How do you save on gas?

[purslaine]

The gas prices in this area are so high!  How do you save on gas?

I have thought of:

-grouping trips

-not speeding

-reducing driving when possible

-try not to accelerate or decelerate quickly

emptying car of excess stuff

-no windows open or air conditioner on (this ones seems a bit extreme for me)

-public transit and other alternate forms of getting around when possible

Anything else?  Anyone else want to get their vent on?

[syn_ack89]

Make sure your car is in optimum driving condition - tires filled, no dirty filters, all fluids at appropriate levels, etc.

[crazyms]

Okay I live in the deep south so going anywhere in a car without the windows open or the AC on is a suicide mission. That's one way I can't save LOL.

I live in an area without public transportation, only even have one taxi service (read: one taxi!). Walking or bicycling isn't an option either since we live rurally. I do group trips though and try to limit to just one trip a week for running errands. Avoiding speeding and decel or accel quickly helps too though also using cruise when possible. Maintaining the vehicle like syn said helps too. There are some parts that can be replaced on the vehicle that help with fuel mileage too like having K&N air filters and E3 spark plugs.

[crazyms]

Look at gasbuddy.com also for best prices on gas in your area. I try to do that too and go to the station with the best fuel price on route when we need it and fill up so we limit trips to the stations.

[goldingoddess]

Well, we specifically bought a car with excellent gas mileage...I really want a Mazda5 now, but I'm not going to do it as I know gas prices are only going in one direction, so our next car is going to be electric.

We share one car, hubby takes public transportation or I stay home, it is a sacrifice but well worth the savings.  

Our car, Honda Fit, has one of those meters that shows you what gas mileage you are getting, that helps a lot.

[CarrieMF]

cardlock gas.  We get ours at the UFA pay approx $.07/litre less than going to a station.

right now air conditioning isn't an issue, but warming the vehicles up is.  It was just -43 here so we did run them longer, but yesterday it was -13 so I only ran it for 5min to warm up.

[maptome]

Plan out a route taking care of multiple errands in one efficient trip.

Make sure your tires have the appropriate amount of air for optimum gas mileage.

Plan outings for the time of day that there is the least amount of traffic.

Take the highway instead of stop-and-go traffic on streets.

Plan outings for a time of day that you don't need to use the AC as much (early morning or nighttime).

Get your windows tinted (this one's an investment).

[zebra15]

I gotta buy gas today and its not gonna be pretty.... ugh.

I get gas at the grocery store using my shoppers card, saves 10c/gallon

Combine trips

Keep the car in good mainteance (im due for an oil change too)

I live in AZ so we need the A/C

[jimblejamble]

Walk as much as possible. Right now my husband works about 45 minutes away so he needs to drive but we live half a mile from a Fresh Market so if I need to pick uo a couple things I bundle up and walk. Everyone here drives, even to church. I'm in Utah, for pete's sake! There's a church on every other corner practically and people drive evey week.

We have a Costco membership and we can get gas for about 10-15 cents cheaper there than anywhere else.

[Ruthiegirl]

Walk, walk and walk some more. And then I ride my bicycle.

We live in Sweden where gas (diesel) runs from $7.50 -- $8.00 a gallon. So, everyone walks a lot. It is nothing to walk 45 minutes to the grocery store, shop and then walk 45 minutes home. I see people everyday with big backpacks full of food or carts that can be pulled so that you don't have to carry things on your back. But really, I just drive a lot less.

[mnnice]

We moved and shortened are round trip commutes from 70 miles to less than 2 miles. 

Both DH and I walk to work frequently, but one usually drives so that they can take the kids to school.  It can be hard getting a five year old to school on their own power when there is a ton of snow on the ground.

[NewBeginnings1]

Carpool!

[CameronsMama]

We try to group errands together, or just walk whenever we can. I will also go a little out of my way to go shopping somewhere where I can park the car and walk from store to store, rather than having to drive from one store to another. We recently moved to shorten our drive time, and when our lease is up we are hoping to buy a house even closer to work/school. DH is a mechanic, so he makes sure our cars are in the best possible shape all the time.

We have one bigger (not gas friendly) SUV for family trips (we're only 3 humans, but we have 2 large dogs, so we had to get something that could accomodate them, too), and one small commuter car. We don't have "my" car and "dh's" car, whoever has the longer drive takes the small car, or if we are all going together we take the little car (unless we need the room for the dogs).

We get a lot of our groceries from a store that also has gas stations, and you get a discount on gas for having a rewards card, and if you spent a certain amount in the store within the month, you get an extra discount. We always buy our gas there, to get the discounts. Doesn't help the environment, lol, but does help my budget :)

[HeatherAtHome]

We bought an Echo. 

I stay home/combine trips (might go out twice a week). 

DH carpools with a guy who refuses to take money because it's on his way.

We purposely bought our 'country home' close to the town/city where DH works, where we shop and run errands.

[happysmileylady]

It's hard for me.  I drive a lot, it seems like there's always doctor appointments or dentist appointments or I have to meet with a client etc etc. 

I try to group trips, but with a 2 yr old and a 5 month old, that doesn't work out so well.  Getting them in and out of the car multiple times makes it take at least twice as long, not to mention having to nurse the baby randomly, the two year old often falls apart after just 2 errands, on a 5 errand trip.  It's rare that I can leave them at home.

Keeping up with maintainence like making sure tires are inflated, fluids are all full, that's stuff my dad, a mechanic, wouldn't let me forget.

One thing I do though is keep up with loyalty points.  I have a Speedway card, I get points per gallon of gas.  They also give bonus points.  These can then be used to get coupons for gas discounts.  I will often buy a gift card, get bonus points for that, then use that gift card to pay for my gas and get bonus points for that, and sometimes, even use the coupon for like 10c off a gallon (or whatever it is) 

[quest4quiet]

Use the landscape. I live in a hilly area and drive stick, so I spend a LOT of time in neutral. Averaging 40+ mpg in a Vibe.

[ilovemygirl]

I live in an area with no public transit and you can't walk anywhere. So we keep good maintenance, try to combine trips but the most important thing was to make sure that we had the least amount of car for our needs to save on gas. I can't tell you how many places tried to talk me into buying an SUV or minivan when they saw I had kids. I ended up getting a midsize sedan. It has amazing mileage over a truck or van but still uses so much more gas than the compact I'm used to that dh has. It's been months and I still regret not getting another compact car. Sure it's a little tight when we use dh's car but everything and everyone fits just fine. I hate that I know I'm paying extra for a little elbow room in my car. It really drives me crazy. I think I'd be certifiably insane if I had bought the van ...lol.

[limabean]

We're lucky in that I work from home and DH only has a 15-minute commute, so gas isn't too much of an issue for us. But I do things like:

Carpool to school

Maintain the car

Don't do jackrabbit starts

Combine errands

Walk for certain errands/outings (we live in the city center, so this is convenient)

[TEAK's Mom]

We are very fortunate to live six blocks from DP's office, so he almost never needs the car. Our elderly hybrid gets good gas mileage and we make it a goal to leave it parked at least three days a week. Honestly, we walk a lot. If something is less than three miles away, we walk. 

[matey]

Grouping errands and having no drive days. I started going to the Y again, which means fir sure driving on m, w, f. I try to make sure tues or thur (and both if possible!) are no drive days.