Briefing for Monday, March 5, 2012

Spring Forward on Sunday

One of my favorite days of the year - the day we move our clocks ahead one hour - is this Sunday.  Plan accordingly.

Bastrop, Texas Disaster Preparedness Workshop Featuring The Suburban Dad Survivalist

More details to follow - but Central Texas residents might want to pencil in March 17 on their calendar.  I will be emceeing a disaster preparedness event in Bastrop, Texas (about 30 minutes southeast of Austin).  Many of you will recall the Texas wildfires last summer; Bastrop was ground zero for much of the destruction.  The March 17 seminar will focus primarily on wildfire prevention and preparedness but will include a tremendous amount of information on building hardened homes, personal preparedness, and how to use insurance as a preparedness tool. 

Gas Prices - And What the Suburban Dad Nation Can Do About It

The crew over at ZeroHedge came out with some spooky charts about the impact of higher gas prices which, once again, make a tremendous amount of sense.  Yet there's nothing we can do about it.  Or is there?

Of course you can do something about it. 

Aside from buying a Prius or riding your BMX to the grocery store, you can lock in your fuel prices at today's rate for future use.  Let me show you how.

First, go read this at My Gallons.  Then come back to this site.  Don't worry, I'll wait.

Recently, I used the My Gallons site and locked in the price of 50 gallons of fuel at 3.62 a gallon.  With the applicable transaction fees, the break even price for me at this price is 3.85 a gallon.  If gas goes substantially higher than 3.85, I can buy 50 gallons at any gas station and get reimbursed as if I paid 3.85 a gallon for it. 

I've never used this service before, but I've read good things about it.  I bought 50 gallons as a test.  If I find this works well, I will definitely buy a lot more.

There is some fine print.  Make sure you read it.  Overall, it appears to be an effective way to hedge your fuel costs.