How to cut your fuel costs
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Gas prices are going up and as a result, many people are sharing their tips for cutting fuel costs. Why am I bothering to add another post on the topic? Well, I’ve yet to see all of these tips in the same post. I’m going to attempt to compile a list of the best ideas—including a few I hadn’t heard before.
Anyone can do these
Turn the gas pump handle to get every last drop. jeffery of SavingAdvice.com reports that turning the pump handle 180° after it has shut off will deposit up to a half cup of fuel in your tank—fuel you’ve already payed for. If you’re lucky, the person who used the pump before you doesn’t know this trick, and you can get his half cup, too, at no cost to you.It would have been nice, but anecdotal evidence is suggesting this doesn’t work (see the comments).- Keep it cool (your gas, that is). jeffery says, “gas becomes denser in cooler temperatures. Since gas pumps only measure the volume of fuel - not its density - you’ll get better overall gas mileage for your money by purchasing fuel when it’s cool outside rather than in the heat of the day.” My husband points out that gas is stored in underground tanks, so the temperature of the fuel may not vary all that much, but it’s something to keep in mind.
- Shop around. Use a service like GasBuddy.com to find the best deals. Keep in mind that it’s probably not cost effective to drive far out of your way for a few-cent difference, but if you’re like me, you pass a few different stations on your way to work, church, grocery shopping, and regular errands. Pick the best of these and you’ll get savings with relatively little effort.
- Pick the right gear. Driving at high speeds in a too-low gear can reduce fuel efficiency by up to 40%.
- Keep your tires properly inflated. Under inflated tires reduce fuel efficiency by 2% for every pound they are under inflated. You should check the pressure monthly with a good quality dial-type gauge; do it when the tires are cool, not right after driving. Make sure you’re going by the number in your manual, not the general guidelines on the tire itself.
- Don’t clog your filter. Try to avoid buying gas from a station that has just had a truck fill the station’s underground tanks. Filling stirs up particles from the bottom of the tank which can clog your fuel filter and make your car run less efficiently.
- Keep your gas from evaporating. Don’t “top off” (it’s more expensive, to boot), keep your gas cap good and tight, and try to park in the shade when you can.
These require some flexibility
- Shift your commute. According to jeffery, driving in stop-and-go traffic can cost you $800 a year. If your company allows flex time, try shifting your workday forward by an hour and you’ll pay less at the pump.
- Car pooling. My local carpool advocate says that three people is about the ideal number to get both savings and convenience. Many local organizations will help match people with similar schedules and locations, so this might not be as big a hassle as you’ve always thought.
- Don’t be in such a hurry. The difference between going 55 miles per hour and 70 m.p.h. will cost you about 20% more fuel. Sure, sometimes time is of the essence, but this one tip can make a huge difference if you apply it as often as you can.
Standard advice
This is the stuff that gets repeated a whole lot, so I’m not going to go into detail. Take a look at the sources if you want a detailed explanation.
- Drive gently (no sudden stops or starts).
- Keep your car tuned up.
- Unless your car objects, use 87 octane (the cheap-ish grade).
- Keep your car light by not carrying a lot of stuff.
- Avoid using the air conditioner, and keep the windows rolled up at high speeds.
So what are your best tips? Share in the comments.
Sources:
Gas - Saving Money Tips
Uncommon Ways To Save Money On Gas
5 Tips: How you can get most out of every gallon of ever-more expensive gas
Paying $800 A Year To Sit In Traffic
Saving Money on Gas
Related posts:
I want you to know I have linked to you site and your post’s great resource for my own post tomorrow
I’m with your husband. I don’t buy the density argument, as the the temperature underground (where the gas is stored) is pretty consistent (and cool) and the gas won’t have time to warm up by the time it passes through the pump.
i’m not sure i buy into the tipping the gas pump handle 180°. first off even if it were a 1/2 cup that is only 0.03 gallons of gas. secondly the shut off for the gas is in the handle right next to the nozzle so the most that would be “trapped” would be entirely contained in the metal nozzle. a generous estimate of the volume of the nozzle is 0.15 gallons. however that can’t all be full. a good 2/3 of the nozzle is at a 45° angle into the tank and so that portion would be completely empty. assuming the remaining 1/3 had gasoline in it and it was tilted slightly back so that it wouldn’t all spill out, we’ll say 1/4 of that 1/3 contains gasoline. that leaves a mere 0.0125 gallons of gas (on the generous side of estimating) in the nozzle that you are wrangling out. though i suppose to prove my point i’ll have to take a measuring device to the pump next time i go.
Hey, jennifer, report back when you’ve done your research, okay?
I saw a guy the other day get gas and lift the hose to milk in the gas…does this do any good? I don’t want to do it unless it’s effective…I might get dirty!!
When I was discussing the ideas in this post with my husband, he mentioned that his parents used to do just that when they were so poor that they couldn’t afford to buy gas… they’d just go from pump to pump, draining what others had left in the hose. That was a long time ago, though, and the pumps have changed.
If my friend jennifer is correct about only the amount in the nozzle actually being “drainable” then I don’t think it would be possible to get what’s in the hose, lifting it up or other wise. The other thing is that at all the stations I go to (here in Idaho), the hoses are suspended from the top of the pump, rather than the old-style kind that loop down to the ground. On the suspended kind, gravity is already on your side.
If you have the kind that loop down, though, I’d be very interested to find out what happens if you try lifting the hose. Maybe jennifer will try that when she tests the handle-turning tip.
Linked from one of my articles.
okay today i pumped fuel into my motorcycle. i had the pump at the same angle that most cars pump (easy to do since my bike has the fuel cap on the side of the bike). after the auto shut-off engaged i pulled the nozzle out carefully and then while it was still in a position to deliver the gas to the tank i turned the nozzle 180°; i got one tiny drop. yup that’s it. nothing to even measure. the gas nozzle is designed pretty well it turns out and it isn’t forgetting to deliver any of that slightly yellow liquid gold. so wrangling the nozzle, snake charming the hose and collecting remainders isn’t going to help you at modern pumps these days. all bets are off when you go to a really old pump though, so if you want to find those you might have better luck… but probably not. i think all states have a weights and measures division that checks the delivery [not just measurement] accuracy of the gas pumps now.
Oh, well, thanks for trying.
I just gassed up for the first time since I published this post, so I tried it too. I got a little bit more than jennifer… maybe a teaspoon. But that was with turning the nozzle and fiddling with the hose, and I’m just not convinced it’s worth it.
I live in an area where many of the gas pumps are older style and I definitely get extra gas by turning the nozzle.
Hey, farmergirl, that’s really good to know! Location is everything, apparently.