Gas Saving Tips:

Tips & How To Get More For Your Money

Let's face it gas prices are only going to keep going up. Therefore, we need to find some ways to make our gas go farther. How can we do that? Well, below are a few tips for you that could make a little bit of a differance. Hey, didn't Benjamin Franklin say "A penny saved is a penny earned?" Well, it may only be a penny here or there. However, pennies add up to dollars eventually when you add them together. What do you have to loose. Beats doing nothing, right? That's the spirit. Well, you just keep complaining about the government, which gives you an outlet to vent, but it doesn't save any of your hard-earned money.

1) Carpool to work. This cuts down on mileage and gas on your vehicle. If you are
a carpool with three other people then you will only need to drive one week a
month to and from work. Everyone could have a meeting place and then carpool
from that point. This has been a great benefit for my husband. Less wear and tear
on the vehicle also.

2) Get a discount card at the store/gas station. These generally offer anywhere
from three to ten cents off per gallon. It may depend on purchases at the store
too. Ours offers three cents off at the pump normally unless we have made one
hundred dollars in grocery/store purchases (non-gas) during that month than we
will get a ten cent per gallon discount for that one time purchase of gas
which follows us reaching that hundred dollar limit. Other places offer differant
programs. But hey, three cents on the average is better than nothing, especially
when the place we get gas is fairly priced to the same as everyone else. So that
means with our card we are actually buying gas for three cents below most places
in town.

3) Get a tune-up. It will save you gas when your car is running properly. It can
increase gas mileage by an average of four percent. Check your air filter, as
clogged filters can make the engine work harder which uses up more fuel.

4) Change your oil. Clean oil reduces wear from friction, reducing harmful
substances from the engine. Use synthetic instead of mineral oil. Your car runs
better thus giving you better mileage. Check your air filter at this time also.
Replacing a clogged air filter can increase your gas mileage up to ten percent.

5) Keep your tires properly inflated. This alone can increase your gas mileage up
to three percent. Use an inexpensive air pump and guage weekly to keep your tires
properly inflated, the pencil type guages are inaccurate. Use the recommended
pressure for your vehicle (either in the manual,the sticker on the door frame
or the fuel filler flap). You may fill a bit above, as this will actually improve
your mileage and handling, not too much though or the tires will wear too fast.
Some tires, known as "Low Resistance" tires are supposed to increase gas
mileage. Therefore, if you can buy a set do so. One maker of them is Michelin.

6) Use cruise control whenever possible on the highways/freeways. We do all the
time, unless there's heavy traffic.

7) Don't idle unneccassarily. It costs money by wasting fuel. Park and go into the
fast food place than idling thru the drive-thru. How many of us are too lazy to
do this one. I know about 1/10 of the time I still go thru the drive thru. But
most times we park and walk in to order even if it is to go.

8) Clean out your car of any unneccessary heavy objects that you don't need every
day. Take off any ski or bicycle racks that aren't being used at this time. You
will find that you will use less fuel, sometimes up to two percent, per 100 lbs
of extra weight you removed. (Please leave in your emergency jumper cables and
any other emergency supplies you keep stashed in there/tools too).

9) Combine as many small trips into one trip. Try to make them at the time of day
when traffic is the lightest. Plan alternate routes that don't have as many stop
signs or traffic lights. Also, park in the first spot you see. This avoids
you wasting gas by driving all over the parking lot several times. It's best if
you don't park close to the front of the stores as then you have to spend time
later idling, waiting on pedestrians and vehicles. If some of your stops are near
one another then park between them so you can walk to them. The walk will do you
some good and save on gas too.

10) Don't fill up on days when there's a fuel truck at the pumps refueling them. As
this stirs up the sedimentation in the bottom of the tanks. This can then get in
your gas tank thus reducing gas mileage quite a bit. Wait a few days before you
return to that station to get gas.

11) Fill the tank full. If you need to fill up do so. Getting a few dollars on
Saturday then a few more on Monday is only going to cost you more because you
keep going to the gas station. So do it once. But, don't top it off. Topping it
off is a waste of money, it normally is gone within ten minutes after you leave
the gas station anyways.

12) Gas-saving devices don't work. Do not waste your money.

13) Fill up three days before a Holiday, because after that the prices will go up.

14) The Air Conditioner uses up alot of fuel therefore it is only efficient to use
when you are driving at lower speeds like 35-40 mph. If you can get your car cool
enough then when you need to drive above 40 mph you can just switch over to fan.
This will keep you (hopefully) cool enough yet save you at the pump in the long
run. Below 35 mph open your windows to catch a nice breeze if you wish. Nothing
beats a great breeze on a warm sunny day (as long as you don't live where there
is a lot of smog that is).

I hope that these tips are somewhat helpful. These are ones that I know work.

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