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The average American household spends over $1,500 a year on gasoline or about 0.10 cents a mile for their vehicles. For many families, this is a sizeable chunk of their monthly budget.
Fortunately, it is easy to boost your vehicle’s fuel economy and save money on gas. Check out these 30+ simple ways to save money on gas for your car.
Table of Contents
Drive Less
The easiest way to save money on gas for your vehicle is to cut down on how often you use it. Be mindful of how often you drive and consider ways to drive less at every opportunity.
Use Alternative Transportation
Alternative transportation is a great way to save money on your gas bill. Consider carpooling, riding the bus or tram, or even walking, running, or riding a bike. In the latter case, you’ll not only be saving money, but getting into better shape as well.
Combine Activities Into One Driving Trip
If you have multiple reasons that require driving, make every effort to combine them into one trip. This not only saves you gas, it also saves time.
Plan the Most Fuel Efficient Route to Your Destination
When planning your driving trip, take the most fuel-efficient route. You can use a GPS unit like a Garmin or TomTom, or even use Google Maps on your phone to get real time information regarding your routing.
Buy Fuel Early in the Day and Week
Buy gas at the pump in the morning. This is when the gas is cooler and most dense, which means more fuel for the same price.
In addition to buying early in the day, buy gas early in the week as well. On average, prices typically rise the closer you get toward the weekend (i.e. Wednesday – Saturday).
Spend Less Time Warming up Your Car
This may be difficult for people who live in colder climates, but try not to warm up your car for longer than needed. Typically, if you warm up your car for more than a minute, you’re wasting gas.
Turn Off the Engine When You’re Not Driving
Idling is bad for gas mileage because you continue to burn gas without actually going anywhere. To save money on gas, limit idling as much as possible.
This includes the choices you make for other things in your life that influence your idling behavior.
Picking up someone for work? Turn off the car and meet them at the door.
Picking up fast food on the way home? Avoid the drive through and go into the store.
Picking up your kids from after school extracurricular activities? If they aren’t already waiting for you, turn off the car and wait.
Drive More Efficiently – How to Save Gas While Driving
You can’t always find an alternative way to get where you’re going and just need to drive your vehicle. Please see below tips and suggestions for how to save gas while you’re driving.
Avoid Excessive and Unnecessary Braking
Braking is probably the biggest detriment to your fuel efficiency as it undermines your engine’s hard work to get to the speed you need to travel. Braking cannot be avoided, but it can be controlled.
Be mindful of how much you brake and evaluate ways you can cut down on unnecessary braking.
For your comfort level, do you need to leave more space between you and the next vehicle? If so, leave more space.
Are you bad at anticipating signal changes or other driver’s actions, so you slam on your brakes more than most people? Each time you drive, make it a goal to get a little better at learning and anticipating.
Avoid Tailgating
Tailgating is terrible for your fuel efficiency because it causes you to brake and rapidly accelerate often. In addition to poor fuel efficiency, it also increases the chances you’ll end up in an accident or road rage incident.
Tailgating may seem necessary with people swerving in and out of traffic, inches away from each other, often cutting you off in the process, but it’s not. You are responsible for your vehicle and the choices you make in the vehicle. BE RESPONSIBLE and AVOID TAILGATING.
Drive Slower and Steadier
Another key to great fuel efficiency is driving slower and steadier. Driving faster increases the drag on your vehicle, which increase fuel consumption. Rapid acceleration is bad for your fuel efficiency. Keeping a steady speed prevents this because you only use slight accelerations used sparingly to maintain your speed.
Use Cruise Control
Because driving steadier is more information, it goes without saying that cruise control improves your fuel efficiency. Your cruise control often does a better job than you maintaining a certain speed, especially along long stretches of highway or interstate. The rare exceptions are in urban environments (lots of traffic lights) and in mountainous areas with sharp inclines and declines.
Pay Attention (NO CELL PHONES)
Any distraction to your driving is going to affect your fuel efficiency. When you’re driving, try to focus entirely on the road. This probably isn’t possible all of the time, but you should make it a habit to make driving your number one priority when you’re driving.
This goes without saying, but driving under the influence, reading, texting, driving tired are all off limits. If you want better fuel efficiency, and to have a happy and healthy life, give driving the due respect it deserves.
Turn Off the A/C
When your A/C is on, it diverts energy from your engine which causes it to be less fuel efficient. Make sure to turn it off when you don’t need it.
When you park, try to find shady areas and maybe even consider leaving your windows down just a crack to keep the air circulating.
If you’re driving less than 55 MPH and hot, consider opening your windows to cool off.
Eliminate Drag
There’s nothing better than driving in the middle of summer with the windows and top down in your car. Unfortunately, this also increases the drag on your car and decreases your fuel efficiency.
