Money Saving Tip Of The Week – Saving Gas
You might not have noticed, but gasoline prices are going up again! That’s right, they are over $3 per gallon now!
I know, this is not the most exciting topic. You have heard it a hundred times. Probably every summer when gas prices go up you hear this again. But it is really worthwhile to go through this simple checklist. Though each tip will only save you 1 or 2 miles per gallon, when you put them together, over the year they will really add up. You’ll be surprised. You might not need that new car after all!
Money/Gas Saving Tips:
- Drive Slower – match the manufacture’s recommendations. If you look at the brochure when you bought the car, it will have a little graph that shows you the ideal performance range. Even driving too slow can be less efficient than the ideal.
- Watch Your Weight – That is the weight of all the stuff in your car. Remove all excess objects from within your car that you do not need to carry around. You’ll be surprised at the crap that can build up over time. Everytime you accelerate your car this excess weight burns more fuel.
- Keep A Constant Speed – This is one of the most significant gas saving tips. Driving at a nice steady pace is very important. It takes much less energy to keep a car moving than to accelerate it. Pay attention as you drive: does your speed change slowly, do you tap your gas pedal to the music, does your speed mimic the tone of your conversation?
- Avoid Sudden Starts – Do not slam the gas when starting from stop lights and stop signs. This is related to #3 above. A nice steady and firm acceleration will get you going nicely, without wasting a lot of gas.
- Windows Or Air Conditioning – One of the biggest questions people ask is it better to use the air conditioner or keep the window open on a hot day? The answer is simple: neither and both. Actually, the answer is very simple. At low speeds, it is more efficient to keep the windows open. At high speeds, the wind resistance is greater than the drag of the air conditioning and therefore, the air conditioning is better.
- High Octane Gas – One of the biggest questions is do I really need to use the High Octane gas as the manufacturer says is required? According to all reports that I have read, the answer is NO. Unless your car is knocking or your are experiencing problems, it is NOT necessary to use the higher octane gas. You might, let me emphasis might, get slightly better performance using the higher octane gas, but I really do not think it will be enough to overcome the higher cost.
- Roof Racks & Accessories – Anything that you do to the outside of your vehicle will disrupt the finely tuned airflow that the manufacturer has worked so hard to optimize. That means that roof racks, wider tires, or any bling added to your car would be less than desirable. I think judicious use of bumper stickers would be acceptable.
- Tire Pressure – Make sure that your tires are always properly inflated. They will lose pressure over time. Check the owners manual, the data plate inside the driver’s door jam, or on the tire. Remember, always check the tires when they are cold and use a good quality pressure gauge.
- Clean All Filters – Very simply, regularly check your air filter, oil filter and all other filters. It is obvious. If a filter is dirty, whatever is flowing through it will not flow as smoothly and easily and therefore efficiently.
- Cruise Control – To cruise control or not, that is the question. Cruise control is great if you use it under the right conditions. Cruise control is great at helping you maintain a constant speed. It is ideal if you are driving a long distance on a relatively flat road without traffic. However, cruise control is not good if you need to adjust your speed due to traffic conditions. Also, it is not good if there are a lot of hills. You can see the hills and slowly compensate for them. The cruise control will work hard to keep your speed constant and therefore will use excessive gas and brakes to maintain your speed.
- Bonus Tip – This is the super secret tip that you won’t see elsewhere: Don’t drive. okay, aren’t you glad you got this tip. That’s right, before you get in the car, ask yourself if it is really necessary? Can you walk, ride a bike, use your kids scooter? Can you combine this trip with other errands?
I hope you find these tips useful. They are meant as a guideline to help you. Don’t drive yourself crazy trying to follow all of these. 
And for those of you who care (which should be all of us), you are not only saving money, you are helping the environment.