There are no great hidden secrets to saving on gas. Let common sense prevail, drive less and you'll use less gas. Be creative, think of options besides driving.

Find it Cheap - Know the least expensive gas prices in your area – an patronize those stations. Go to GasBuddy.com to find the least expensive gas in your area — US and Canada only.

Plan your Trip AAA has a website where they calculate distances, your vehicles gas mileage and gas prices so you can better guess-ti-mate how much your driving trip will cost. Visit FuelCostCalculator.com

Track Gas Usage – This helps you to know the condition of your car. If gas mileage goes down check your tires or maybe it's time for a tune up.

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Use this formula to calculate your gas mileage when you fill up. Miles / kilometers driven since last fill-up divided by gallons / liters used.

Tires - Keep your tires inflated at manufacturer specified levels.

Drive Conservatively - Avoid "Jack Rabbit" starts and racing into red lights. Look ahead and drive carefully.

Cruise Control - On open roads use cruise control

Tune it Up! Here are some tips I've discovered:

Our 93 Mercury Villager van according to the EPA should get 17 mpg city & 20 mpg highway.  It gets 21 and 24 via the following tips. (The van has 130,000 miles on it.)

I installed these items myself and saved there too.  

Air filter: K&N Filtercharger cotton filter.  Its reusable, and allows more air into the engine for more power.  It cost $60 and the cleaning/oiling kit is $25.  At WalMart, the Fram paper filters are $12.99 each.  Now when its time for filter change, I visit my kitchen sink vs. the store which saves fuel.  Comes with a 1,000,000 mile warranty.

Spark plugs: Bosch Platinum +4 plugs.  $7.99 ea. Provides 4 ground electrodes instead of 1 for a bigger, hotter spark, which means better fuel burn, less pollution, more power, and better fuel economy. More bang for the buck:-) They have a 100,000 mile life span.  

Fuel:  ***Use the mfr recommended Octane Fuel*** Check the owners manual to see what your car needs.  Octane availability is based on climate, so you may have some variations locally. If your car requires 87 octane, and that's the cheapest grade then kudos to you!  Here in Montana the cheapest grade is 85.5 followed by 88, and 91. Our van requires 87-88 octane.  
If you use the 85.5  fuel because you think you are saving money look again. The price difference is trivial for what you get.  Currently (29-SEP-04) in Montana it's $1.99 for 85.5 octane and $2.09 for 88 octane.  On an average fill of 16 gallons, its an extra $1.60 for the correct fuel.

We go 14-16 days or 320-340 city miles on 16 gals of 88. Up from 10-12 days or 280-300 city miles on 16 gals of 85.5  This means 2 fills/month vs 3 fills/month @ avg price per fill of $34-$36 and savings of $34-$36 a month.

Cleaner: Use a good quality fuel injector cleaner regularly.  It keeps the injectors spraying a fine mist of fuel into the cylinders vs. droplets of fuel.  It doesnt take rocket science to figure which one burns better.

Bottom line: I invested $133 for the filter, filter cleaner, and plugs 6 months after I bought the van, and now save $408-$432 ($34*12) annually on fuel costs, and have a cleaner burning car. Rich from Montana

Buy a different car - If it's time to replace your old car, buy a more fuel efficient one. Alt fuel vehicles are becoming more available too.

Think Diesel - Get a diesel car - they use far less fuel.
Mark Dowling from Leicester, UK

Organize errands – Don't run out just to go to one store. Plan an efficient route so you can make several stops in a short amount of time. If you have time, call a friend and see if you can pick up something for them too.

Home Work   Work from home whenever possible.

Work Close to Home – it took Steve a few years to find a job close to home, but it cut about 40 miles of driving each day.

Lighten the Load – Don't carry unnecessary weight in your car. Empty the trunk of all but emergency supplies. Cynthia Ortiz from Dallas, TX

Nothing on top - Carrying a load on top of the car creates drag. If at all possible keep the outside of your car free from protrusions. Some experts say that this will save 5% on your gas mileage.

Carpool to work – many large companies (100 employees or larger) have programs to encourage car pooling and may even help with expenses.

Use Public Transportation – some companies subsidize your costs. Students get discounts.

Share rides to kids activities – look at the club or team roster and find families who live in your area. Cooperation and helping neighbors makes America great!

Have a budget – save money in advance for gas and other categories – get our June 04 issue for an article on how to start a budget that works for you.

Save in other places - You may need to reduce expenses in other areas to make up the difference.

Walk or bike to near by locations

If your teens drive have them help with the expenses – gas, insurance and payments (if you have them).

Summer Work?  When your teens look for a job – find one close to home

Complain   Write or call your legislators – and make some noise!

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