Rumor control has it that at least one Monroe County gas station posted $4 pricing for a gallon of gas a few days ago. I was hoping to get a photo of the first such sighting … but it was apparently short-lived.

Given what happened today on the oil market, I assume we’ll be seeing that price point fairly quickly. Several Monroe stations are now at the $3.99 point, according to GasBuddy’s Michigan Gas Prices page.

Today’s headlines include:

• CNN: Crude prices jump over $133 on government supply data.
• CBS: Oil sets new record - over $132 a barrel.
• Forbes: Oil surge - no end in sight.
• MSNBC: Crude oil rises above $133 for first time.
• Detroit News: Holiday travelers scale back.
• Detroit Free Press: How much can you save on gas?
• Toledo Blade: Oil rises above $130 for first time.

The obvious thing consumers can do to reduce monthly household fuel expenses is to use less of it.

Yes, I know what it’s like to have someone in the family driving a 40-mile commute when gas prices are high. I know what it’s like to drive the school-age daughter all over southeast Michigan for this activity or that meeting. I also know what it’s like to have several immediate family members living about an hour’s drive away rather than in the same city where we live.

But to limit the damage that these gas prices will wreck on your family budget, you’ve got to look at using public transit, bicycles, walking, carpooling and bunching up out-of-town errands whenever possible.

For most of you, even drastic changes in transportation patterns won’t get the weekly or monthly gas expenses down to what you were paying a year or two ago.

For example: I could walk to work, but that won’t me save a lot of gas when I’m also bunching up my shopping errands as I drive back and forth to the office.

So if the skyrocketing gas prices cannot be managed with changes in transportation, you have to look at other places in your family budget where the expenses can be cut to make up for the difference.

How can you reduce your household living expenses? That’s what this whole blog is about.