Saving on Gas
TIPS:
Use public transportation
Use smartphone apps to find the cheapest gas prices like AAA, Gas Guru, Google Gas Station and Fuel Finder
Use a warehouse club or any grocery that offer fuel rewards programs or low gas pump prices like Costco, Sam’s Club, and even Walmart and Kroger
Use cash (some stations will charge you 5-15 cents more per gallon for using a credit card)
Use credit card cash back
Use fuel reward programs like Fetch rewards
Skip the food mart at the gas station: prices are much higher than at the supermarket
Shop on Monday... gas is usually cheaper
Use fuel gas recommended for your vehicle: skip premium gas
Join gas station loyalty program
Start driving as soon as the engine is started. Modern engines warm up quickly and stay warm after stopping.
Don’t speed. Gas mileage drops significantly when you drive more than 60 miles per hour. Fueleconomy.gov says each extra 5 mph is like paying 24 cents more per gallon.
Unnecessary idling wastes fuel, costs money, and pollutes the air. Turn off the engine if you anticipate a wait.
Use overdrive gears and cruise control when appropriate to improve fuel economy on the highway.
Minimize the need to brake. Be alert for slow-downs, red lights, and bends and turns.
Avoid jackrabbit starts and stops to increase mileage and prolong the life of your brakes.
Use the air conditioner only when you absolutely need it. AC dramatically reduces fuel economy. Most air conditioners have an “economy” setting for circulating unchilled air. Many also have a “maximum” or “recirculation” setting that reduces the amount of hot outside air that must be chilled.
Combine errands. Several short trips taken from a cold engine start can use twice as much fuel as one trip covering the same distance when the engine is warm.
Remove excess weight from the trunk. An extra 100 pounds can reduce a typical car’s fuel economy by up to 2 percent.
Avoid packing items on top of your car. A loaded roof rack can lower fuel economy by 5 percent.
Keep your engine tuned per your owner’s manual to increase mileage by an average of 4 percent.
Keep tires properly inflated and aligned to increase mileage up to 3 percent, improve handling, and prolong the life of your tires. Check your owner’s manual or the door jamb for the proper inflation (not the tire itself, which shows the maximum pressure), and check the pressure when the tires are cold for an accurate reading.
Change your oil. According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), using the manufacturer’s recommended grade of motor oil can improve gas mileage. Oil that says “Energy Conserving” (on the American Petroleum Institute performance symbol) has friction-reducing additives that can improve fuel economy.
Be skeptical about gizmos that claim to improve gas mileage. The EPA has found very few that provide any benefits, and some products can damage your engine or greatly increase exhaust emissions. For a list of EPA-tested products, visit www.epa.gov/otaq/consumer/reports.htm.
Don’t Let Your Car Idle: Americans continue to wildly overestimate how much fuel it takes to start an engine versus to keep it running. The reality is, once you’re stopped, your car is wasting fuel after about 7-10 seconds of idling
With Upside, app, you can get a rebate back every time you visit the gas station.
Filling up at the beginning or end of the work week, on Monday or Friday, is the cheapest way to save money on gas. You'll get the lowest gas price.
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www.GasBuddy.com lets you comparison shop for gasoline in your neighborhood or city. You can also use it to find the cheaper prices when you are traveling. Also www.gaspricewatch.com and www.gasprices.mapquest.com and www.automotive.com finds the cheapest gas near you. www.aaa.com/fuelfinder gives you fuel prices at 85,000 gas stations across the country and can be traced within 3, 5 or 10 miles of your home and are updated every few days. The Department of Energy site www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/gasprices provides a best price comparison by city. It also provides revised gas mileage estimated for models going from 1985.
Join a warehouse club like Bj’s Wholesale or Costco or Sam's Club which can afford to sell gas for less profit than regular gasoline stations.
The federal government has a fuel guide which lists the vehicles that offer the best gas mileage. Find it at www.fueleconomy.gov. Buying a model that stretches your gas budget will save you thousands over the years.
You can find how much you will spend on gas before you hit the road at www.fuelcostcalculator.com ; it computes your car model and gas prices to give an exact quote. Log on also to www.aaafuelcostcalculator.com from the American Automobile Assoc website were it will also tell you exactly how much you will spend on gas by entering your destination and your car model into the calculator.
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QUOTES:
"Now that gas prices are rising, I want to save as much as I can. One thing that I do to save on gas and time is to group my errands. If I know that I have several different errands to do, I will try to group them by location and will even put off one until I have another one nearby. I've also started to buy many staples (toilet paper, basic kitchen ingredients, etc.) online. I don't have to drive anywhere to pick them up! I go through gas much less quickly because I've cut the number of miles I drive by 1/3. Sara from Dollar Stretcher Tips