Fuel Economy Log - Week 1
April 24th, 2006 | by Brian Carr |First off, thanks for checking out my site each day to see what the new tip is. I appreciate it and I hope that these tips are helping you to save money.
In order to add a little more concrete evidence that my tips actually do help you save money, I thought it would be a good idea to create a weekly post where I would share how my tips have helped increase my car’s gas mileage and fuel economy.
First, some background. I drive a 2000 Dodge Neon and I have tracked my car’s gas mileage since I bought the vehicle in October 2004. I know, it’s a bit nerdy, but it gives me a good basis for comparison to see how much money I’ve saved each time I enter in this journal.
I have calculated my base fuel economy to be roughly 29 miles per gallon, which in the grand scheme of things really isn’t bad.
This past week, I have made a conscious effort to make sure that I travel the speed limit, I added some air to two tires to make sure they were at the proper pressure and I reduced my car’s weight by taking out personal items that were just taking up space.
When I filled up today, I paid $3.00 per gallon (yikes) and put 10.320 gallons worth of fuel in my car. Since I last filled up my car, I had traveled 349.2 miles, which equates to gas mileage of 33.8 mpg, a 16.5% increase over what my car has typically averaged!
In terms of saving money, that 16.5% increase in fuel efficiency saved me $4.95 today. Not too bad for just making a few small changes!
Hopefully from this point forward you will go ahead and join me in keeping a fuel economy log. Please feel free to share how much money you’ve saved by posting a comment in next week’s journal entry.
