6 Ways to Save on Gas

No one wants to waste money – which is why the manner you drive in can be so important. By following these simple tips, you can improve your car’s gas efficiency, saving you money in the long run! Read on for cost-cutting tips. Develop Better Driving Habits Rapid acceleration, speeding, and other forms of aggressive driving are not only a nuisance to other drivers, but they're also costing you big. Stopping gradually and slowly accelerating from a stop can help cut fuel consumption by as much as 30 percent. When driving on the highway, turn on cruise control, as this handy feature will boost your vehicle's gas mileage by a noticeable amount. As long as you take it easy and develop good driving habits, you're already coming out ahead. more Download a Mobile App Smartphone apps like GasBuddy and AAA Triptik are designed to help you locate the cheapest gas stations in your area, which makes them invaluable tools to have since prices are constantly fluctuating. You can even save gas by using your mobile phone to check traffic conditions. Waze or even the Maps app for iPhone, for instance, give you a helpful traffic report so that you can plan your route accordingly, avoiding all that gas-wasting idling. Reduce the Weight Hauling unnecessary cargo, especially on the roof of your vehicle, can really cut into your gas mileage. Luggage racks, cargo containers, and other exterior add-ons create more wind resistance, making your vehicle less aerodynamic. Any extra weight in the trunk or cargo space can also be detrimental to your fuel economy. Unless you're setting out on a road trip and require all that extra gear - leave it at home. Turn Off the Air Conditioning Cranking up the air conditioning is a necessity in the summer months, but it really puts a dent in your gas budget. Try wearing lighter clothing and rolling the windows down. If you're commuting in the early morning during the coolest part of the day, you may not even miss the A/C. You'll also want to park your car in a shaded area to help keep it cool. At the very least, try using your A/C less to help save on gas expenses. Time Your Fill-Ups Gas prices tend to rise on Thursdays just before weekend travel, so try to fill up your tank just prior to that on Wednesday or Thursday morning, since 10 a.m. is generally when most gas stations set their prices for the day. Whatever you do, don't buy gas from Friday to Sunday, or even during the holidays, as prices always seem to rise during these periods. Sign Up for a Gas Rewards Card Many grocery stores offer gas rewards cards that allow you to accumulate points with every purchase, which you can put toward gas. If you can get the entire family to share the same card, you can build up points even faster. Sticking to your gas budget is easy when you shop and drive smarter. Try out a few of these suggestions and see just how much you can save! Image via pixabay.com | Licensed under Pixabay License

Road trips are always fun and exciting, until you're a few miles into a long car ride and your children start complaining that they're bored or start squabbling with one another. To make sure everyone has a good time on your next road trip, use some of these tips and tricks to keep your children busy and entertained. Create an Art Kit Children are very creative, and they love expressing this creativity through art. Before you leave on your road trip, put together an art kit your kids can use to stay entertained. Make sure you pack a variety of items in the kit so they don't get bored with it. Some good options for an art kit include washable crayons and markers, paper, stickers, and tape. If you put everything in a small plastic storage box, the box can then double as a lap desk. Pack Snacks Few things are more difficult than grumpy children who have empty stomachs. Packing a few snacks for your children to eat while they're in the car can help them pass the time and stave off sniping when they get hungry. Just make sure you carefully plan what type of snacks you pack. Giving your kids sugary snacks when they're cooped up in a car may backfire on you. Instead, look for healthy snacks such as nuts, crackers, cereals, and fruit. Also, don't forget to pack water and napkins! Bring Along a Favorite Movie If you have a particularly long road trip, consider packing a few favorite television shows and movies on DVD to provide a few hours of entertainment. If your vehicle doesn't come equipped with a rear seat entertainment system, you can pack a portable DVD player for your children to use. To make sure you can enjoy your music without having the sounds from the DVD disturbing you, don't forget to pack headphones for your kids. Play a Road Trip Game When your kids get tired of movies and art, teach them to play a road trip game. One of the classic road trip games is License Plate Bingo. Simply print out bingo cards with different license plates on them to see who can get a bingo first. If you laminate the cards and use dry erase markers, you can easily play the game again and again. Other great road trip games to teach your kids include I Spy, 20 Questions, and My Cow. Give The Kids a Camera Taking pictures is always fun, especially when you're on a road trip. Consider getting your children digital cameras they can use to take pictures during the trip. Since the cameras are digital, your kids can take pictures of anything that's inside or outside the car to keep them entertained. They can then simply delete the ones they don't want to keep. Although children can start to feel a little bored when they're on a long road trip, these tips will keep them entertained so everyone has a good time when you hit the road! Image via anjanettew | Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

The amount of fuel your car uses is mostly down to your choice of vehicle and its fuel-saving technology. However, although cars are getting more fuel efficient every year, there are still some easy steps that you can take to slightly reduce your fuel consumption. Although the reduction will not have an instant impact, the amount you'll be saving will add up to a lot of money in the long run. Here are some simple steps that you can take to save money on gas. Plan Your Drives You can not only save fuel by driving your car in a certain way but also by planning your trips in a smarter way. You probably take more trips than you need to and do it at times where traffic is at its peak. Of course, if you need to get to work or to a meeting at a specific time, there's little you can do about it. However, if you more analyze other trips that you have to make and group them together geographically, you may realize that you can get to more places in just one big trip, using much less gas than you would have if you'd taken individual trips to all those places. Also, by taking the time of day into consideration, you'll be saving gas by taking some trips outside rush hour. Remove Unnecessary Weight From Your Car Many people leave all sorts of heavy things in their trunks for months out of convenience. Leaving everything you don't need in your garage makes your car lighter, so you can get rid of all those suitcases, spare parts, bottles, and all sort of equipment that you may have back there. For every extra hundred pounds of weight added to your car, fuel consumption rises by as much as two percent, so figuring out how much you'll be saving in the long run by taking out all the heavy stuff is just a case of simple math. Avoid Being in a Rush This may be a good piece of advice to take in everyday life, anyway, but it definitely applies to saving fuel. Fast driving and late braking will greatly increase your chance of getting in an accident and raise your stress levels, so taking it easy would be a good idea even without the fuel-saving bonus. Driving calmly, anticipating the time and place where you can accelerate and break, and generally not rushing through town can save you about 30% of your fuel. Closing the Windows This is a valid advice when taking long drives because at constant high speeds, the car's aerodynamics play a major part in fuel consumption. It may sound counter-intuitive, but sometimes opening a window will cause more fuel to be used than by turning on the air conditioning system. So for commuters, driving with the windows closed and letting the car cut through the air the way it was designed to do will save you a lot of money over time. Image via Marco Verch | Licensed by CC BY 2.0