Cars > Saving On GasMay 04, 2007

Track Your Gas Consumptions

Reset the tripometer when you get in the car or make a note of it. After a week's worth see how your doing. I'm trying to get my son to do this so he can see for himself how much he spends. Every receipt he gets he puts in a little pouch he has. I'm trying to get him to notice how much different it is to not get sodas at a drive thru. To have them at home is a whole lot cheaper!

By Melody

Increase Your Gas Mileage

Drive evenly with a steady foot. Avoid jiggling the accelerator. Cruise control helps maintain a constant speed. Following these instructions will help you increase your gas mileage.

By Lisa

Eliminate Unnecessary Trips

Try to eliminate unnecessary trips. Keep a list of your town errands. Try to coordinate trips with your significant other or neighbor. Ask yourself, when does this need to be done? Can it wait? Find out where the other person's errands are and if you might tag along and do a couple of your own. Even if you have to wait for someone to come back and pick you up, you can catch up on reading, etc.

By Jayne

Take It Easy

Avoid racing up to stop signs or stop lights. You are going to have to stop when you get there so just slow down a ways back from the stop signal. Then when you leave a stopped position, don't slam your foot down on the gas pedal. Drive a few miles per hour under the limit. My dad always said that. So WHAT if people pass you or honk or give you a rude hand sign. Enjoy your ride! Take in the scenery when you can. Keep a blanket or 2 in the car so if you have to wait for someone to go into the store or library or wait for kids after school - you don't have to run the engine the entire time.

By Melody

Combine Trips

We try to conserve gasoline in our vehicles by combining as many trips as possible so we are not going in and out so much. The more trips you have to make, the more gas you use so it is wisest to make a list of all the places you have to go and figure out the best route to use and only go out one time for everything you need to do.

By Robin

No Drive Day

Try to have 1 day a week that is a 'no drive' day. No errands, etc. are allowed. If you need something, make do.

By Pattcatt

The Good Old Days

Only have one vehicle. You'll have just one car payment, one inspection, one repair, and a pay lot less for auto insurance. With all that savings you might be able to afford a better home, closer to work or mass transportation.

In emergencies you have neighbors you should know. Maybe start up a neighborhood transportation service in which each neighbor takes a day a month to haul the other neighbors to appointments and such.

Sounds crazy doesn't it? Well that was my old neighborhood in the 1950's/early 60's where there was but one car in each driveway and, even in a small town, bus service was only 2 blocks away.

Of course, in those good old days when we had corner stores and pharmacies, even in small towns, doctors came to your house and bread and milk was delivered. Who says we are better off today then in the days of old?

By Mr. Thrifty

Ride Your Bike

Ride your bike to work. It takes guts and determination but once you're into it, the benefits will reward you with more than gas savings.

By For-a-lark

Buy Gas at the Right Time

I saw on the news that if you want to save a few cents per gallon of gasoline, buy your gas before 10:00 a.m., as that's the average time the gas prices go up. They also said,if at all possible, do not buy your gas on Mondays or Thursdays. The reasoning was that because most people start their family vacations on Monday or Thursday.

By Terri

Windows Down vs. Air Conditioning

I've heard from local mechanics that riding with your windows down uses almost gas as much gas as running the Air Conditioning because the wind coming into the car causes it to go slower. Also, change your oil as scheduled, every 3,000 miles. I never go past 5,000 miles between oil changes. Also make sure you get your tune-ups every 50,000 miles for the late model cars.

By Jojo

Cooperate With Other Parents

If you have kids: When they want to go to a friend's house or have a friend over, make a deal with the other parents that you'll drive one way and they'll drive the other. For example: You drive your child to a friends house and their friends parents will drive your child home. That way you split driving time in half.

By Kristi

No Name Stations and Speedway Stations

We always try to go to the "no name" gas stations in our town. They're able to buy gas from whoever's cheapest and don't have to follow pricing guidelines like chain stations. They're usually 5 cents (at least) cheaper than everywhere else for the same gas!

That being said, Speedway stations have a rewards program where you earn points based on what you spend. There's a station on my husbands way home and one close to our house so we usually stop there for anything that we need and I gave my sister one of the key-ring cards to use too. When prices were super high here, we redeemed our points and got 25 cents off per gallon of gas up to 25 gallons. I filled my husband's truck and half filled mine for a lot less!

