07/01/2009
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Gas prices have fallen in the past few months but what happens when they start to go back up? I think the gas will go back up and I have heard rumors as such. It's always better to know how to save on gas then to not. In our world today the price of gas is making us rethink how we spend our money. It's so hard to make our paychecks stretch with the rise in gasoline prices. So, learn how you can save money on gas by improving your gas mileage.
Be a more efficient driver
-- Do the speed limit: Your gas mileage will go down rapidly if you go over 60 MPH.
-- Don't be an aggressive driver: If you don't speed when you start and stop and you drive slowly and carefully when in town, you can really improve your gas mileage up to 5%.
-- Don't let your car sit and idle: This is such a waste of gas and just takes money right out of your pocket. This is also a cause of pollution so please turn off your engine if you know your going to be a while before driving again.
-- Do all your running at one time: When you start and stop your car a lot you can use twice as much fuel then if you were to take one trip and cover the same amount of miles when the engine is still warm.
-- When it's appropriate use your cruise control and overdrive gears: Doing this will greatly improve the gas mileage of the car when driving long distances on the thruway or highways.
-- Take out any extra weight in the trunk: Did you know that even an extra 100 pounds in your trunk can decrease your cars fuel economy by up to 2%.
-- If at all possible don't pack things on top of your car: If you load your roof rack this can cause wind resistance and will lower your cars fuel economy by 5%.
Maintenance for your car
-- Tune Your Engine: Keeping your engine tuned up can increase your gas mileage on an average of 4%. This can vary by the cars current condition.
-- Properly align and inflate your tires: This can increase your cars gas mileage by up to 3%.
-- Keep your oil changed regularly: Use the proper grade of oil for your car and change your oil every 3 months or every 2,000 miles.
-- Change your air filters regularly: When you replace clogged air filters you can increase your cars gas mileage by up to 10%.
At the pump
-- Use only the octane level that your car needs: Refer to your owner manual to make sure what octane level your car needs. For most of the cars out there, regular gas is all that is needed. So, unless your engine is making a knocking noise, buying the more expensive stuff is just a total waste of your money.
-- Do your errands all at one time: Taking many short trips and cold starting your engine many times in a row can actually use twice as much fuel as one trip going the same distance when your engine is warm so pick a day and do all your errands on that day.
Miscellaneous
-- Carpool: There are many place in cities these days that make it easy to carpool by matching up the commuters. You can also get together with other parents and carpool your kids to school and after school activities.
-- Stay away from those gas saving gizmos: Please be very skeptical about any gadget that is promising you that it will improve your gas mileage. The EPA tests many of these things and has found that very few actually give you any kind of fuel benefits. In fact, there are some out there that may actually damage your engine and cause excess exhaust fumes.
There are many more ways that you can be saving money and putting all that money you save into your pocket! There are so many ways that I can't even list them all here. If you want to know what you can do right NOW to start saving you money just go to http://www.start-saving-money-now.com to find all the ways you could be saving yourself a TON of money!.
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