation spreads quickly and soon you become a recognized expert.

DO — Be creative about where you can find business. The Internet offers a large variety of potential for clients just waiting for you to contact them. Actively network and don’t limit your marketing to simply placing a few ads in newspapers or the Yellow Pages. You want to find where there might be a need- and go fill it.

DO — Write a complete business plan and marketing plan. Too many leave out this vital step and waste valuable time unorganized and without a clear-cut goal and direction for their business. When starting a business you will have tons of ideas floating around. You need to materialize all these and put them into a workable plan of action.

DO — Develop a website that looks sensational. Your website is often the first connection a potential client has with your services. It must immediately let them know that they are dealing with a professional. Your site must then have the POWER to draw them to you and contact you. Let them see that you value quality by the look and feel of it. Additional tips include letting them know what services you offer and why you are qualified to offer those services by mentioning your experience and education. Be sure to include points on why you stand out among the rest and are the BEST! For example, if you have been featured in articles, radio shows, etc., have them listed with the dates.

Start today and experience the financial freedom you’ve always wanted.

Glenn Freiboth asked:


Gas prices are surging again with summer of 2006 on the horizon, pushing or even passing $3 a gallon in some places. Gas prices send many of us into panicked flashbacks of the fuel crunches in the summer of 1980 and the mid-1970s. Thankfully, we learned a few good habits back then. Many Americans traded in their eight-cylinder gas-guzzlers for row boat size cars with squires powering the engines. Then came the boom of the late ’90s, and, oh, how quickly we forgot. Though most of us still pump our own gas, we’ve fallen into bad habits again. We’ve embraced the gas-guzzling SUV and dawdle, idling, in drive-through lines.

In 2006, the Energy Department says it expects the price of regular to average $2.62 a gallon, 25 cents more than last summer, over the April-September driving period. But prices around the country already are above that.

Drivers aren’t expected to ease off on the pedal soon, sending demand higher than last year. But they are grumbling. Read what people at the pump are saying about the high gas prices.

“Look, it’s $41 to fill it up,” complained Lorenzo River, 26, a restaurant manager, as he pumped mid-level gas Tuesday at $3.05 a gallon at a Chevron station near the Watergate complex in Northwest Washington. Across the street at an Exxon Mobil station, regular grade was going for $3.09 - and there weren’t many customers.

Ervin Goodall, 56, a professional driver pumping supreme grade into his large sedan, was paying $3.29 a gallon. “It’s lot higher than last year, a bigger hit,” said Goodall, who added that when it comes to personal driving he’s scaling back - no more Saturday day trips.

Guy Caruso, head of the Energy Department’s statistical agency, said prices at the pump, which averaged $2.68 a gallon last week nationwide, are likely to increase 10 to 15 cents a gallon in the coming weeks, peak in May and drop off in late summer. He said the national average can mask local price spikes.

But you can hold down the number of times you have to stand at the gas pump, aghast while watching the numbers spin.

I give you 13 tips will help lower your fuel consumption and give you some relief from those high gas prices.

1) Car maintenance

Keep the tires inflated properly. This one is simple and a potential lifesaver. Under inflated tires waste fuel and wear out the tire tread. Also, check tires regularly for alignment and balance.

A well-tuned engine burns less gas. Get regular tune-ups and follow through with routine maintenance. The right parts and fresh oil keep your engine happy and less thirsty for gas.

Get the junk out of the trunk. A weighed-down car uses more fuel. For every extra 250 pounds your engine hauls, the car loses about one mile per gallon in fuel economy. Carry only the basic emergency equipment and items you really need.

2) Gas shopping

Buy the lowest grade (octane) of gasoline that is appropriate for your car. Check your owner’s manual for this information. As long as your engine doesn’t knock or ping, the fuel you’re using is fine. You can save hundreds of dollars a year.

Pay cash at stations that charge extra for credit cards. Don’t top off the gas tank. Too much gas will just seep out of the gas tank. Why waste those extra pennies?

3) Driving

Drive smart; don’t make fast starts or sudden stops. You’re just overexerting your engine and burning extra fuel. Gradual acceleration also helps automatic transmissions run better. Revving your Engine wastes precious gas, too.

