Drive Smart - Save Gas
Ouch!
Don't give your travel money away.
By Gregory Rodgers
Every week I stand in complete shock and horror, staring at the rotating numbers for the price indicator on a gas pump.
The much, much slower rotating indicator for “gallons” just never seems to catch up. I strain my ears anticipating, even praying, for the “CLICK” that indicates this whole ordeal is behind me for another week, but only the sounds of a hollow tank slurping up a river of liquid cash come. When I finally stagger inside the station to pay, I'm eyeballing cartons of cigarettes to help me deal with the stress of trading vagabonding funds for the ability to drive another week.
Oil companies and the sheiks that sell them their liquid gold are among the richest people on earth. You need your travel money more than they do. Everyone knows about keeping their tires fully inflated and other maintenance goodies for saving gas, but here are some things that you can do to keep money in your travel account while actually driving:
1) Don't use your brakes! Everyone knows that every time they push the accelerator it costs gas, but what most people don't realize is that every time you brake, unless you are at your final destination, you are killing precious momentum that will require gas to get started again. Using either pedal costs fuel, so try to anticipate stop lights by taking your foot off the gas early.
2) Remember, high RPMs = high fuel bill. Unless you were just challenged to a race for glory, don't pound on the accelerator at a green light. If you drive a stick shift, get it into the highest gear as soon as possible to save fuel.
3) Don't speed. Your car operates most efficiently around 55 MPH. For every 10MPH that you exceed that, you struggle against more wind resistance and loose fuel economy exponentially. Plus, you might end up giving travel funds to the police if you get busted.
A good card for rewards points toward flights
4) Stop and go driving is your gas tank's nightmare. Choose when to drive. Don't make that run to pick up a movie at 5:00pm. Just by waiting an hour for something that isn't critical, you could save loads of fuel wasted waiting on other people.
5) Comfort costs money. Turn the AC off and roll down the windows for driving around town. If you hit the highway, do the opposite because of drag - it is better to keep the windows up and turn on the AC.
6) Don't idle. Unless you drive a diesel, if you plan to sit somewhere for longer than 1 minute, turn the car off. If you aren't sure, shift to neutral which will take the strain off and help cool the transmission. Remember, you get 0 miles per gallon in park.
7) Unless you live out of your car, don't carry around extra weight. Carrying a trunk full of heavy junk will actually reduce your gas mileage.
8) Choose where to park. If at all possible, park in the shade or in cooler spots on a hot day. Gas gets hot and evaporates out of your tank on a steamy day, not to mention the pain of cooling the inside when you get in.
9) Don't overfill your tank. Never try to round up the price after the gas pump shuts off automatically. That extra full actually ends up getting sloshed out of the overfill port or evaporates out of your tank – don't waste the money!
10) If your “check engine” light comes on but your car is still running fine – don't ignore it. It could be a broken fuel cap which allows fuel to evaporate, or if it is an older vehicle, one of the oxygen sensors which causes the engine to dump maximum fuel into the line to compensate. A mechanic may charge to connect a computer to the car, but some auto parts stores will still read the code for free and offer advice.
All these tips aside, you can save a lot of gas by not driving in the first place! Try ridesharing, taking a bicycle, walking, or using public transportation.
On a side note, since some fuel tanks require a personal loan to fill each week, use a rewards based credit card and pay it off each month. If you are going to pay to drive, you might as well be accumulating points throughout the year for things like flights and hotels.
These things may not seem like much, but if used with discipline every week over the course of a year, you could easily save enough money for a flight to an island where there are no dreaded automobiles to fill up!
This article sponsored by Ehealthinsurance.com
