10 easy ways to save on gas

Even though prices have come down a bit, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is still above $4. This means that if you fill up a 13-gallon tank once a week, your annual gas budget could be over $2,700!

Luckily, there are many ways to reduce those numbers and save hundreds on gas stations this year. From a simple life hack that increases MPG by 20% to the best day of the week to fill up, here are 10 ways to save on gas.

1. Use the GasBuddy App

Do you know when you get a new phone and you have to manually re-download apps? And this process teaches you what are your favorite/most important apps?

For me, one of the first apps I redownload is GasBuddy. I can’t tell you how many hundreds if not thousands of dollars the app has saved me over the years.

GasBuddy’s mission is simple: find the cheapest gas within a certain radius of your current location. I set my radius to five miles, and good old GasBuddy usually finds a gas station 1.7 miles from the highway with gas that’s $0.57 cheaper.

Overall, I would say that every time I use the app, I save between $8 and $10 per tank.

2. Fill up on the cheapest day of the week

As the name suggests, GasBuddy has another useful nugget.

Have you ever noticed how gas prices fluctuate daily? Kind of makes you wonder: is there an ideal day of the week to buy gas cheaper than any other time?

As it turned out, there is. Analyzing his own data, GasBuddy found that Monday is the best day of the week to fill up – and it has been for years. Friday has also become quite cheap after the pandemic.

Wednesday and Thursday, on the contrary, are the worst days to fill the tank.

3. Get Wholesale Club Membership

If you live near a wholesale club like Sam’s Club, Costco, or BJ’s, let me tell you – it might be worth buying a membership just for the cheap gas.

Gasoline at wholesale clubs costs about $0.20 a gallon, according to Consumer Reports, and that amount could rise rapidly over the course of the year.

For example, if you buy 10 gallons a week, you will save 52 x 10 x $0.20 = $104. That’s already more than enough to cover the cost of an annual membership, which typically ranges from $45 to $60.

However, you can almost always get a membership for less. Wholesale clubs are constantly running promotions for new members – you just have to look.

Read more: Costco vs Sam’s Club: How Do They Compare?

four. Try the Upside App

The Upside app is another useful tool in your gas saving toolbox to help you save money on nearby gas, grocery stores, and restaurants.

Here’s how it works on gas:

• Open the app and search for a local gas deal.
• Click “Get Quote” at the gas station.
• Register or download a receipt.
• Get your money back automatically within 10 days.

I live in a suburban area of ​​a major city and right now there are two gas stations within two miles offering a $0.20 refund on regular Upside payments.

Now you might be wondering what makes Upside different from the plethora of other “instant cash back” apps. First, the user interface is relatively ad-free, which is nice. Secondly, Upside has really good gas deals.

But the last cool thing about Upside is that “every time you fill up, Upside offsets CO2 emissions for your next 75 miles of driving.” The company supports wind power, wastewater treatment and more, and offsets more CO2 emissions in 2020 than Disney, Salesforce and Bank of America combined.

5. Use the bonus card for gas

If you’re spending a significant portion of your monthly budget fueling at a gas station, you can start using a credit card that offers maximum gas cashback.

Some cards offer up to 3 Reward Points at gas stations in the US, often in addition to other travel-focused benefits. If your car Indeed craving, you might even consider getting a special credit card for gas stations, which tend to offer significant gas station discounts.

Naturally, the downside of getting a card for a particular gas station is that you have to go to that particular gas station in order to take advantage of the benefits. But if you always fill up at the same station (on a Monday, of course), then it might make sense.

6. Use cruise control

Now that we’ve covered apps and credit card rewards, let’s talk about old-school, mechanical ways to save gas.

First, use cruise control as much as possible and as often as possible.

Testing by Natural Resources Canada has shown that maintaining a steady speed of 80 km/h (~50 mph) versus fluctuating between 75 and 85 km/h every 18 seconds will save you almost 20% fuel.

The reason is simple: when you use cruise control, you don’t use extra gas to accelerate. On top of that, you don’t use your brakes as often, so you’ll also save a little bit on wear on pads, shoes, and rotors.

And speaking of speed…

7. Try to keep your speed below 70 miles per hour

On a long highway trip, what kind of person are you?

Are you the kind of person who just freezes in the middle at 65 mph?

Or would you like to give him a full Jeremy Clarkson by doing 87 in the left lane as you scan the horizon for cops?

I admit that I fall more into the latter category. And while I don’t (mostly) get caught, it’s still an expensive habit.

According to the US Department of Energy, most vehicles reach their optimum speed – and MPG – around 50 mph. Above this, petrol consumption decreases “quickly”.

“You can assume that every 5 mph you drive at 50 mph is the equivalent of paying $0.29 extra per gallon of gasoline.”

Woof. So… yeah, kidding me, time to slow down!

8. Limit air conditioning use

Your car’s air conditioning can be a bigger hurdle to fuel economy than you think.

According to various studies conducted by the US Department of Energy, air conditioning sandblasting can reduce your car’s fuel consumption by as much as 25%. This means that on a hot day, you can get 22.5 mpg instead of the usual 30.

On the other hand, who would ride in 95-degree heat without the air conditioner at full power?

The secret is to help your air conditioner keep your car cool:

• Park in the shade whenever possible, or at least with the windshield facing away from the sun.
• Roll down the windows for the first few minutes of driving to blow out hot air.
• Use the car shade for $15.
• As a long-term investment, consider window tinting (which also improves safety, security, and privacy).
• Replace the cabin air filter, which is easier than you think in most cars and costs $11 to do it yourself.

All things considered, even just parking in the shade next time and blowing out hot air after starting up, your air conditioner will thank you (although I’ll definitely check your filter soon).

9. Put on your tires

Have you ever inflated tires yourself?

It’s definitely a good skill. As is known where inflate tires for free.

But let’s start with why.

Under-inflated tires not only wear out faster, they also create more resistance between you and the road and reduce fuel consumption. A study by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory found that under-inflated tires can affect fuel consumption by as much as 10%.

And if you haven’t filled your tires lately, they probably need topping up. That’s because tires naturally lose about 1 psi a month, plus an extra psi every time the temperature drops 10 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Consumer Reports. So as winter approaches, your tires can easily lose 5 psi overnight.

Luckily, filling tires is easy and free if you know where to look.

• If you become a wholesale member of the club, their auto center will refill your tires for free. Many also have a pull-up pump with a built-in pressure gauge.
• You can also visit freeairpump.com to find a map of free tire pumps in your area.
• If you can’t find a free option, most gas stations have a pump you can use for about $1.50 a quarter.

10. Start delivering more products

I remember when you had to pay $7 to have something delivered to your home and the trip to the store was “free”.

Oh, how the tables have changed.

Now just gasoline can sometimes cost $7 to get to and from the store. Not to mention the opportunity cost of sitting in traffic (and stress).

Personally, I found myself ordering more and more items with delivery. Because even though there’s a charge for it, it’s still cheaper than the time and gas it takes to get out of the house. Also, if you need to return an item you don’t like, it’s often faster and cheaper to send it back than to go back to the store.

A similar case could be made with food delivery, since inactivity in the driveway or on the side of the road costs half a gallon an hour!

bottom line

Even though gas prices are out of control these days, there are some things you can do to keep your gas costs under control. By using apps like GasBuddy and Upside, inflating tires, gently stepping on the gas pedal, and limiting air conditioning usage, you can keep a little more money in your pocket instead of on the side of the road.

Or, if you think it’s time to get an electric car and ditch the pump entirely, check out The True Cost of Owning an Electric Car.

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