Saving Gas Tips

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Saving on Gas Tips

No longer will we see the $1.50 or even $2.00 for a gallon of gas. Gas use to be very inexpensive and we never though twice about buying gas. Those days are over, now gas consumes a great deal of our disposable income, giving us less to spend on the things we would rather buy. With this in mind we need to think about ways we can conserve gas and therefore keep more money in our pockets to buy the things we want. Below are some great tips and little things you can do to help save money on your gas bill.

Be smart about buying gas

Everyone is talking about finding the cheapest gas and going there to buy your gas. See if this makes sense. If you are driving out of your way to save $.05 per gallon, it might not be in your best interest, your just wasting time for a very little savings. Now if you have to go by that station on the way to work or a friends house, then it might be in your best interest. Say you have a car that has a 20 gallon tank. Lets say you can save $.05 per gallon at a gas station in the next town. Is it worth it to drive there to fill up your tank? (20 gallons x $.05 per gallon = Savings $1.00 per fill up) Even if you get gas ever week, your only saving $52 a year. Again if you have to go by the station then why not, but it probably doesn’t make sense to drive out of your way since you will be spending more gas just getting there.

Watch your Octane

Bottom line get the cheapest octane your car will allow. Check you owners manual and see which Octane you can use. If it is the lowest Octane then get it.

Drive Conservative

You don’t need to be speeding up and down the roads for no reason. According to Edmunds.com you can improve your cars fuel mileage just by your driving habits and maintenance.

Gas Card

Only if you don’t have a problem with paying your bill. If you can pay your gas bill on time some credit cards offer 5% back on gas purchases. Be careful because if you don’t pay their interest rate can be as high as 20%. Just make sure they have at least a 30 day grace period before interest charges kick in.

Maintenance

Keep your maintenance up to date especially your tires. Make sure your tires are properly inflated. An under inflated tire causes more friction and therefore uses more gas. Make sure you keep all other maintenance up to date. Staying on top of maintenance will help insure you car is running at peak performance.

A/C

Use you A/C only when you really need it. This puts an extra load on your engine which causes more gas to be used.

Avoid Idle time

Idling just wastes gas. An idle for under one minute is OK, but anything longer than that just makes more sense to turn your car off and restart it later.

Pick up truck tail gate

If you own a truck lid for your pick up truck, then use it. This will cut down on drag. Despite the old wise tail that a tail gate cause drag, it does not. Leave your tail gate up. This cause a small vortex in the back of your bed and allows air to roll over the vortex making it a little more efficient.

These are just some basic ways you and you family can save money on gas. Just remember to think ahead and every little thing you do as a driver helps save you money on your next fill up at the station