Paying As Much For The Gas As You Do The Car?

Yesterday while surfing CNN.com, I noticed a breaking news banner at the top of the site which read, “Oil Crosses $100 a Barrel.” Even though oil had approached $100/barrel several times in 2007, this was the first time it had ever actually hit that mark. To me this means that gas will likely approach $4 per gallon soon.

Short of staying home all the time and not driving, here are a few ideas that can save you some money.

  1. Carpool: share the driving responsibilities with others. My wife’s employer pays each employee who carpools to work a dollar. While not a lot of money, we do save a little on gas and earn a dollar at the same time.
  2. Ride a bike: riding a bike will cut your gas bill substantially and also improve your fitness. A win win situation if you live close enough to your job.
  3. Telecommute: work from home a few times a week if your employer allows.
  4. Plan your route: need to make a few trips around town? Plan your trip ahead of time so that you make stops in a sensible manner so you’re not backtracking or going out of your way. Try to combine small trips into one.
  5. Check the air in your car’s tires: underinflated tires waste gas. Make sure that your tires are inflated to the recommended pressures. In cold weather tires will lose 1 psi of pressure for every ten degree drop in air temperature.
  6. Check your car’s air filter: a clogged air filter wastes gas. Usually $10 or less, a new air filter can save you way more than that at the pump.

What do you do to reduce the amount you spend on gas?

January 3, 2008 | Filed Under Automobile 

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One Response to “Paying As Much For The Gas As You Do The Car?”

  1. A Large Majority Of People Don’t Care How Much Fuel Costs on May 14th, 2008 6:00 pm

    [...] the past few months, I have paralleled the increasing cost of fuel with tips on how you can reduce the amount you spend on fuel. In addition, I have begun riding my bike to work when the weather allows to save myself money and [...]

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