I don’t know about you but with the price of oil soaring towards the stratosphere I am seriously looking at every method I can employ to save on fuel costs. So I decided to research this a bit and came across some very useful ways to decrease my transportation costs. Thinking that you too may benefit from my research I decided to compile this brief blog posting outlining five ways I found to save gas money. I hope you find it useful. Without further ado, here is the meat of the article:
1. Find the Lowest Gas Prices
Search GasBuddy.com , GasPriceWatch.com , fueleconomy.gov , motortrend.com by zip code or city and state to get the lowest prices in your area. If you live in Canada like I do checkout the following resources:
http://www.edmontongasprices.com/
http://www.ontariogasprices.com/
http://www.torontogasprices.com/
For other areas of Canada just visit the Gasbuddy.com website and dig further.
2. Target the Best Time of Day to Buy Gas
The best time of day to fill up your tank is before dawn or late at night, when the sun and traffic volume are both down. Stations usually will raise prices during the day, especially for rush hour.
3. Improve Your Car’s Gas Mileage
High speeds, quick starts, and squealing stops burn more gas and money. Another good way to increase your car’s gas mileage is to put it on a diet. That’s right, dump out all that useless junk you keep in the trunk, take out those dumbbells and blocks of lead (kidding), but whatever you do just get rid of anything that is no essential the the proper and safe functioning of your vehicle or that which give you no benefit to lug around.
Idling is another big gas waster. One minute of idling burns the same amount of gas it takes to start the engine. If possible try to reduce idling to a minimum. Turn off the engine whenever possible. When sitting waiting for a train to pass, turn off the engine. The only downside to this is that it causes a bit more pollution engine startups spew out the most dirty exhaust – this of course varies from vehicle to vehicle.
The ultimate improvement in gas mileage would be for you to purchase a hybrid car. If you can afford them (and they are coming down in price slowly) hybrid cars give you the maximum efficiency possible. If you don’t need to impress the ladies with your “look how big my engine block is” gas guzzler, then a hybrid vehicle will get you from point A to point B in the most wallet friendly manner.
4. Keep Your Car in Healthy Shape
Keeping your car in a healthy shape is essential! Always make sure your tires are properly inflated. Improperly inflated tires decrease your car’s efficiency because they “grip the road” more which forces your engine to work harder to propel your vehicle forward. Make sure your engine is also kept in tip-top shape.
Improper engine maintenance is a major source of wasted gas. Replace used spark plugs, install high efficiency ones, and always change your oil on time. These little things do make a difference in the long run. In addition you also should make sure your air filter is kept clean so your car’s engine gets fed with enough oxygen to facilitation proper and efficient combustion.
5. Get a Gas Rewards Card
Many credit card companies, gasoline producers, and large gas station chains have gas rewards cards which give you rebates off gas purchases.
Two popular gas reward cards can be found by visiting this link.
Stay tuned to this blog for more money saving ideas because saving money is just as important as making it. Thanks for visiting and for your attention.
Sincerely,
Alan