Lighten up on the accelerator. The faster you drive, the more gas you use. Note that speed limits have gone up around most of the nation, but you don’t have to see your fuel consumption go up drastically as well. For example, driving at 55 mph rather than 65 mph can improve your fuel economy by two miles per gallon. Avoid long warm-ups. Even on cold winter mornings, your car doesn’t need more than a minute to get ready to go. Anything more and you’re just burning up that expensive fuel.

Save all your errands for one trip and plan your stops for the most efficient route. You’ll save yourself time and money. Do not rest your left foot on the brake. The slightest pressure could cause a drag that will demand additional gas use and wear out the brakes sooner.

4) Other good habits to save on gas prices

Tighten up that gas cap. Make sure it’s on securely. Buy a new one if your current cap doesn’t fit snugly. Gas easily evaporates from the tank if it has an escape.

Buy a fuel-efficient car. When you go car shopping, factor in long-term fuel costs. Keep in mind that sunroofs add to wind resistance, lowering the mileage per gallon.

Be smart with the air conditioning. On the highway, closed windows decrease air resistance, so run the air conditioner. But in stop-and-go traffic, shutting off the air conditioning and opening the windows can lighten your fuel use. Air conditioning can lower your fuel economy by 10 percent to 20 percent.

Remove snow tires in good weather. Deep tread and big tires use more fuel.

Use a fuel additive to increase the mileage for your vehicle.

Allen Reed asked:


If you live any where in the world right now, the price of oil has risen dramatically over the last few months, which in turn has created a massive spike in the price of gas prices. Everywhere you turn, people are talking about how the price of gas is affecting lives and they want cheap gas or at least cheaper gas.

For a person who was just making it by financially just months ago, the price increase in gas may impact their ability just to meet their basic needs, possibly even the needs of their families. It costs more to commute to work, take kids to practices, even going away on a weekend trip is now something one has to carefully justify.

There are few things that one can do to control the price of gas. One of the important ways we as consumers can ensure all is being done to keep gas prices in check, is to contact our government officials. If the people of a nation, state or province, contact their government officials and make getting cheaper gas a political issue, a few things may happen.

One thing that government can look at is possibly reducing the tax on gas, thereby making it more affordable. For the average person even having gas that is cheaper by two percent, can be a big savings in a year, depending on the amount of driving.

As well, it is important that our government ensure that oil and gas companies are being held accountable for the price increases we are seeing on the market. Our government has a responsibility to ensure that their people are not being taken advantage of, and that the spike in gas prices is justified.

Many would argue that driving ones vehicle is not a basic need, and therefore the government cannot obtain getting cheaper gas prices for consumers. I would agree that it would be difficult to say that getting cheap gas is a basic need, but the impact of high gas prices could be astronomical. If prices soar to a point that the average person cannot afford, think about how this might affect the average person. Some may need to turn to public transportation, which means that public systems could be burdened to a point of not being able to meet the demand, thus needing to spend many more dollars on increasing the capacity. Many people may quit jobs because the commuting costs are to high, meaning that unemployment rates could increase, increasing the demand for social welfare programs. The impact of these simple changes would have large effects on economies of all scales (locally, nationally).

It’s important that we as consumers make an effort to contact those sitting in government offices, they represent us. We need our government officials to take a close look at trying to get consumers a cheaper price on gas. There is little we can do individually to get cheap gas, but together when may individuals contact our officials, we can ensure that our governments make gasoline prices a high priority

Nocita Carter asked:


I don’t know about you, but the continued increase in the cost of gas that we are paying at the gas pump is kicking me where it hurts! What’s that you say? I say in my wallet and I’m sure you may be feeling this same pain as well. I’m sure you’re wondering like me, how high will the gas prices go? Some predict that the fuel prices may escalate to $10.00 or more a gallon at the pump. I don’t know about you, at that point or even possibly sooner the price hitting that level, there is really no point in going to work! You would be probably working to pay for gas to go into your vehicle and virtually nothing else. Most people are average folks just trying to make it in our economy and it would be difficult for them to manage paying high gas prices that continue to go up! As a matter of fact, it may already be difficult for some people. We are already at record level gas prices at the present time. In some places the price for regular unleaded gas is already over $4.00 per gallon and steadily approaching $5.00 per gallon as of this writing. It appears that the future outlook on the gas prices coming down are bleak and the stress on our wallets will continue.

