Managing Your Money

Gas Grief? Eight Ways to Save on Your Commute

 

Check for incentives: More and more companies are offering incentives to employees to be more environmentally friendly on their commute. Some offer shuttle vans from public transportation hubs or discounted and subsidized public transportation passes. They may even offer incentives to encourage carpooling. Contact your personnel department to see if your company offers some money-saving incentives for you to change the way you commute to work.

Telecommute: If a lot of your job is done sitting in front of a computer, it may be possible for you to telecommute instead of physically being in the office. While this may not be possible to do every single day, technology has made it a lot easier for people to do this several days a week. While this was a hard sell for a long time, more and more businesses are opening up to this idea, so it's worth talking to your boss.

An issue that often keeps people from changing their commuting routine is they have an "all or nothing" mentality. Instead of trying to change your routine completely, try working in any alternative that fits your schedule one day a week. As you become more comfortable, you can then expand it.

Adopting one or two alternatives, even on an occasional basis, can add up to worthwhile savings over time.

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Jeffrey Strain has been a freelance personal finance writer for the past 10 years helping people save money and get their finances in order. He currently owns and runs SavingAdvice.com.

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