Do you remember how we all complained when gas prices hit $3 a gallon? Well that just seems like the good old days now, doesn’t it? With gas prices reaching and exceeding $4 a gallon, it is taking the equivalent of some people’s monthly rent just to pay for gas.
What can you do? Drive less, yes, but that isn’t going to solve the problem for a lot of us who have to drive to work in order to pay for all of that gas. And with summer approaching, it is hard to tell the kids that they will have to skip the pool, the park and camp this year because it costs $4 each round trip to get there.
So, without changing the amount that we are currently driving, how can we save on gas? There really are two options left to us: retrain ourselves to drive energy efficiently and put extra effort into maintaining our cars for efficiency. Buy doing these two things, the gas we buy will stretch a little more.
The biggest change in your driving habits are learning to avoid sudden increases in speed and sudden stops. When you are approaching a light for example, ease off the gas instead of waiting to get right at the light to stop. AAA recommends that you pretend that there are eggs underneath your gas and break pedals, and you don’t want to break them. This will naturally help you to drive “softly” and avoid those sudden calls for power that increase your gas usage.
Remember that the gas in your car is a limited resource. If you couldn’t get any more and needed it to last as long as it could, what steps would you take when driving?
Now lets talk about that other way to increase your gas milage: properly maintaining your car. When is the last time you checked your tire pressure? Improperly inflated tires can cost you in gas. In general, the better shape your car is in, the less gas you will waste.
Also think about what you are carrying in your car. Do you have an extra 25 pounds (or more) of items that are traveling around with you every where you go? Sometimes people use their car to store items or simply haven’t cleaned out the car in a while. This extra weight uses more gas to be hauled around.
For more gas saving ideas, you can click here.