Most of us are seeing the effects of $4 gasoline. I have a 30-mile commute to work each day, so on Quicken, I keep seeing the "Fuel" section of the pie chart gradually eat up the other pieces of the pie. While this may seem like a bad thing, it has the potential to shower financial benefits.

Okay, maybe "shower financial benefits" is a bit too strong, but I believe that we can make money or at least pay less for gas now than we were a year ago. $3.30 seemed to be the tipping point for me. When gas rose above that price, a fellow teacher and I decided we would start carpooling. With gas around $4 per gallon, carpooling drops that price to $2 per gallon for my friend and me.

What are some other ways that we can benefit financially from $4 gas? Carpooling is an obvious choice, but I'd like to hear some creative ideas from you all.

Some of you probably heard my lamenting over how much I expected to pay to fix my car. I was expecting a bill in the vicinity of $400. Well, it turned out to be $158!

I didn't even have to tap my emergency fund. Now, I will most likely have some other car trouble in the near or semi-near future, which will cause the cycle of lamentation and rejoicing to repeat. That's fine; that's life.

After receiving excellent advice from several of you, I have started a Car Fund and Car Repairs section of my savings. I will soon begin funneling money into those two accounts, which will hopefully have time to accumulate significant amounts of money before I need them.

Having money saved away for various purposes feels so good!

I knew this day would come. I drive a 1998 Mercury Sable, and it is paid off. It's had some problems over the past year with not starting; however, I haven't had to put any cash into it. That is about to change.

The good ole Mercury probably needs new brake pads and new tires. This is all going to set me back somewhere around $410. That's not terrible, but it's the first major repair bill I've had to pay since I've been out in the world on my own.

My emergency fund can easily absorb this, but it's the principle of the thing. Overall, however, the Mercury is being good to me. As long as I'm not pumping thousands of dollars into it a year, it's saving me cash. I don't want to make a car payment any time soon. Roll on, Mercury! Roll on!