Top 10 ways to save money on Gas

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Now that i’ve started this new weblog, I find myself carrying around a journal and jotting down topic ideas whenever I have time and because I have only 3 posts I figured I’ll stray a little from my 5 posts a week and write a bonus article…

So Memorial Day weekend is here. Did you know that Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day originally proclaimed on May 5 1868 by a general named John Logan. It is sort of unoffically known as the start of summer and the time when its okay to wear white for fashion conscious people. Its is also the time when gas prices start to go up. Yes…even with the already high gas prices…look for higher prices in the near future.

I jotted down a few things for all of us to think about in order to save money on gas:

1. Get a more fuel efficient car. Edmunds has a rank of the top ten most fuel efficient cars of 2006. So if you are planning on buying a car…it may make sense to buy a more fuel efficient car. The best but most unattractive cars are the Honda Insight and Toyota Prius.

2. Grade of Gas - if your car can take regular, buy regular. Because newer cars have better fuel injection systems, the concern for knocking is diminished. Knocking is basically when the compression of the piston produces heat and the gas ignites before the spark plug gets a chance to time the combustion. Higher grade of gas is more uniform thus there is less risk. Also the risk of knocking goes up if you have a supercharged or turbocharged engine. Oh yeah, and buy a car that doesn’t require premium fuel.

3. Search for cheaper gas - first of all, do NOT spend miles of driving looking to save a few cents. however, with the most recent gas price craze…there have been a few gas search sites. You can actually use your mobile phone to search for gas prices too. the ones that I like are:
www.gaspricewatch.com
www.gasbuddy.com
www.fuelgo.com
www.fuelmeup.com
www.2mob.net

4. increase the efficiency of your car. I mean there are a few things that you can do to improve the fuel efficiency. This includes easing up on the use of air conditioning. Reducing drag on your car by keeping your windows up, removing racks on top of your car. Reduce the weight by getting rid of all the stuff in your trunk. Keep tires properly inflated.

5. Decrease the amount of driving by planning your trips accordingly and even carpooling.

6. Be aware of store discounts. The drivers edge credit card offers 6% back on gas purchases. There are other credits cards out there that offer cash back on gas purchases as well- such as the BP gas card. Sams club and Costco gas tends to run about 5% cheaper than the stuff out there.

7. Hedge the price of gas by investing in oil companies and gas companies. I’ll write a separate post about that in the near future.

8. Get a bike or take the bus, use public transportation…which is pretty much not going to happen.

9.  move closer to work.  This is pretty impractical but if you are planning to move for residency or school, deciding to live closer to the hospital or wherever you work will save you on commute time and money on fuel

10.  Change your driving habits, stop accelerating and stopping otherwise called “rabbit driving” and use cruise control whenever possible.
If any of you have any other tips…please post in the comments section! Happy driving!

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