By Rebekah

Start At Farthest Point

One tip I have is when I run my errands, I start out at my furtherest point away from home and work my way back towards home. No use in running around in circles, right?

You can also check local gas prices in your area by going to http://www.gasbuddy.com. All you have to do is put in your zip code and it will look for places around your area.

By Tonya

Less Driving

If you only fill your tank half full to lighten your load, you really aren't saving much. It means you have to buy gas more often which means starting your engine more often, hence, burning gas.

Cutting back on errands, carpooling, buying a more efficient vehicle, riding a bicycle or motorcycle, keeping your vehicle tuned up, all this will help. I ride my motorcycle instead of driving my Bronco.

By Ldyharley

Keep Your Tailgate Up

Contrary to popular belief, if you own a pick-up truck, do not leave the tailgate down while driving. It might seem like you're cutting down on wind resistance and therefore increasing gas mileage, but the well known "Click and Clack" along with other scientific studies have proven opposite. Leaving the tailgate down actually increases drag. With the tailgate up, the bed of the truck fills with air that becomes more or less stationary, and actually makes the truck more aerodynamic. I bought into the "tailgate down is better" myth for years thinking I was being super frugal... only to be completely wrong in the end.

By Jenny

Locally Owned Gas Stations

I just got an email from a mathematician saying that if we buy from local gas stations ONLY and leave out EXXON and MOBIL they eventually will have to lower the price since we will be dictating the demand and not them. The thing is to pass the message across so we are all united on this. Could it work?

By Leslie

Costco and Sam's Club

If you're a member of Costco or Sam's Club, their stations are usually 5 to 10 cents cheaper than other stations.

By Wsulecki

Ride a Horse

I wish I lived in Oklahoma! The kids there are riding their horses to school and "parking" them in the field. Now that's a cheap and fun way to get to where you're going!

By Maggie Illinois

Make Choices

We are seniors that live in a small northern community in Michigan. Since we are on a budget we always make sure we do as many errands as we can at one time, we drive a Jetta Diesel that gets 50 miles to a gallon and we forego going out just for the heck of it. We have choices in life and we would rather put extra gas money in our pocket than the billionaires who are raking us over the coals. Oh yes it is fun to beat the system however small. Still loving life.

By Barb

Kroger's Plus Card

I buy gas at Kroger's. I have the Kroger Plus card that saves money on groceries that are on sale, and also saves 3 cents a gallon off all the gas I buy from them. And when I have bought $100.00 worth of groceries in a month, I get 10 cents a gallon off on a fill-up. If my tank is almost on empty, I save a little over $2.00 on the fill-up.

By Harlean from Arkansas

Gas With Ethanol

One thing I do is to by gas with ethanol, at least some of the money stays in the States going to farmers, instead of overseas. This helps our economy.

By Kevin

Some Tips Tested

Edmonds.com tested a handful of popular gas saving tips to see how effective they were, the results were interesting. According to their test the following tips were most effective.

Don't Drive Aggressively

Not only is it safer to be a defensive driver, it also saves you money on gas. Edmond's reports up to a 37% savings for moderate driving versus driving aggressively.

Drive The Speed Limit

You can save up to 14% on gas by driving the speed limit, according to Edmond's tests.

Cruise Control

This one surprised me, cruise control can save you up to 14% on gas.

Avoid Idling

Edmond's recommends turning off your car if you are stopping for more than a minute. This can save you as much as 19%.

Two Tips They Debunked

Air Conditioner vs. Open Windows: A common tip is to keep your windows open instead of using your air conditioner. Due to the drag from driving with your windows open there is no measurable difference.

Tire Pressure: Another tip that is frequently bandied about is that you should make sure your tire pressure is even. Great for safety and saving wear on your tires, but it doesn't effect gas mileage. Generally though, keeping your car maintained can have an impact on gas mileage.

Be sure to read the full report here: We Test the Tips

Here are some other proven money saving tips:

• Start carpooling or using a ride share program.
• Combine trips when running errands.
• Use public transportation.
• Buy cheaper gas. Check your car's manual, you probably can use it.

Feel free to post your own in the feedback forum below.

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