Wow! If you're like me, you can't believe what it's costing to buy a gallon of gas these days! And the price seems to keep rising each and ever week. These high gas prices are having an
impact on everyone's pocket book and prices of everything that is related to transportation.
High gas prices means:
-Having less money to spend on other things such as a nice dinner out for you and your
family;
-Spending a ton more money just to go and come from work; and,
-More expensive vacation costs- many families can't afford to take a long vacation any
more!
Hopefully gas prices will come down soon- or at least level off- but many experts say we
haven't seen the highest prices for gas yet! All this makes me want to scream!!
Here are tips for saving money at the pump:
Tip #1: Drive Less-Although driving less seems like a simple idea, it's something we haven't thought about much
until now. In thinking about driving less, you can:
-Eliminate unnecessary trips
-Combine visits to stores while shopping so that you travel less miles
-Consider car pooling and sharing rides to work
-Use alternate forms of transportation such as walking or riding a bike.
One useful website is www.walkscore.com . This website is a great mapping tool for locating
the nearest services near almost any location. The higher the score, the easier it will be for
you to live without a car.
Tip #2: Change Your Air Filter-One key component for an efficiently running car is to have a clean air filter. If your air filter is
dirty, your engine will require more gas. Change your air filter and you can save as much as
20% on your gasoline usage.
Tip #3: Install a Better Air Filter-Even if your current air filter is clean, consider installing a higher quality filter. More efficient
brands of air filters may cost you a little bit more but will quickly pay for themselves based on the amount of gas use they save.
Tip #4: Get Lower Resistance Tires-If there's less friction where the rubber meets the road, you can save money. Tires like the
Michelin Energy MX 4 Plus are supposed to increase gas mileage. If gas prices continue to remain high, expect the tire companies to offer more full efficient tires.
Tip 5#: Change Your Oil-Oil keeps your engine and parts running smoothly with less friction and increased efficiency.
More efficiency means savings on gas.
Tip 6#: Get a Tune-Up Often-Having a licensed mechanic tune-up your call will also improve the running of your engine
and save you money as well. Check your automobile's owners manual to determine how often your car should be tuned up based on the mileage traveled.
Tip #7: Use the web to find the lowest gas prices-There are many web sites that report local gas prices based on your zip code. Check for the
lowest prices often. Driving a few miles to a lower priced gas station can reduce the cents per gallon you pay. Be a smart shopper and you'll save!
Tip #8: Buy a hybrid car-Hybrid cars give you immediate savings at the pump. Another benefit is that the U.S.Government and your state gives tax breaks for people who operate gas saving cars.
Deductions from the Federal government can be as high as $2,000. Be sure to check on these tax breaks before buying since they may change.
Tip #9: Buy a diesel car-Diesel cars often get better mileage than hybrids. And diesels allow you to use alternative fuel
such as Biodesel or even Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO/SVO) fuel.
Tip #10: Buy a car with better MPG (miles per gallon)-If you can't afford a hybrid or diesel vehicle, investigate buying a car which gives you better mileage. Although there are other factors to consider, here's a simple calculation to determine if buying a car with better MPG makes sense:
1-New car's MPG :
2-Current car's MPG:
3-MPG Improvement (difference 1-2):
4-Number of miles you drive annually
5-Annual MPG saved (3 x4)
6- Average price for gas:
7- Annual savings with more fuel efficient car (6X7)
Tip #11: Reduce your commute -Consider moving closer to work or working closer to your home.
Tip #12: Use public transportation -If you live near a major population center, using public transportation can save a significant
amount of money.
Tip #12: Car pool to work-Consider sharing the ride and expenses to work with others. If, for example, you share rides
with three other people, you will cut your commuting costs in half. To help you find someone
to commute with, in many areas you will find web sites to help match you up with others
working near where you work.
Tip #13: Get assistance for your employer-Employers often help employees with commuting such as sharing in the cost of using public
transportation or providing a way to match you up with other employees for ride sharing.
Tip #14: Ride or bike to work and/or for local errands-Besides saving on gas, riding or biking will give you more exercise and help your health.
Tip #:15 Use the lowest recommended Octane for your car -In some cases, lower Octane gas may not be enough for your car and mid-grade or high-
grade Octane may be more than you need. To save money, consider different grade fuels to save money. For example, a station sells 85 Octane and 89 Octane gas, fill up your car with half of each giving the equivalent of 87 Octane gas.
Tip #16: Idle your car less-When your car idles, you are getting 0 miles per gallon! Years ago, idle your car used to
consume a great deal of gas. However, with more fuel efficient cars, this is no longer the
case. Don't idle your car to warm it up. A better approach is to idle your car for only 20-30
seconds and then drive your car conservatively until it reaches the normal range of operating
temperature. When at a restaurant, park your car rather than idling in the drive through.
Tip # 17: Walk between stops-If you are dirving into town and will be visiting more than one store, park between them and
walk instead of drive from one to the other.
Tip #18: Use GPS Navigation-Consider purchasing a GPS (Global Positioning System) navigation system. With a GPS,
when traveling you can get routing with the least mileage. Using a GPS, it is also less likely
you will make wrong turns and drive more distance than required.
Tip #19: Monitor Traffic Reports -When commuting to work or traveling in general, listen to traffic reports from local radio
stations and take the less congested route. Driving through a slow congested area means you will spend more time driving and will consume more gasoline.
