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How to Save Money on Gas
With the seemingly ever growing gas price hike, many people are seeking out ways to learn how to save money on gas. It is actually a lot easier than you may think if you are willing to put a few simple steps into practice that will increase your MPG. Remember if you can increase your gas mileage at all you will be saving money on gas. 1. Drive slower, accelerate slower, and do everything slower in your vehicle. The lower you keep your RPMs the less gasoline you will usually use. From stop lights, be sure to accelerate slowly and you'll use much less fuel and also help your transmission longevity. One of the key factors when learning how to save money on gas that many people don't realize is that if you are easy on the gas pedal, less gasoline will be consumed by your vehicle. 2. Try to plan ahead on stop lights. If you see a stop light up ahead, take your foot off the gas from far back and let your vehicle slow down naturally. Hopefully it will turn green before you have to fully stop it. When you don't come to a full stop, your vehicle will be able to once again slowly start speeding up which will equate to money and gas savings. 3. Take any objects that are heavy out of your vehicle. Any weight needs extra energy to move it. 4. Keep proper tire inflation in all of your tires. Low tire pressure is a complete gas waster because your tires will have more surface contact with the road. This directly translates into more friction on your tires which will cause your vehicle to struggle more. If you want to save money on gas and get better MPG, air those tires up! 5. For those who really want to know how to save money on gas, keep your car in top maintenance. This includes clean oil, a good oil filter, good spark plugs, and a nice clean air filter. All of these components can all contribute to gas savings and will enhance the longevity of your vehicle. 6. If you can, try to own a smaller vehicle that gets better miles per gallon. Sometimes the vehicle will pay for itself in one or two years on gas savings verses a vehicle that is a gas guzzler. It's not really a secret that smaller cars are more fuel efficient, but many people ignore this fact when they are seeking a vehicle. Over the lifetime of a vehicle, the gas savings can really add up with a smaller more fuel efficient car. 7. Remove anything that can cause air drag off your vehicle. To improve the MPG and to save more money on gas, you want to reduce any type of air drag on the outside of your vehicle. 8. Do not allow your vehicle to idle for long periods of time. Modern fuel injected vehicles are okay to stop and restart often. 9. Purchase gasoline the cheapest by checking with sites such as gas buddy first. However, don't drive far to go to a gas station that is just a few cents cheaper because you'll probably burn that much gasoline if not more driving partway across town (or even down a few intersections). Time & convenience may be worth the extra cents anyway. Try to use a credit card that offers cash back on gasoline when your purchase. Just be sure to pay it off so you won't get interest charges. It sometimes does take some discipline for people with a lead foot to adapt to some of these techniques, but if you really want to save money on gas, then you must rewrite your driving techniques to use them. The savings can actually amount to financial lifestyle change for many people. Remember, now that you know some great ways on how to save money on gas, only you can put these steps into practice to begin your savings. MAIN - ARTICLES - BOOKS - FRUGAL - MONEY SAVING BLOG |