50 Ways to Save Money at the Gas Pump, Part 1

With the rising cost of gas prices, and no end in sight, everyone wants to save as much money at the gas pump as they possibly can. You may not be able to control the price of gas, but you can change certain habits, and follow some basic guidelines to help you save as much money as possible.

Rising gas and oil prices are accelerating. The average driver who travels approximately 15,000 miles each year in a car that gets 20 miles to the gallon, will pay more at the end of the year for her gas costs.

Every time the price of gas goes up at the fuel pump by 10 cents the cost of the average driver’s gas consumption will rise by about $75 per year.

The purpose of this series of articles is to give you some practical tips and advice for reducing the amount of money that you spend each week at the gas pump.

1. Educate Yourself About Your Vehicle’s Fuel Economy

Only 15 percent of the fuel that you put into your car gets used and the rest of the energy is lost for many reasons. It is important to maintain your car, and have an understanding of how your vehicle operates.

The more that you understand about the way that your vehicle runs, and what it takes to properly maintain it, the more success you will have when it comes to understanding what steps to take to start saving money.

You may want to find a mini-course or ebook on the basics of car mechanics. Such a course or ebook can increase your knowledge of how your vehicle operates.

2. Shop Around For Best Prices

You can try to shop around in your local area for the cheapest gas that you can find. You shouldn’t go too far out of your way to try and get that best price unless you’re already traveling in that direction anyway.

Since your goal is to save money you would be defeating the purpose by driving around for too long.

3. Multitask Your Shopping Expeditions

If you know of a certain gas station that consistently sells lower priced gas and it’s out of your way you might want to consider making a weekly or bi-weekly journey to this destination.

This way you can take a day to get gas, buy groceries, take care of other errands along the way, and maybe take a walk in the park in a different area of the city. In effect you are using one trip to take care of multiple things along the way.

4. Paying for Gas The Smart Way

One of the ways that you can save money at the gas pump is by using a gasoline credit card. When you have a gas card you’ll be able to get 5 or 10 percent rebate back on the purchase of your gas.

This can amount to as much as $150 to $600 each year. With the way that gas prices are escalating this could actually be considerably more! Many gas companies are joining with other retailers to give you numerous savings at the gas pump.

You’ll not only save on each gas purchase, but you’ll be able to earn points towards your next purchase.

5. Buy Your Gas in the Morning or Evening

Gasoline becomes denser in colder temperatures. Gas pumps are set to measure the volume of the fuel that you pump and not the density.

This means that if you fill up your gas tank in the cooler morning temperatures, or in the colder evening hours, that you’ll be getting better gas price economy.

6. Use the Internet

Using the internet to find the lowest gas prices is a great way to have all the information that you need before getting inot your car to fuel up.

There are several sites on the Internet that will help you find the cheapest gas in your area. One of these sites is GasBuddy.com. GasBuddy has all the information for both the United States and Canada to help you find the lowest gas price on the day that you are filling up your gas tank.

GasBuddy has over 170 websites that it uses to get you the most recent and best price.

7. Multi-purchases

There are many other ways that you can use the Internet to help you save money at the gas pumps. Check out coupons in your local area that offer money off certain items, like convenience food.

If you purchase your gas at a service pump that has a convenience store attached then you can use your money-saving coupons for convenience purchases.

Although you are not saving money on your actual gas purchase, just by combining your convenience purchase with you fuel purchase you will find some money saving benefit at shopping and fueling up at a certain gas station.

8. Keep a Fuel Log

Invest in a small notebook and pen for your car and write down all your gas purchases and mileage that you travel. Start to develop the habit of knowing exactly how much that you are spending in fuel costs.

You can also use your fuel log to keep track of the best places to buy your gasoline. You want to see a pattern develop so that you can track your gas spending habits and then make changes if needed.

If you are buying a used vehicle privately, or from a dealer, find out if there is an owner’s manual so that you can find out how to take care of your vehicle.

If you’re lucky, there may be fuel log of some kind from the previous car owner.

9. Keep an Eye on Your Gas Consumption

The more aware you are of the amount of fuel that you use the more you can do to try to reduce your gas costs.

If you notice that your gas efficiency is decreasing it could be an indicating factor that your car needs servicing.

Make weekly comparisons with your fuel log that you keep in you car to see how much your gas consumption is going up and your mileage per gallon is going down.

If you are finding that you are constantly seeing less and less performance from your car and spending more for gas at the fuel pump then you’ll know that you need to take action so that you can start seeing a savings in your gas economy rather than a constant deficit.

10. Buy Gas From a Busy Station

Try to buy your gas from a gas station that is consistently busy and therefore has its underground tanks filled on a regular basis.

Gas stations that are slow will have gas that has been sitting in underground tanks for longer periods of time, leading to gas contamination.

This contamination can mean that the gas you are purchasing is less powerful than fresh gas and will decrease your fuel economy.

That’s just 10 of more than 50 ways that we will cover in this article series for saving gas at the pump. I hope that you will find some of these tips useful.

Continue to Part 2...

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