Tip #20: When planning a vacation, use a route planning service such as AAA (American Automobile Association) or online mapping service such as
Mapquest or Google maps .AAA and other similar or online route planning services can plan trips between locations with
the least mileage and the least gas costs.
Tip # 21: Check tire pressure weekly-Buy an inexpensive air pump and an accurate tire guage (pencil guages are not accurate
enough) and keep all your tires inflated according to the automobile manufacturers guidelines.
Operating your car with the right tire pressure will optimize your miles per gallon.
Tip #22: Use cruise control and drive consistently-Frequent acceleration and frequent stop and starting will use more gas than driving at
consistent speeds. Where feasible use cruise control to maintain constant speed.
Tip #23: Maintain safe following distance-Besides being unsafe, following a car too closely will result in frequent speed changes. Follow
safe driving guidelines and maintain a safe distance behind cars.
Tip #24: Don't speed on highways-Don't drive faster than 55 mph on highways. According to the EPA (Environmental Protection
Agency), the most fuel efficient speed is 55 mph. Driving faster than 55 is less efficient
because air becomes denser and creates more resistance as you drive at speeds of 60-65
miles per hour.
Tip #25-Drive light, pack light-Don't drive with unecessary added weight on board. More weight means your engine has to
work harder and consume more gas.
Tip #26: Remove racks if not needed-Boat racks and bike racks add more resistance when you drive. Resistance causes your car
to work harder and use more energy to move forward.
Tip #27: Fill the tank full-If normally you have to travel a different direction to get gas, don't full up for small amounts
like $10 because each trip to the gas station will result in traveling more miles and costing
more gas.
Tip #:28: Don't fill up right after your station fills up-If you notice the gas staton where you normally fill up just had a tanker drop off a new load of gas, steer clear of that station for a few days because when the station's underground storage
tanks are filled with thousands of gallons, sediment and old gas is stirred up. Those that fill
their tanks immediately after a station gets filled, will fill up with gas that is not as fuel efficient.
Tip #29: Is gas with ethanol right for you?If the gas you buy has a high amount of ethanol, the lower amount of energy in the fuel will
result in lower mileage. However, if your gas contains 10% or less of ethanol, the eghanol
helps the gas burn more efficiently resulting in a higher gas mileage.
Tip #30: Start slowly from a full stop-Accelerating quickly from a stopped position uses more gas then gradually accelerating from
a stopped position.
Tip #31: Park when you first see a space-Don't be pickey about where you park. Take the first parking place instead of driving around
looking for a spot.
Tip #32: Use air conditioning to cool down only-Only turn on your air conditioning long enough to cool down your car. After your car
temperature has reached an acceptable level, turn the A/C off. A/C consumes more gas!
Tip #33: Shift to neutral if you are not comfortable with down shifting-Regular standard transmission cars could save gas by shifting into neutral when traveling down steep hills enough to maintain speed (although pressing on the breaks is safer on steep inclines). This strtegy is not to be used for cars with automatic tranmission cars because it will result with more wear on your brakes.
Tip #34: Park in the shade-Some gas will evaporate when your car is exposed to hot temperature. In addition, if your car
is heated up unneccesarily so that air conditioning is required, use of the air conditiong willresult in lower gas mileage.
Tip #35: Consider using synthetic oil versus mineral oil-Synethtic oil causes less friction in your engine. Consider using mineral oil instead. Although mineral oil costs a bit more, you should investigate the costs versus the benefits.
Tip #36: Use credit cards if they offer a discount program or gas points-Some credit card companies offer cash back, purchase discounts, or gas points with credits for gas purchases. Check to see if any of these cards would be available to you.
Tip #37: Don’t fill up until the last quarter tank-Don’t fill up your car until you only have a quarter tank left. By doing this, you will get more
miles per gallon because you have less weight in gas on board. This also gives you the flexibility to decide to buy gas on days when the price is lower.
Tip #38: Avoiding stopping at a red lightWhen approaching a red light, try to slow down enough so that you don’t actually have to stop
(because you’ll reach the light whenit turns green.) You’ll use less gas speeding up from a few miles an hour compared to starting from a complete stop.
Tip #39: Plan ahead for slow downs and stops-Plan ahead in your driving and slow down earlier (using less gas) and coast to a stop instead
of stopping from a faster speed.
Tip #40: Go gentle on the gas peddle from a complete stop-Don’t floor the gas peddle and speed off from a full stop. Instead, move out slowly.
Implementing this one tip will help you save money.
Tip #41: Don’t parallel park-Enter and leaving a parallel parking spot takes more gas and requires your engine to run
longer as opposed to simply pulling into a spot in a parking lot.
Tip #42: Drive a small motorcycle or scooter instead of a car when possible-Driving a small motorcycle or scooter is much cheaper than driving a car. Most scooters only get 70 MPG or better.
Tip #43: Where possible drive in lighter traffic-Your engine will run a shorter time and you will consume less gas when dirving in lighter
traffic.
Tip #44: Consider installing a real time gas consumption guage-If you can watch your actual gas consumption as you are consumming it, you will be more conscious of what activities take more gas or less gas and you can adjust your activities accordingly. There are variious OBDII reader devices you can stall (like ScanGuage or Equus 3130) and they provide real time fuel consumption information.
Frank Girard is a consultant, copy writer, and author of two books. He has 15+ years experience as a writer and publisher. He is the editor of a comprehensive blog pump-less-gas.com/wordpress to help people save money on gas. The blog also provides comprehensive coverage of everything related to high gas prices.
