31 WAYS TO SAVE

RVers cut back, consolidate trips


The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/09/08

Kim McFarland doesn't travel nearly as much as she used to.

"We used to just go up to North Georgia and drive around, just to relax," the 36-year-old Cumming resident said in a recent interview with her boyfriend, Tom Vizzini, 49. "But with the price of gas, it's just not worth it."

Chandler Brown/cmbrown@ajc.com
To save money, Tom Vizzini and Kim McFarland of Cumming have parked their RV and limit trips in their other vehicles.
 

To save money, their 34-foot RV sits idle in front of McFarland's wood frame house near Lake Lanier. McFarland and Vizzini work from home, so their cars — his a '99 Jeep CJ, hers a '95 Mustang convertible — go largely unused.

"I consolidate trips. I don't just run to Publix anymore. I wait until I need to go to the grocery store, the dry cleaners and Ace Hardware all in one trip," McFarland said. "It's just two miles, but that's a dollar round-trip."

Vizzini, who lives on the lake, installed a battery on his boat to run the refrigerator and plans to do the same on the RV.

"Until [gas] prices fall, we're doing what we can to conserve and save money," he said.

31 ways to save


Every day during July, 31 metro Atlantans will share their money-saving strategies for everyday expenses such as food, clothing, transportation and utilities.

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