driving

I'm often described as a professional penny-pincher. After all, I make my living writing about and reporting on ways to save a buck, and help save the planet in the process. I think my dollar stretching skills are programmed in my DNA. The Yeager family crest even bears the inscription "Spartica Homo Erectus," Latin for "Cheapskate Who Stands on Two Feet."

So here I am, proud to be among the most savvy shoppers in America, and I'm still paying $4 a gallon for gasoline when last week the national average fell to just $2.50 a gallon, the lowest price in over a year and a half. Have I lost my money-saving mind? Is my frugal libido dead?

No, you see I've made a pledge to continue to pay $4 a gallon for gas. Or, more accurately, to pay the lowest price I can find and then bank the difference in my '$4 A Gallon Savings Club.' So at $4 a gallon it used to cost about $60 to fill up my Toyota pickup truck, and now it tops off at closer to $40. Every time I fill up, I stick the $20 I saved into my Savings Club envelope. Since I fill up about once a week, at this rate I'll squirrel away more than $1,000 over the next twelve months if gas prices remain this low.

Like the old Christmas Savings Clubs that were popular when I was a kid, it's easy to build a nice nest egg by saving a little bit at a time as part of your daily money management routine. Sure, we complained about paying $4 for a gallon of gas, but we got use to it and adjusted our household budgets and driving behavior to pay for it. Now that the price has dropped, why not bank the savings rather than spend it on something else or, worst of all, go back to our old driving habits?

And that last point is why the $4 A Gallon Savings Club is as much about environmental stewardship as it is about money. When gas actually cost $4 a gallon, the good news was that we drove less and our consumption dropped for the first time in decades. The environment was the winner, and, from what I could see, nothing awful happened to us because we drove less. Of course that drop in consumption/demand was one of the primary reasons why gas prices came back down -- at least for the time being.

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It's not often that a 50-year-old balding cheapskate like me has a chance to look cool. But I had my moment to gloat last year when my wife and I went to rent a car along the coast of Crete.

A brash foursome of 90210-good-looking American college jocks barged ahead of us in line, only to be told that all the cars available had manual transmissions. That's the case in most countries of the world other than the U.S., where only 5% of us drive a stick shift. They glanced at each other with uncertainty, and then their fearless leader said cockily, "A stick? Cool man! How hard can it be?"

After waiting patiently, my wife and I finally got the keys to our rental car and headed out to the parking lot. There sat the four pushy princes in their five-speed Fiat, lurching forward a couple feet at a time, then stalling, lurch, stall, lurch, stall....

Smoke rose from the tires. A series of foot-long skid marks trailed off across the parking lot behind their car, looking like the "Tear Here" marks on the bottom half of your electric bill. The lurching motion became so violent at one point that the driver's Smith sunglasses flew off his face and smacked against the windshield.

The cool dudes inside the car were not amused, although the gathering crowd of locals was having a blast watching. As I smoothly slid our rental car into first gear and rolled out of the parking lot, I gave a friendly shoulder shrug to the onlookers and said something in quasi English-Greek, like "Yish! Crazy Americans."

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I have the Mother of All Inventions to offer -- free of charge -- to any automobile manufacturer willing to listen to my rant: What about making a car with a detachable derriere? I'm thinking maybe a giant zipper, right behind the driver's seat.

Why tote along an empty backseat and trunk on trips when you don't need it? Save gas, money and emissions by unzipping the butt end and leaving it parked at home while you drive the front half. And if you have a big-car ego, you'd still have bragging rights: "You should see my backend. I don't use it much, but it's huge!"

Zipcar has a wide range of car models to choose from, including the sporty Mini.

Alas, until the automotive industry jumps on my idea for the rump-less roadster, there's another way to own only part of a car: Car sharing.

Car share members pay a nominal annual fee for 24/7 access to a fleet of cars and light trucks parked in lots scattered across a city. Make a reservation by phone or online (last-minute is fine) and use an electronic keycard to access the assigned car.

You're typically charged an hourly fee and a per-mile rate, but gas, insurance, maintenance, parking, registration and taxes -- and all the hassles of car ownership -- are the company's responsibility.

If you're an urbanite or live near a college campus, car sharing could save you some serious jack and help save the environment too.

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