Canadian Finance Blog

Saving Money on Gas Through Less Consumption

Posted: 30 May 2011 02:00 AM PDT

Let’s face it, gas prices are not going down. There are only so many resources this planet has to offer and we are going through most of them at an alarming rate. The only way we can really be saving money on gas is by using less of it. Thankfully, there are a variety of methods to save money on gas.

Use a carpool

I’ve organized carpools by simply asking people around my office. Even if you live near the outskirts of a huge, sprawling city, odds are there is at least one other person near enough to warrant a carpool. If you’re having trouble convincing that other person, just ask how long their commute is every day and how often they need to fill up. Using a carpool is great for a number of reasons:

It lessens the amount of time you spend driving each week.
It shortens the time it takes to get to work (if your highway has a carpool lane).
It cuts your spending on gas by at least half of what it was normally.
It improves the environment.

For my carpool, we meet at the nearest park and ride and then alternate each day with who drives to work and back. You can also meet at other public places (where you know you won’t get toed) or just pick people up at their houses. Can’t find anyone to carpool with? Try ERideShare or RidePro, both of which are great online resources that find carpoolers near you. Of course, taking the bus is a great method of transportation that doesn’t require you to drive at all, allowing you to read, write, or sleep until you get to work or home.

Use good driving practices

There are a number of ways to change the way you normally drive to get better mileage and help improve your gas budget.

Easy on the gas and brake

Particularly in high-traffic situations (or, even worse, in road rage situations) people will constantly slam the gas and break pedals, trying to take any available space in front of them. Perhaps you don’t want other drivers to cut in front of you; however, this method of driving will wear down your car and increase your mileage while actually saving you little to no time on your commute (getting to the red light first does not get you to work faster). The best driving practice to get the most mileage from your vehicle is to try to control your speed with the gas pedal only. Breaking causes you to lose inertia and takes more mileage to accelerate again. So, if you see a red light far ahead, don’t speed to it so you can stop to a halt; just approach it slowly and you might not even have to stop at all if it turns green.

Plan your errands for one trip

Also, be sure to take the most efficient route with the least amount of driving. This will save you gas and time. Just keep a weekly list of things that you need to go out and buy, and then get them on the weekends (or whenever you have time). Purchasing goods online of course eliminates the need to drive anywhere at all! So that’s something to consider as well.

Author Bio: This is a guest post by Nadia Jones who blogs at online colleges about education, college, student, teacher, money saving, movie related topics. You can reach her at nadia.jones5 @ gmail.com.

Saving Money on Gas Through Less Consumption originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on May 30, 2011.

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