Fill it or 40

It has come to this: I pull into the gas station and tell the attendant “fill it up with regular or $40 worth, whichever comes first.”

By the way, New Jersey still insists an attendant must pump your gas. Most everywhere else you do it yourself. Doesn't make the gas any cheaper that way, it just means the station owner has one or two less employees to pay.

Anyway, when gas prices starting inching up and some stations began charging less for cash, we started paying cash. We mostly patronize one station we call “the cheapie place” because the only sign identifying it says “cash only.” And it is a few cents a gallon cheaper that most other places around.

Now that prices are galloping upward rather than inching, we watch the gauge even more closely. If it hovers near or below the halfway mark, it's time to fill up before busting the budget.

Hence the $40 or fill-up rule. Today, with the tank at just under half full, I sneaked in at $39. And I have a four-cylinder Honda. We've rented a house in Maine for a week in July and I hope the cost of driving to and from won't exceed the rental fee.

We can always economize elsewhere. Like not eating?

We'll manage.