I was in the auto parts store when I heard an interesting conversation that I promptly eavsdropped on! Of course it was a public conversation so it wasn’t technically eavsdropping. You sure can learn a lot if you keep your ears open and your mouth shut. They were talking about how to make your own deisel fuel. Now you have to remember I live in the South where it is cool to be redneck. And rednecks are resourceful! So, he was talking about some guy who used an old water heater and filled it with used cooking oil from the community fish fry and then something about lye and methanol and cooking it and when you get done you have deisel fuel. The one guy said they learn that in highschool here. Told you I live in redneckville. But anyway, might try it for the tractor. As for the family vehicles here is a little formula for you. Before you go anywhere calculate the cost to see if it is worth the trip. Here is how you do it. Go to expedia.com and click on maps then driving directions. Put in your starting address and then where you want to end up. It will give you directions but it will also tell you how many miles. Take that miliage and X2 to get the round trip milage. Then take that amount and divide by your car’s mpg, then take that number and X it by the price of gas per gallon. You will get the cost of your trip. Add a little if you need to leave your car running for any length of time, like to warm it up or sitting in a drive through at the bank. Example, if I am going to the gym it is 15 miles one way X 2=30 divide by 20 mpg=1.5 X by 3.19= $4.78. Sheds a whole new light on that great family rate at the gym. We can get a great rate for all of us but when you live out in the country driving to town makes everything expensive unless you really plan ahead and consolidate your trips.
Donielle says
I totally do the same thing! We live at least 15-20 miles from anywhere other than a few tractor supply stores so I end up staying home a lot now because of the cost of gas. It may be free to walk around the mall and just get out of the house, but it’d cost me at least 7 dollars every time I go.
Man I need a smaller car!