Tips To Save Money On Gasoline

The cost of gasoline can really bite during a recession. You know, when you receive a pay cut but still have to drive around for groceries and job-hunting. Balancing the household budget becomes that much harder.

You will be glad to know that there are actually several ways to save money on gasoline.

1. Carpool.

If you have neighbors or colleagues who are traveling to work at the same time as you, it may be a good idea to carpool and save on the cost of gasoline. A simple arrangement could be where one buddy drive this week and another the next.

Depending on how many people you are commuting with, you could save a significant amount of money on gasoline costs and reduce wear and tear on your vehicle.

2. Maintain a cruising speed.

When you accelerate and/or brake quickly, you will use more gasoline. The harder your vehicle has to work, the more gasoline it will use. Thus, driving cautiously and maintaining a cruising speed is an economical way of saving extra money on the highway.

3. Downgrade your vehicle.

The super jumbo SUVs guzzle gas like nobody's business. Can you imagine how wasteful it is to propel a heavy vehicle around town with only a driver in tow?

Scaling down to a smaller vehicle will help you to save at the pump. When shopping for a more economical choice in automobiles, look for one that has good gas mileage per gallon. Some vehicles carry a fuel efficient badge. Or you can even go for electric car hybrids.

4. Fill up when prices are down.

You can save a significant amount of money by filling up your vehicle when gas prices are low. Depending on your automobile, it may be difficult to top up a lot of gas all at once, but it will save you money in the long-run.

5. Dont leave your motor running unnecessarily.

Many people leave their automobile air-conditioner running when they go into stores, especially during the warm summer months.

Think of it as money being burned away just to keep the car cool. Furthermore, children and pets should not be left in the vehicle for prolonged periods in case of carbon monoxide poisioning.

Hence, for the sake of your wallet and safety, just roll down the windows or wait until you return to the car and turn the air conditioner back on.

Saving Money at the Pump

Price Chopper and Sunoco have announced a new program aimed at helping you save money at the gas pump.

You will only be able to get the discount at certain Sunoco stations.

The points can be accumulated for the groceries you buy over a 90 day period and cash in your discount for up to 20 gallons of gas.

Saving Money By Quitting Your Job

The common understanding was that we need a job to make ends meet but apparently for this lady, quitting her job saves money and time.

One of the main reasons she quit was because she wasn't making enough money after her paycheck had deductions from childcare.

"Once insurance was paid and day care paid for, for those hours, I had about 2 dollars left out of the paycheck"

$2? Well, that is not acceptable. It is tiring enough to bring up kids, and to go out to work, only to have only $2 to show at the end of the ordeal is ridiculous.

Fortunately, Allie has enough entrepreneurial spirit to launch her own day care center at home. For other mothers in similar position, working at home may be a better option indeed.

I will discuss a bit more about work-at-home schemes for mothers later since my wife is experimenting with a few concepts currently.

The key discussion today is about transportation expenses. I know this item is often overlooked, especially when gas prices have tumbled. Also, most people think they don't really go anywhere besides work and grocery shopping so these are necessary trips. But even then, there is much room to save money on gas bills.

I can easily save $5-$10 each time I reduce the trip to the grocery store or wake up earlier and take public transport for the day.

It is important to plan ahead and consolidate your short car jaunts. For example, it is wasteful to drive to different stores to chase down bargains, just to save pennies while guzzling gasoline dollars. To put it simply, this is penny wise, pound foolish.

You should also look for online stores. Many items are cheaper when bought online due to the lower costs of not running a business requiring a shop front, staff etc.

Don`t forget about bargains at thrift stores, or charity shops too. You can buy designer clothes which are often sold at very low prices. So whenever I drive there, we buy in bulk. It is silly to pick up just one or two items which cost as much as your gas expense.

Allie's case may be rather extreme that her income is reduced so drastically by child care and gas expenses. However, do not underestimate the effect of transportation expense on the household budget.

Managing gas expenses well will put you in good stead when gas prices rise back or exceed $4 per gallon.

Make Your Car Fuel Efficient Regardless Of Gas Prices

This is normally the time of year that gas prices hike dramatically as demand increases, but the sluggish economy has prevented any hopes of the nightmarish $4 a gallon gas returning any time soon.

Nevertheless, the gas guzzling car still account for a significant portion of our family budget. To become more fuel efficient, we maintain our car in good condition with regular tune-ups and properly inflated tires.

We are also monitoring the cost of our driving habits closely by installing a tiny computer called the ScanGauge Fuel Efficiency Adviser, which provides real-time information about what's happening in the engine.

You can determine the least expensive route as you know exactly how much each trip costs. It even shows you the difference idling at one red light can make. Armed with these knowledge, saving 15-30 gallons per month and hundreds of dollars each year is easy.

Making our car more fuel efficient is not only about saving money, it can also protect the environment. As we subscribe fervently to going green, we are sad to know that the NRDC holds United States cars responsible for about 25% of greenhouse gases produced.

Besides taking the above measures to lower our exposure to fluctuating gas prices, my wife has proposed that we purchase a fuel-efficient hybrid car.

Car prices may be low but I am apprehensive of any huge commitment right now. As the economy may deteriorate further, it is not wise to compromise our cash-flow. In fact, in the worst case scenario, I may sell off the family car and consider car pooling with my neighbors or even biking to save money and cut down on emissions.

What measures have you guys undertaken to make your car more fuel efficient?