Drop the Unnecessary Weight
Do you haul around heavy items in your trunk or the back of your truck? That extra weight is causing your engine to work harder and decreasing your fuel efficiency. Remove any unnecessary items from your vehicle to get better gas mileage
Fill Up Before Your Gas Tank is Almost Empty
Don’t wait until your gas tank is almost empty before you fill up because you’ll limit your choices of gas stations. Not all gas stations are created equal when it comes to price.
Buy the Right Gas at the Pump
Buy the gas that is recommended for your vehicle. If your owner’s manual says regular unleaded, choose regular unleaded. Don’t put a higher brand of gas in your car, it costs more and won’t make a difference in performance.
Be Strategic in Your Gas Station Selection
Not all gas stations are created equal. Choose the gas stations that have the best price for gas and are convenient (don’t go out of your way) to save money.
Plan Accordingly for Trips Across Multiple States
Different states have different fees tacked onto their gas prices which influences the price you pay at the fuel pump. When you cross multiple states, plan to fill up in the states that have the lowest gas prices along the way.
Avoid Standalone Gas Stations – Competition is Good
When it comes to gas stations, competition is typically a good thing. Avoid gas stations that standalone on long stretches of highway if at all possible. They are the only game in town and are typically a little pricier than their peers.
Use Gas Apps to Find the Best Gas Prices
Use smartphone apps like those from AAA, GasBuddy, and Gas Guru to find the cheapest gas prices. The three mentioned above are free and available for Android and iOS devices.
You can filter results by grade of fuel and sort the gas stations by price and distance. Once you’ve identified the gas station you want to fill up at, you can get there with real time GPS directions.
Consider Joining a Local Warehouse Club and Pair with a Rewards or Member Credit Card
Warehouse clubs like Sam’s Club, BJs, and Costco often have the cheapest gas in town. Also, pair that with a member credit card and you can receive even more savings on your gas price.
When comparing gas stations, make sure to consider whether its convenient (if you have to drive 15 minutes more to fill up, the cost savings probably aren’t worth it) and factor in the price of membership.
Pay with a Cash Back Credit Card with a Higher Reward for Gas Purchases
Several credit card companies and gas stations offer gas rewards credit cards. I personally have a Chase Freedom Card which usually provides 5% cash back on gas at least one quarter a year and an American Express Blue Cash Everyday Card that provides 2% cash back on gas year-round.
Keep Up with Your Car Maintenance
Your vehicle needs to be in tip-top shape to get the best fuel economy. Please see below a few tips to consider to get the best gas mileage out of your car.
Monitor Your Tire Pressure
Check your tire pressure regularly to ensure it stay inflated to the optimum levels. The most important times to check are changes in the temperature.
When the weather cools down for winter, the air pressure in your tires drops. An under-inflated tire burns more gas and wears out faster due to more of the tire actually contacting the road.
Use the Right Tires for the Season
If you live in an area with varying degrees of precipitation, you may have more than one tire depending on the season. If you do, make sure to use the right tires for the season (i.e. don’t use snow tires in summer).
Get Tune-Ups According to Your Car Manufacturers Maintenance Schedule
Your owner’s manual has a suggested maintenance schedule. Follow that schedule. Not only will this ensure you keep your warranties intact and give you a better case with the manufacturer if something unexpected happens, it will also ensure your vehicle remains running as the manufacturer intended.
Monitor Your Air Filters and Upgrade to Better Air Filters
Check and change your air filters regularly. A dirty air filter makes your engine work harder and run less fuel efficiently.
Consider upgrading to a reusable air filter. These air filter typically allow more air to pass through to the engine which makes it more responsive and fuel efficient.
Use the Correct Motor Oil
Your owner’s manual should tell you what type of oil to use for your vehicle. Make sure whoever is changing your oil is using the right oil for your vehicle and climate.
Choose Manual Over Automatic Transmission Vehicles
Manual transmissions are more fuel efficient than automatic transmissions. If you already drive a manual, shift up early and shift down late to get better gas mileage.
Choose a More Fuel-Efficient Vehicle
When you’re in the market for a new vehicle, consider buying a more fuel-efficient vehicle. Newer models (even gas only models), are much more fuel efficient than their predecessors.
If you’re considering electric or hybrid models, don’t just look at fuel economy. Consider the price of the vehicle, maintenance schedule, station infrastructure, etc. to make sure you’re comparing apples to apples.
Conclusion
Saving money on gas for your car isn’t difficult. It just takes becoming proficient in a few driving habits, using a few new tools (apps, credit cards, etc.), and staying on track with your vehicle’s maintenance schedule.
These few things can add up to big savings over the course of a year. Savings that you could use for things like saving for a big purchase, paying off debt, or even investing for the future.
What tips do you use? What tips are you going to start using? Do you have any other tips or suggestions?