My Chevy Silverado was purchased as the best all around vehicle for the uses I would put it to. Extended cab for passengers (I drive the morning leg of the car pool every day, dropping off five kids at school. Someone else brings my son home in the afternoon). I moved all of the contents of my apartment with it, saving a couple thousand right there. I use it for all sorts of lumber and gardening and other big messy moving projects. And because it doesn't get great mileage, I'm pretty scarce at work these days. I work at a university the next town over, but I am the one employee in the library whose job description says I can telecommute. And I've been doing as much of that as possible. I don't start the truck unless I have at least three places in a general area to visit on one trip.

It would be a further waste of resources and money to purchase another car to save gas while the truck sits parked. For all of the money to buy a car I can put a helluva lot of gas in the truck. So I drive the vehicle I have as economically as possible. And I've cut out a few of the little treats, like keeping the pantry filled with cokes. I need to put the gas in the truck, not the softdrinks in the kids. (Just cutting out the soft drinks does make the gas crunch more affordable--it's embarrassing to realize how much of that stuff we were drinking!) Iced tea is the beverage of choice here now.

SRS