When I was shopping for a new place to live, one of the major search terms was proximity to my errands, because of gas prices. I chose a rental house that's 1.4 miles from a grocery store, post office, and restaurant cluster -- so when the weather's nice and I have an extra 40 minutes to spare, I walk. Sure, it's fine exercise, but the reason I carry a backpack full of food home once or twice a week is to think I'm cutting back those little expenses of small trips. When I have some money saved up, I'll get a bike with some kind of cart, and it'll be much easier and faster to make those errand trips. Luckily, I live in Nevada where the weather cooperates nine months of the year. Even in the last apartment when I was less than a mile away, I didn't walk -- because I wasn't financially motivated to. These rising prices are forcing people to travel less, to take jobs closer to home, and to not take better jobs that are farther away. I also do more telecommuting these days.