Feature Articles: Budgeting & Saving
Reduce Your Gasoline Consumption and Save
Sandra Huston, Ph.D, Consumer and Family Economics, College of Human Environmental Sciences, University of Missouri Extension
With rising gas prices, saving a little at the pump can
add up to substantial savings. Consider that if gas
costs $3.25 per gallon and you waste 1 pint each day at
41 cents a pint, that’s $12.30 a month. Multiply that by
3-4 months and you have a free tank of gas!
Here are some tips to increase your car’s fuel efficiency, save money
and help the environment all at the same time.
Plan ahead
- Walk or bike whenever possible.
The best way to save on gas is not to buy it. Check to see if your community has any organizations or programs to promote the development of an integrated bicycling, wheeling, and pedestrian network. (Here in Columbia, visit http://www.pednet.org/) - Try to combine errands on one run and avoid unnecessary driving.
- If possible, adjust your work schedule to arrive and leave work at off times to avoid peak rush hours and traffic jams. You’ll spend less time idling in traffic and consume less fuel.
- Carpool to share commuting costs.
Use your air conditioning sparingly
- On short trips or at low speeds, air conditioners dramatically reduce gas mileage. Drive with your windows down or run your air conditioning at a lower setting.
- At high speeds, open windows create drag and reduce your gas mileage, so it’s cheaper to use air conditioning on highways.
- Turn off the air conditioning a few minutes before you reach your destination. Let the fan circulate the cool air.
Keep your car in shape
Cars in poor running condition use more gas.
Even if you don’t do the work yourself, a
tune-up will pay for itself in better gas
mileage.
- Clean or change the air filter. According to www.fueleconomy.gov replacing or cleaning a clogged air filter can improve your car’s gas mileage by as much as 10 percent.
- Clean the spark plugs and make sure they are properly gapped.
- Make sure the timing is properly set.
- Check your tire pressure. Under or over inflated tires waste gas.
- Use the recommended grade of motor oil.
Using the manufacturer’s recommended grade of motor oil can improve your gas mileage by 1-2 percent. Look for motor oil that says “Energy Conserving” on the API performance symbol to be sure it contains friction-reducing additives. - Steel-belted radial tires may increase gasoline mileage by up to 10 percent.
Drive for fuel efficiency
Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid
acceleration and braking) can lower your gas
mileage by 33 percent at highway speeds and
by 5 percent around town.
- Drive the speed limit. Gas mileage decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph. Each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.10 per gallon for gas.
- Accelerate slowly.
- Try not to idle your engine. Idling gets 0 miles per gallon. In most cases, it takes less gas to restart the car than to let it idle for more than 2 minutes.
- Use cruise control on highways. Cruise control helps you maintain a constant speed and will usually save you money.
At the pump
- Don’t “top off the tank”. Some of the gas may expand in the heat and overflow from the tank.
- Don’t use a higher octane gas than you need. Most cars are built to run on regular unleaded gas.
Dump the garbage
- While it’s important to have a spare tire and an emergency kit, check to see if you’re carrying extra unnecessary weight. Remove the pet food, kitty litter, chains or school books from the trunk and you’ll save money. The more weight you haul, the more it costs.
Buy a fuel efficient vehicle
- Fuel is an important part of the total cost of owning a car. Selecting a fuel efficient car can save you thousands of dollars. Assuming a gas price of $3.00 per gallon, the difference between a car that gets 20 miles per gallon and one that gets 30 miles per gallon amounts to $4,063 over a 5-year period.
- Consider buying a hybrid car. Both the 2006 Honda Insight (manual transmission) and the 2006 Toyota Prius (hybrid manual transmission) gets about 60 miles per gallon. The 2005 Toyota Prius get about 60 miles per gallon. And the 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid gets about 49 city miles to the gallon.
The information highway
- Looking for the lowest fuel prices in your neighborhood? Check out AAA fuel finder at http://www.gasbuddy.com/. This database contains fuel prices at over 85,000 stations nationwide.
- Planning a road trip? The AAA Fuel Cost Calculator can help you estimate your fuel bill for the trip, located at http://www.fuelcostcalculator.com/
- Visit www.fueleconomy.gov for gas mileage estimates on 1985-2004 model year cars.
- Calculate the estimated fuel cost of your trip at AAA’s www.fuelcostcalculator.com
- Check gasoline price averages for the country or your state at AAA’s www.fuelgaugereport.com/MOavg.asp or at The Energy Information Administration's web site at www.eia.doe.gov/neic/experts/contactexperts.htm
Sources:
www.fueleconomy.gov
Energy Information
Administration
http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/experts/contactexperts.htm
AAA’s
www.fuelcostcalculator.com
and
www.fuelgaugereport.com/MOavg.asp
5 Tips: Saving money on
your car, By Gerri
Willis, CNN/Money
contributing columnist
http://money.cnn.com/2004/04/07/pf/saving/willis_tips/
More Ways to Save Gas,
Pat Veretto, Your Guide
to Frugal Living
http://frugalliving.about.com/cs/savinggas/a/savegas_2.htm
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Last update: Tuesday, March 25, 2008
