It’s about time for an update on this ongoing series, don’t you think?  I’ve been having a great discussion on the subject of solar and commercial electric service over on Randy’s excellent blog, Journey to Samal.  I’m certainly going to be writing more on the subject, but I thought that today I might cover something that will help practical people both here in the Philippines or back there at home, trying to get yourself financially ready to move to the Philippines.

And, oh by the way, help save the planet (I know, I know not very popular in certain political circles, but hey, just because Al Gore might have made the movie does not make the facts go away).

I’m talking, of course, about what you drive.  here in the Philippines it’s completely practical in most areas to live for years without even owning a car.  There’s public transportation of some sort on virtually every street corner.  But I’m well aware that back in the USA it’s often impossible to live without a car.  And caring for and "feeding" a car is a big part of many a family’s budget.  The more you have to spend now, the longer it will take you to be ready to move to the Philippines and enjoy life, as I do, so that’s my Philippine connection for this article.

Tip One: Don’t drive so many vehicles.  Sounds simple, but I already hear all the naysayers out there coming up with the ‘"You don’t understand" comments.  Well, I do.  I’ve owned many cars and trucks, often more than one at a time.  I’ve also come to realize just how wasteful it is.  When my dear wife Mita and I first went to the US I had one vehicle, a Ford Ranger.  Mita got a job right away so, of course, we went out and bought her a car to get back and forth to work.  Everyone needs one for that, don’t they?  Turns out that the job and Mita’s’ love for driving didn’t exactly match up.  Guess what.  I changed my schedule by half an hour at work and became her driver for the rest of her employment.  One vehicle sat in the garage for months until she decided to work elsewhere.  We really needed that second vehicle.  Like a hole in the head, actually.  The majority of multi-vehicle households (especially if there are teenagers involved do not need a second (or third or fourth) vehicle either.  They just think they do.  What do you think?

Tip Two: Downsize what you’re driving.  Oh yes you can, you just say you can’t because sticking to the status quo is easier than making the tough choices.  Just a week or so ago I watched a great case study from Canada (all the smart energy shows here on cable come from Canada or Australia … wonder why that is?)  A fellow in eastern Canada earned his living as a carpenter.  he was driving what every carpenter/contractor needs, a huge Dodge Ram pick-up.  What was in the truck?  Hundreds of pounds of tools, some of which he used on any given day.  The truck was on lease and thus he was "stuck" with it, so might as well just bite the bullet and make the best of it.  His gasoline bills?  nearly $1200 a month!

So what did he do?  Bought one of these. (my current next car candidate by the way).  Even with parking the truck and continuing the lease payments and making the payments on the Prius he was several hundred dollars a month ahead of the game (not to mention that the truck payments will go away at the end of the lease when the dealer has to take the dinosaur back).

And the tools and all the reasons he had to have truck (manly carpenter dude, after all)?  Turns out that after cleaning the hundreds of pounds of tools (a big gas waste all on their own) out of the Dodge he was able to repackage and fit everything he needed on a daily basis into the Prius with room to spare to drop off kids at school on his way to the job site every morning.  The ‘dropping off kids’ was the main reason his wife "needed" another car as well.  How did the kids get home?  One of the other moms traded rides for her kids to school in the morning in return for bringing all the kids back from school in the afternoon … wow, actually sharing a car between families … how un-American is that? (oh. right, it’s some weird Canadians, after all).

Enough for today’s thoughts.  Let me hear your thoughts?  If you’d like, I could tell you how to turn any vehicle into 80% or so of a Prius using nothing more than a device you already have in your purse or pants pocket?

Related posts:

1. Saving Energy for Practical People — Part 2
2. Saving Energy for Practical People — Part 3
3. Saving Energy for Practical People — 6
4. Saving Energy for Practical People — Part 5
5. Saving Energy for Practical People

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