mrfrugal

Okay, I am one for saving money on gas and helping the environment but sometimes when I am on the Metro and I realize why people stay in their cars.  I am hoping, yes me Mr. Frugal that the city of
Los Angeles will raise the prices of the Metro tickets/passes for maybe two or three ghetto people will not ride the train.  I mean come on; some of the people on the green line have no manners. And the worst line of them all, the blue line I would not take if I had free championship Lakers tickets; for next year of course.  The ghetto people are loud, disrespectful and they smell (okay, not all of them smell). Here are some tips when riding the Metro to stay clear of the ghetto people. First, always sit next to someone wearing business or business casual attire.  Second, wear sunglasses at all times even when it’s cloudy; people will just think your sleeping instead of being alert as a cat preying on a mouse. Third, have an Ipod or some headphones even if there is no sound coming from your earphones; the will make people think you are not listening to the outside world. Forth, do not stare at the ghetto people, this will just encourage them to act indecent, you know like children.Tomorrow I will tell you the times you should and should not ride the Metro.Here are some tips when riding the Metro to stay clear of the ghetto people. First, always sit next to someone wearing business or business casual attire.  Second, wear sunglasses even when its cloudy; people will just think your sleeping. Third, have an Ipod or some headphones even if there is no sound coming from your earphones; the will make people think you are not listening to the outside world. Forth, do not stare at the ghetto people, this will just incourage them to act indecent, you know like children.

Oil prices have been dropping faster than celebrities these days. For the third straight week a barrel of oil has dropped $2.23 today alone.  A barrel of oil is now selling for $123, down from its all time high of +$148. 

With the price of oil dropping a percent a day does not automatically give you a reason to buy an SUV.  The golden days of the SUVs are over and I say good riddance. A new error of smart cars and hyper-public transportation are here to stay, if not for a decade. The fall in gas prices will not only help your budget but it will in turn help the struggling US economy and create a stronger dollar.  And with your extra saving of gas money don’t be stupid at buy cheap Chinese crap. Put it in your savings account and pretend that gas prices are still at an all time high.

Save money, take the Metro.  Okay, I worked it out. Here we go. I live 32.3 miles away from work and it is a nice 35 minute drive early in the morning, before 0530 PST. If I leave my house minutes after my special “leave time” I am screwed. I’ll be over an hour and a half fighting the Orange County/Los Angeles morning comute. So first lesson, leave before rush hour to save time and gas. Don’t be lazy, get out of your dwelling early to beat the traffic.  Second, buy a metro pass and please do not get those stupid coins.  I was wasting (yes, I really time myself) on average 19 minutes a day waiting in line, using the machine and most likely missing the train trying to get my ticket. 

Here’s the break-out of costs:

Commute by car & train (light rail) - $42 for the monthly pass (subsidized by my company, regular $62); gas to the station, 17 miles at about $2.27 one way at $4.25 a gallon equals: $3.32 one way to work compared to about $4.30 taking my car the whole way. Plus I have less wear and tear on my car. I get used to get oil changes every month and a half. Now I take the car in for an oil change about every three months.

Commute by car: about $4.32 one way not including wear and tear.

Time wise it’s about the same, I lose 20 minutes on the way to work with parking and the like but save about 35 minutes on the way home since I fly by traffic. Next time I’ll teach you some helpful metro seating tips and the type of people to stay away from.