Save Money: Consider Walking or Biking

Thrifty Thinking

Are you trying to shave some more pennies off of the family budget? Do you want to have some quality time with your family? Consider walking or biking once a week to somewhere you normally would not. Are you too far out of town or too far away from work or grocery stores? What if you parked in town somewhere you need to go and walked to a different destination?

I love having a destination when I am on foot. I love going on a walk with friends and family, and dropping things off at the library and get some good moving time. I especially like looking at different houses and yards and get

Walking from home to the library and back

different ideas to implement or just admire. I have parked at our bank, Chase, taken care of some transaction and then headed on foot over to the local Safeway across the street and then some. Especially with little ones, I like the thought of not continually strapping them into the car and unbuckling them, so if I can combine even one trip, I feel less taxed and more cheerfully energetic (I know I am the one who controls my emotions:). Jonathan and I have different times we need to be at church, so when it looks like it won’t rain, me and the kids head to church on foot about 3.5 miles away. They know this is what the Sarrs do. It becomes part of their thinking. I want my kids to be physically active when they are adults. That thinking can start when they start walking. When it’s time to leave church, we have a car to get into and join daddy!

It’s fun and liberating spending time outside. Even on cloudy days you can get a tan (or burn) and some vitamin D!

Well, this is certainly not a time saver in most instances, unless you are caught, snarled in traffic, but this is a two-or-three-or-four-for-one. You can have some great time with others if you have a companion, you get exercise, and you save on gas, not to mention the saving on the wear and tear of your car. This idea does take some forethought. You have to have a block of time in most instances. If I do this, I definitely count it as exercise for the day.

Of course to save on gas too, you can carpool, take a bus or train and more, as I am sure you know, but take the plunge, and try something different.

So save some money, enjoy being outside, and consider walking or biking once a week.

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