More Tips for Saving Money on Gas

No matter where you live in the United States, everyone has been affected by rising gas prices. It doesn’t matter what kind of car you drive, how many miles you drive or any other driving habit in particular, filling up still hurts your pocketbook. In order to reduce some of the pain, we’ve put together another blog with some more excellent gas and money saving tips. Use them and the sting of filling up won’t be as sharp. Enjoy.

When you’re actually standing in front of the pump, it’s a good idea to know the octane level that’s recommended for your car so that you don’t use an octane that’s either higher than you need or too low and can cause mechanical problems. The fact is however that most cars will run just fine on regular gas and, unless you’re driving a finely tuned sports car, anything above regular is a waste of money.

There are a number of mobile phone apps that you can download that will help you find the cheapest gas in your particular town. GasBuddy is one of the best and is updated by actual members throughout the day. Some gas stations will have a weekly special or a day of the week when you can get a discount, so make sure you keep your eyes open for those.

If you have good credit and you can pay off your credit card at the end of the month, one that offers cash-back for gas purchases might be a great idea. Of course you’ll need to check the fine print to make sure that fees, interest rates and other charges don’t outweigh the rewards that you get.

Very few cars these days need to be warmed up, even in the coldest weather. In fact, it’s best to start driving as soon as you start your engine as it will actually warm up faster once you’re moving. The warmer your engine the less gas that it will use.

Although several states will allow you to drive over 60 mph, mileage experts believe that most cars began to rapidly lose mileage above that speed. In fact, it’s been determined that for every 5 mph you drive over 60 mph, your spending approximately $.24 more for every gallon of gas.

Idling your car for long periods of time, like when you’re sitting waiting for your children to get done with school, not only wastes a ton of fuel but also contributes heavily to air pollution. If you’re going to be sitting for more than 30 seconds, your best bet is to turn off the engine and open the Windows. You’ll save gas and save the planet at the same time.

Using cruise control is an excellent way to save fuel as you won’t be depending on your foot to keep your car traveling at a regular rate of speed, something that’s vital to conserving gas.

While jackrabbit starts aren’t going to be beneficial for your MPG, will you don’t want to take too long to get up to speed either. Higher gears in your engine will use less gas and so getting up to a speed where your engine switches gears is important. Will

As for air-conditioning, recent studies have shown that, over 55 mph, having the windows open will actually use more gas than using the air-conditioning. Below that speed the savings aren’t exactly spectacular and thus, if it’s really hot out, you should probably just keep the windows up and use the AC.

A properly tuned automobile is always going to use less gas and thus keeping your car’s engine tuned, changing the gas every 5000 miles and keeping the tires properly inflated and aligned are going to definitely save you money not just for gas but for car repairs as well.

One last note; manufacturers have rushed tons of new products to market that will promise to improve your gas mileage in a myriad of different ways. The EPA has actually tested the vast majority of these devices and products and found that very few of them provide any benefit. In fact, they found some that made things worse and also caused a big increase in air fouling exhaust emissions.

The fact is, if you keep your car tuned and purchase gas from a reputable station, your MPG is probably going to be as good as it gets. Many of the tips above will only save you a small amount of gas but, when you combine all of them together, you could actually be looking at a substantial savings. The more of them that you can fit into your driving habits, the better.