Lazy Man and Money

Save Money on Gas

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[This is one of the many posts I have on saving money. There are more tips on how to do everything on cars here.]

Unless you’ve been in a coma for the last six months, you’ve noticed the pinch of gas prices. You don’t need to just sit back and watch your wallet grow thinner and thinner. You can take action and learn how to get more miles for your dollar than ever before.

    Be a More Efficient Driver

  1. Brakes are your enemy. When you step on them, you have spent gas to go nowhere. Think ahead to limit the amount of brakes that you need to use. Trust me, it becomes a habit very quickly and you no longer have to think.
  2. Coast to red lights. Why use gas when you are going to have to stop?
  3. Coast down hills. I see a lot of people gunning it just to have to brake when they reach person in front of them.
  4. Coast to green lights far ahead of you.   If it has been green for a LONG time, you might not make that light by the time you get there. That will force you to brake (see #1).
  5. Don’t tailgate… …In fact do the opposite. Leave plenty of room between you and the person in front of you. If the person needs to slow down a little, you can coast to catch up a little instead of using your brakes.
  6. Take three rights instead of a left. UPS drivers do this in metro areas like NYC and found that they save fuel that would have been spent idling. Only look to do this at those really difficult left turns.
  7. Use Cruise Control. A constant speed is the most fuel efficient.
  8. Drive between 40-60 miles per hour. If you have a lighter car, you can aim for the 60 MPH number. If you have a heavier car, you’ll want to go 40 MPH. Go here for more information why.
  9. Avoid Traffic. Don’t drive during times of high traffic if you can avoid it.
  10. Use a GPS tracker. Time spent lost is gas wasted.
  11. Avoid air conditioning (if you stand it). Some tests seem to show that it’s not a big factor, so if it really impacts your comfort level, you might want to consider using air conditioning.

    12. Make Your Car More Efficient

  12. Don’t carry extra weight in your trunk. I do like to have some emergency supplies in the my trunk, but I won’t leave a bunch of weight in there if I’m not going to use it.
  13. Don’t carry extra weight around your waist. (Yes, this is more of a health tip, but it will still save you money in gas.)
  14. Convert your car to run on vegetable oil. Then filter your own oil from the stuff that restaurants don’t use.
  15. Remove any obvious wind resistance. This includes any bike racks, antenna ornaments, etc. Some say that rolling the windows down creates drag and others say it’s not a significant factor.
  16. Get low rolling resistance tires. These are tires designed to minimize the wasted energy due to the normal friction with the road. Check out Green Seal’s PDF report for more information. This can lead to some significant savings.
  17. Check the tire pressure  Air pressure matters. Follow your manual and you’ll get more miles for every gallon. You can get a highly-rated tire pressure gauge from Amazon for less than $15.
  18. Use a fuel injector cleaner.  You can pick this up an any car part store. Add to a tank full of gas or as instructed.

    19. Get the Best Price on Gas

  19. Get a credit card with gas rewards. The Chase Perfect Card with give you 6% cash back on your gas purchases for the first 90 days, then 3% after that. That’s like getting a 12 cents a gallon discount.
  20. Consider not using a credit card. This goes against the above idea. There are gas stations near me that give discounts if you pay with cash or debit cards. Find what works for you.
  21. Use the web to find the cheapest station near you. I like to use GasBuddy myself. I have a friend who uses his cell phone to get prices while he’s already out on the road.
  22. Don’t drive out of your way for the best price. It doesn’t make sense to spend a gallon of gas driving out of your way to save a couple of pennies. You’d have to have a huge tank and a very fuel efficient car to make it work.
  23. Find cheap gas in unusual places. When I lived in Boston, the cheapest gas was from a local grocery store chain. My wife, who lived a little further out west, found that the warehouse club she belonged to had better prices most of the time.
  24. Don’t buy premium grade… unless your car requires it.

    25. Pick the Right Car

  25. Consider a different car.  Do you drive great distances in an car that gets poor gas mileage? If so, you might save more money selling your current car and buying a different one. It’s not a common situation, but one worth checking out.
  26. Buy a Hybrid Car. Note that all hybrid cars don’t have amazing gas mileage.
  27. Buy a Small Car. Smaller cars weigh less.  They also typically come with engines that have four cylinders which often get better gas mileage.
  28. Buy a Motorcycle. Though I consider them quite dangerous, it is a way to save on gas.  As a bonus you may get to ride in many high occupancy vehicle lanes
  29. Don’t buy a car that requires premium grade gas.

    30. Don’t Drive as Much

  30. Use a bike or walk.  It’s also good exercise, so you kill two birds with one stone.
  31. Park far away. This is typically a health tip, but I see too many spending their gas going up and down the lanes looking for the best possible parking spot.
  32. Reduce your commute by moving closer to your job. My Money Blog did a great example on commuting showing the math vs. living in higher cost cities. Since he did it in March, his cost estimate for gas is conservative.

    33. Get Gas at the Right Time

  33. Follow the price of crude oil. I like to look at CNBC every now and again, but it looks like you can look up crude oil prices here. If it rises today, there’s a good chance gas prices will go up in 3-4 days. If it drops, it might be wise to wait for that to filter to your local gas station.
  34. Explore buy gas on Wednesdays. I’ve read that statistically gas is cheaper on Wednesdays. That’s helpful, but others say that there are so many other factors to consider that it’s worthwhile. Perhaps you might want to futher investigate yourself or just do it if it’s convenient.
  35. Buy gas a few days before a holiday. Have you ever tried to get gas on Memorial or Labor Day weekends? It seems like gas station always raise rates, knowing that you are going to pay it.

Two Bonus Myths

  1. Check your air filter. I’ve seen conflicting information about this. Consumer Reports says it’s a myth. About.com says that it can reduces gasoline mileage up to 10%.
  2. Fill up when it’s cool.  People think that cooler gas is more dense, but some studies show that the temperature coming out of the tank is the same.

Did I miss any gas saving tips? Let me know in the comments.