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Originally posted by BionicGirl:
... my mom taught us all the tricks of sneaking food in (just through example). I have taken entire meals for 2 into the theater on numerous occasions.

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Originally posted by jstrizzy:
although it doesn't seem to work on Americans. you'd think that between the rising gas prices and the SUVs that consume an insane amount of the stuff, people would be driving less. yet every time the local news does a story on gas prices, they have plenty of footage of people saying, "it sucks that gas is so expensive, but it's not really having any effect on my driving habits."

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Most of the US isn't really set up to accommodate efficient public transport. It's all spread out, so you can't get a sufficient volume of people going from one place to the next that make it cost and energy efficient enough to offer a sufficient number of services to make it practical for people to use every day. When I used to live in San Antonio, I specifically wanted to be able to walk to work (I'm not a big car person). The closest apartment I could find to where I worked was 8 miles away. I thought I'd bus it in to work instead as I'd chosen a location with good bus routes -- it worked out that it would take me over 2 hours to travel those 8 miles every morning.

I often wonder how the US can reduce its fuel emissions, given the way it's set up. I live in the UK now -- most European towns were built before there were cars, so they had to be convenient for the most common form of transport -- walking. When I first came to the UK, it was pretty easy to get around using public transport. It's still a lot easier than it is in the US (depending on where you live), but the emphasis is shifting towards cars and personal mobility. People here complain about the cost of petrol (it's about 85 p/$1.50 a litre) but I think petrol prices should be high, so that more public tranport infrastructure can be built and people start using it more again!

When I used to live on a really tight budget, the first step I always took was to cut down my largest potential fixed costs to the cheapest feasible minimum (ie rent and car). Then I'd add up all my unavoidable monthly expenses (water, electric, insurance, etc, but not food) and then add in a contingency factor (to cover unexpected things or things I might've forgotten when drawing up the budget). Then I'd work out how much money I had left over to work with each month, divided that figure by four, and got that sum out of the bank in cash every week, and used only that to pay for groceries, evenings out, etc. When I ran out of money, no topping up from the bank. It makes you very conscious of all the little places your money goes. I also used to clean out my fridge once a week just before going to the grocery store -- this gave me a good idea of what I had to use up and what I might want to eat over the next week, so I ended up spending a lot less of food through reducing waste. Oh -- and never buy something just because it's a bargain. for example, if they're having a 3 for 2 sale in the jeans store, and I really don't need more than one pair, don't buy a second one just to get the third one free.

I've just dicovered the joy of cycling. If I'd have cycled to college for the past two years instead of getting the bus, I could have saved a very large amount of (my parents) money. Plus, it's better for the environment and keeps you fit etc.

So it wasn't complete BS, just manipulating the truth. Now I'm paranoid... why do you ask?

edit because I can't spell.

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Originally posted by Shadowhand:
I was going to bump this today!

I've just dicovered the joy of cycling. If I'd have cycled to college for the past two years instead of getting the bus, I could have saved a very large amount of (my parents) money. Plus, it's better for the environment and keeps you fit etc.

So, people...cycle. I will be doing so from now on.

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Oy, yes - my lease is up in January, so I'll have to drive to class for fall semester - but as soon as I can move, I'm going to get as close to campus as I can.

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Originally posted by quirkynerd:
Oy, yes - my lease is up in January, so I'll have to drive to class for fall semester - but as soon as I can move, I'm going to get as close to campus as I can.

How was it carrying books? That's the main thing I'm concerned with; even though Orlando is mostly flat, cycling with 50 lbs of books doesn't sound like a lot of fun.

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Originally posted by quirkynerd:
Now I'm paranoid... why do you ask?

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