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I've only run out of gas one time in my life and it's because I was driving someone else's car! It was one of the most frightening days of my life when I accepted a ride to the gas station with my three kids from a total stranger.

My friend, Cindy, told me yesterday about an experience she'd had this week. Listening to her confirmed that we need to have plenty of gas in our tanks at all times.

She took her teenage daughter to the airport to go visit family. When they got there, she realized that she didn't have the identification her daughter needed. There was only about an hour before departure, and the trip home was twenty minutes, so she rushed out of the airport and headed home. She knew the gas tank was near empty and just prayed all the way home and back that she'd make it.

She got home without any problems, grabbed the paperwork - thank goodness she knew exactly where it was! - and then headed back to the airport with about thirty minutes before flight time. She looked at the needle on the gas gauge and faced a dilemma. Did she take the time to stop for gas, or risk running out and not making it back in time for her daughter's flight?

She decided to risk it. Her urge to pull over at the exit was ignored. She just kept going.

Just as she passed the next exit, the car began to sputter. As people here in Texas are known to do, she made her own exit to get to the feeder road that runs alongside the highway! Fortunately, she was able to coast down the hill and right into a gas station. Even at that, she was just about five feet short of the pump. She found some nice man to help her push the car, and she was set.

Glancing at her watch, and probably looking like a crazy person, she put enough gas in the tank to get her to the airport.

Taking even more time to have to park the car and walk inside, she was able to make it back in time to get her daughter on that plane, but not without being a nervous wreck for the hour before!

What a HUGE amount of stress that could have been avoided if she'd just been prepared. Instead of having to rush and panic, she could have spent a few more minutes of quality time with her daughter.

With the price of gas close to $4.00 a gallon here in Houston, I'm watching my gas gauge very carefully for a few reasons.

1. If I wait until it's down below a quarter of a tank, it costs me close to $100 to fill up my GMAC Yukon. I'd rather fill it up more often and have to pay less.

2. You just never know when you're going to have an emergency. A friend of ours who was dealing with cancer would often have to go to the hospital in the middle of the night when his temperature would spike. His wife always kept the tank full for such emergencies.

3. I don't want to be in the wrong neighborhood at the wrong time when I need to put gas in my tank! While you may not frequent areas that are considered unsafe, you may not have other options if you're not paying attention to that gas gauge. Avoid taking long walks alone in unsafe areas.

4. Based on the current price of gas, and knowing prices are only going to go up, it just makes sense to buy now. Buy 5 or 10 gallons today at $3.79 instead of having to buy 20 at $4.25.

The price of gas is making most of us watch our driving and spending habits. I know a lot of people put gas on a credit card, but if you have to do that, I hope you're at least paying that credit card in full every month. Otherwise, that $85 gas bill can end up being much more over time.