Not a Daewoo Matiz 

Wednesday 18th June, 2008 - £8,920.19 in debt…

Stop looking at that debt-counter up there. Please. It’s really not fair that my success should be measured in such bold, unforgiving terms. I mean, what are numbers anyway? Just meaningless black squiggles on a page really, when you think about it.

Anyway, let’s not worry about that for the moment. Always look on the bright side: The new job is going well, I haven’t yet overshot my budget for the week, and the sun is shining. Occasionally. 

My budget for this week is:

• Budget for June 13th to 19th = £18.47
• Spent = £15.07
• Remaining = £3.40

Going well, isn’t it? I’ve only bought a Fathers’ Day present and a parking ticket. I am truly amazing.

But I’m about to hit my first real snag in this budgeting malarky: my next tank of fuel. I reckon I can make my current one last until the weekend but, apart from not driving anywhere, are there any other tricks I can use to make my petrol last longer?

The basics of fuel conservation seem to be:

• Drive smoothly
• Don’t carry excess weight in the car
• Keep your tyres pumped up
• Don’t leave the engine running
• Don’t use the air con unless you really have to
• And buy a beautiful little fuel-efficient car like mine (a Daewoo Matiz - small engine, small car, very few cool points).

According to this article, the optimum driving speed is 55mph - for every mile per hour faster, your fuel economy will drop by about 1%. And that’s what I’ll be telling the next police officer who pulls me over in a 30 zone.

This Is Money does a nifty little fuel calculator thing that works out your annual fuel bill (and how much of that is tax - not that you can do anything about it). And, if you feel like you haven’t had enough heart palpitations recently, ask it to calculate how much more you’ll pay per year every time the price of fuel goes up by a few pence a litre.

To make sure you’re getting the best value petrol around, use www.petrolprices.com - enter your postcode and it will find the five cheapest petrol stations in your area. It also gives you weekly email updates if you want them.

Not that any petrol stations around here are actually selling petrol at the moment.

Anyone else have any more tips? How have you been conserving petrol during the Shell strike? Are any petrol stations near you stocking more than just charcoal briquettes and the Daily Mail?