Save Money with Gas Saving Tips

The economy has money on everyone's mind. The unemployment percentage is consistently in the news, people are watching prices of groceries more and more, coupon usage and coupon sites are growing rapidly, and the price of gas is mentioned countless times every day. With the crunch on finances, let's go over some ways to save on gas - and save your money. With a few small changes, the price we pay for personal transportation could decline and help our pocket books. Read on to save more gas and put more money where you can enjoy it.

By cutting vehicle weight you can save money easily and quickly. The less a vehicle weights the less energy it takes to move said vehicle. According to the U.S. Department of Energy by removing one hundred pounds from the gross weight of your vehicle your fuel economy may go up by as much as 2%. This may not seem like a lot but if gas is $4.00 a gallon then you just saved 8¢. This small amount will add up very quickly. There are many things that people just do not consider taking out of their vehicles because the item is simply always there.

• Golf clubs
• Extra stroller
• Extra toys
• Change to carbon-fiber hood

Changing the hood is obviously a bit more extreme to cut weight on a car. But the average car hood from the factory weighs about 40 pounds and a carbon-fiber hood can weigh as little as 8 pounds. This is a pretty significant difference. Again, a little more extreme approach but some people are willing to do this and may not have thought about it.

Saving gas by slowing down may be one of the easier ways to save money. The U.S. Department of Energy figures that for every five miles per hour over 60 miles an hour a person drives they are losing roughly $0.24 per gallon of gas. Edmunds.com states that by driving the speed limit a person may save up to 14% with an average savings of 12%. The easiest way to make sure to drive the speed limit is to use speed control. This also helps with speeding up too fast and keeping speed fluctuation to a minimum which also assist with saving on gas.

Overall, the use of the speed control is a great asset to saving money on gas. The speed control doesn't only allow for consistent speeds but it also keeps a person from driving at a faster speed than they thought. There are many times I thought I was only doing the speed limit to look down and I am driving 15 miles faster than the posted speed limit. I use the speed control to keep my speed at a steady speed, and to help me avoid getting tickets.

In June of 2000, DEKRA tested the Halo Spark Plug and confirmed the Halo Spark Plug increased fuel efficiency. What was interesting about this specific study is that time and speed increases both showed an improved performance in regards to greater fuel efficiency with the Halo Spark Plug. If you decide to change your spark plugs make sure to do one spark plug at a time and do not over-tighten your spark plugs. A torque wrench would be advisable. The average fuel consumption savings over the Bosch spark plug was 4.2%, the Bosch spark plug was the recommended replacement spark plug. Once you are comfortable changing spark plugs it is a rather easy and quick process.

I know people who over-inflate their tires to save gas money. This may be a touchy subject with some because tire inflation not only saves people money, but if taken to the extreme it jeopardizes safety. An under-inflated tire is harder to move and takes more energy to move. An over-inflated tire has less contact with the street and is harder so it takes less energy to move it and keep it going. A properly inflated tire is a great compromise. A tire that is inflated correctly touches the ground completely across the width of the tire. Giving it the traction that is needed for turning and possible emergencies. If the tire is filled in the correct range it still rolls more easily than an under-inflated tire and keeps moving with less energy. A properly inflated tire will save roughly 1% on gas consumption. Autorepair.about.com states that this change may save three to four miles per gallon. This may not seem like a lot, but if you add those miles up you can see the savings. On the average tank of gas this would save 36 miles, one tank of gas a week, would save 1,872 miles per year. The average and miles saved computed by autorepair.about.com.

We all know someone who has lost a gas cap and never replaced it. Have you ever thought about changing your gas cap? This is one of the least thought about parts of a vehicle's fuel system. Carcare.org stated that from missing, improperly used, or mal-functioning gas caps there is 147,000,000 gallons of fuel wasted a year in the United States. For something so small that almost no one thinks about this is a staggering number of gallons of wasted gasoline.

If your gas cap is missing, buy a new gas cap. If your gas cap is old, look at it and check the gasket on it. If you are not sure, why not buy a locking gas cap. Stories about people syphoning gas from cars are on the rise. This could kill two birds with one stone for you. Don't let your gas leak out into the atmosphere. Not only are you losing gas, but the environment is being effected by this. 147,000,000 million gallons of gas simply from the vapors leaking out of the tank. That is one astounding statistic.

The better your car runs the more fuel efficient it will be. I could go into detail about how dirty oil hurts fuel economy. Driving a truck with an empty bed and the tail down creates pressure and fuel economy declines, close the tail because trucks are actually designed to create an eddy of air behind the cab to neutralize drag. Every aspect of today's vehicle revolves around fuel economy. Here are some myths about helping fuel economy that with today's vehicles do nothing to so little as to be inconsequential.

• Drive a truck with the tail down.
• Keep the windows up and the A/C off.
• Keep the car running because it uses more fuel to start it.

Until next time, I hope that some of this information helps you save money on gas. If you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to comment or email me. If you would like to contribute or have any desire to write sign-up for Hubpages and contribute.