Even though gas prices are dipping a little in my area the local media and pretty much every personal finance blog online are still extolling the virtues of walking or biking to work. It seems simple enough; dust off your bike or sneakers, grab a backpack and hit the road. Right?

If you're encumbered by urban sprawl this may not help you out much but if you live in a city of one-way streets, which the walking directions ignore, this may be the best article you've read all week. Google just rolled out a new beta feature to Google Maps which allows you to use the service to get walking directions, no matter the distance. It also avoids areas typically restricted to foot traffic such as interstates and other highways.

Even though it is interesting to see how Google thinks I should walk the 20 miles to work, when I ask for realistic directions to my barber's shop I am shown a much different route than I would normally take in my car in order to avoid crossing a few bigger and heavily trafficked intersections. Another nice feature is that Google estimates the time to cover the distance, so you can even plan out your departure time. Google expects me to cover about a mile every 20 minutes.

One of my pet peeves when reading advice on how to save money is to get a bit of advice without being empowered to actually make use of it. These new feature should help you find a way to add walking into your busy life. Walking to your weekend barbecue or to pick up groceries this month is a great way to save money and get healthier. Make sure you head Google's warning and "use caution when walking in unfamiliar areas", since the service doesn't appear to alert you to areas with frequent muggings. To use this feature, just select "walking" from the drop down box that appears below your destination.

Even though I live on a shoe-string, I've been finding a lot of areas to trim back on while trying to pare down the monthly nut. I canceled all my newspaper subscriptions. I don't buy magazines anymore (I can read them at the library for free). I've started paying for everything in cash.

Here's another luxury I've decided will have to go: Exercise.

Rather, I should say exercise classes. I don't belong to a gym -- I'm inherently lazy and have always wondered why people pay to walk a treadmill when they could take a long walk in the cool breeze instead. But millions of people do, and many are questioning the expense these days.

I looked at the budget and was galled to find that I spend about $250 on ballet, flamenco and yoga classes every month. I love these activities. But I'm terribly irregular in my attendance. Some teachers don't let you make up a session. Getting to some of these classes requires a long drive.

It has become a summer tradition at my workplace to have a fitness challenge; last year we had a weight-loss challenge and this year we are focusing on walking. The whole idea is to get yourself in better shape by using the support of those you are around almost as much as your spouse.

The idea has received support from the higher-ups because healthier employees equal lower health care costs for the company. On an individual level you can also enjoy saving money just by being healthy.

This year's challenge lasts eight weeks and we have a goal of walking 10,000 steps a day, which translates into more walking for almost all participants. Walking to the store, the doctor, the movies and pretty much anyplace within a reasonable distance. Every time you walk somewhere you save money on gas which is tremendously helpful. To reach the 10,000 per day goal I need to walk an additional 1.5-2 miles per day, if I do this for the course of a month as a substitute for driving I'll save $10 in gas. Once you add the the support system and the financial incentive the walking challenge becomes a no-brainer for me.

If you can get enough people interested, your company or its insurer may even sponsor the challenge, though this will likely require the participation of 50% or more of your workforce. Are you working on getting healthy in order to save money on medical expenses? Have you found other areas of savings as well? Share your ideas and results with us!