High gas prices impact almost everything we try to do in some form. That’s right, most everything we do we are impacted by the high price we are paying for gas. The higher gas prices eventually trickle down to cost us more in such areas as: food, clothing, airfare, utilities, entertainment, retail products, etc… Just think, we are getting hit left and right with increased fees in these areas due to the high price that we are currently paying for gas and appears will continue to pay for a long period of time. Some think the high gas prices are here to stay. So much for having extra money to spend on other things! We’re going to be busy trying to put the money we have towards gas for our vehicles to get from point A to point B. We’ll be trying to make sure we have enough money to purchase gas to get to work and necessary places we need to go. We find that we really do not have much money left to spend for unnecessary purchases, entertainment or other activities.

What can we do to help ourselves in these hard times while we’re trying to deal with our anxiety and sometimes anger over these extremely high prices we are paying for gas? Here are some tips that you may want to consider to help you cope. You may find that you have already started to make some of these adjustments already:

1) Consider using public transportation if this is something you can realistically do. The modes of public transportation you may consider would be: bus, train and car pooling.

2) If you have a bicycle, consider using this mode of transportation for local short trips if this would be realistic of course.

3) Go to places that are necessary and actually needed. In other words if it is something you want to do and it is not needed, don’t do it. Consider letting your needs supersede your wants to save in your wallet on gas. For example, necessary trips would be: work, school, doctor appointments, etc….

4) Reduce your leisure, entertainment and travel commuting distances. Consider doing more of these activities at home or near your home.

5) Consider purchasing a vehicle if this is within your budget to assist you in reducing the cost you are paying for your overall fuel costs. Look for vehicles that provide higher mpg(miles per gallon) for the freeway and city. You may want to even consider a hybrid vehicle.

6) Slow down! Reduce your speed on the roadways you travel on. This will also assist you in better fuel economy. Put less petal to the metal!

7) Try to make your trips to the places you need to go count. Make a list beforehand of the places you need to travel and consider consolidating your trips. This means instead of making several multiple trips you combine trips(consolidate) by going to the place you need to go along the way and your list will assist you with this. For example, if you need to go to your local grocery store, cleaners and post office, just plan to make one trip instead of three separate trips back and forth from your home. You would take your list and stop at each place you need to along the way and strategically make sure that you plan your stops based on where these particular places are located. This really can work well if you plan your list ahead of time. Just by doing this you can save on gas!

Try to locate and compare prices of gas stations in your area to determine who has the lowest price on fuel and consider going there for gas. A good way to do this is when you are driving to the places you need to go, just observe the gas station prices along the way and you will be able to determine which locations have the best prices for your money.

9) Talk to your relatives, friends, neighbors, coworkers and others on the gas stations they are getting their gas from. You can compare with each other on which gas stations have the lowest prices to get your fuel from. You would be helping each other. This is similar to networking.

10) Make sure your tires are property inflated. This can also assist in providing you with better fuel economy.

11) Count from one to ten and try to relax before you start to pump your gas to assist you in relieving your anxiety and stress over the amount of money you will be paying for the gas you are about to put into your vehicle.

Who knows whether or not we may get some relief on the amount of money we’re spending on gas. However, it is unclear if this will happen anytime soon. In the short and long run we must do what we have to do to help ourselves through this major problem that is affecting our wallets. So, do what you can to help yourself and your family to reduce the amount of money you may be spending on gas.

Karl Bantleman asked:


Double digit price rises are an increasing worry to everyone and they are wondering how to find the most comprehensive deal whilst still being affordable. Customers need to find out what deal they are on in order to fully understand what deal is best for them.

Some people may think that their bill will show them all the details they require but most providers do not show them. Contact your provider to find out the exact details of your tariff because it is only then you can really compare gas prices and electricity tariffs.

According to current research, there are around 230 gas tariffs and 160 electricity tariffs available to customers. These tariffs range in price but it is important to remember that the most expensive is not necessarily the best tariff for you. Finding cheap electricity prices is achievable if you know what your old tariff consisted of and you shop around to find the best deal.

It may be the case that you do not need to switch providers; sometimes altering your tariff may be enough to save you money. Again, this requires you talking to your current provider and getting them to explain the tariff you are on and also your usage. This is because your usage may allow you to come on the tariff level and further save you money. Switching tariffs rather than providers can save you up to £320 a year and would save you the hassle of switching providers.

The same applies when you compare gas prices as a switch in tariff may be sufficient enough to save you money. However, just because it may be less hassle; do not assume that changing your tariff is the best way to save money. Search the internet for the best deals and make sure you maximise your saving potential.