How to Save Money on Gas

Gas prices fluctuate, but they are never as low as we would all like them to be. The good news is that no matter what gas prices are at today there are ways you can save money. One easy way is to check the gas prices near you before you even head out. That way you don’t have to guess which station might have the cheapest gas or drive past that one in hopes of finding one slightly lower.

GasBuddy is a community effort to help everyone save money on their gas. You can locate the cheapest gas prices near your home or work. And you can help others by adding the prices you see to the site.

gaspricewatch.com has an interactive map that you can use to find cheap gas near you. You can also see the current national average price for gas compared to your local average, high and low prices. This may help make you feel better if you happen to live in an area where gas costs less than the national average. This site, although a nice alternative to GasBuddy, does not seem to be updated as much, so you can’t be as sure that the prices on there are what they actually are at the pump.rs by updating the gas prices that you see along your route. The great thing is that it shows when the gas prices were last updated so you know that when John saw that Costco had gas at $2.60 it was just an hour ago and not 3 days ago. Check out this map and zoom in or out to see the gas prices near  you posted in the last 24 hours.

Here are a few more tips to help you save money on gas by conserving your gas usage:

• Take it easy. Instead of constantly hitting the brakes or pushing hard on the gas pedal to accelerate faster, ease into your speeding up and slowing down. Be aware of what is going on ahead of you so you are prepared and can adjust your speed without using precious gas by braking and hitting the accelerator again right away.
• Turn off the air conditioner. This may be a bit of a bummer, but if you can run the air or even the heat less, you will save some gas. Dress appropriately so you will not get too hot or too cold in your car (i.e. on a cool day wear a coat instead of turning on the heat).
• Make sure your tires are inflated. If your tires are low, then more of their surface area will hit the ground as they roll. This causes friction, which in turn makes your car work harder and use more gas to keep moving. Inflating your tires reduces that surface area, eases the friction, and saves gas. Do be sure that your tires are not over-inflated though, as that will cause them to wear out faster, and then you have the cost of new tires to figure in!

What are some ways you have saved money on gas? Leave a comment below to let us know. And happy savings!

Tags: gas prices, save money