Dealing with gas is a hard thing to do for most people, especially after the recent increase in gas prices. As of September 15th, 2022, the national average for a gallon of regular gas was $3.70. However, the better the quality gas then the higher the average is. For example, the national average for a mid-grade gallon of gas is $4.14, and for premium gas it is $4.45! You’re definitely not alone if you feel like you can’t afford gas because it’s too expensive. There’s more hope for this than you may think! There are many methods you could practice to save money on gas.
Ways You Could Save Money On Gas
Some research states that the estimated cost of gasoline in 2022 is $2,000 that American families will spend. This can be too much for a family that isn’t doing well financially. Because of this, you should look into more ways to save money. Some ways to help you save more on gas are:
- Notice Your Driving Habits
- Understand When to Get Gas
- Know the Best Gas Pump Locations
- Know the Fuel Efficiency of Your Car
- Get Car Maintenance Often
- Use Cash to Pay for Gas
- Use the Help of Gas Rewards Programs
Notice Your Driving Habits
Being aware of your habits of driving can make you a good driver. The main reason why you should notice your driving habits is because it could affect the amount you spend on gas in many different ways.
Drive Carefully
Driving carefully is one of the ways you can drive better. Keep in mind that you should never become an aggressive or careless driver. By aggressive driver we mean one that typically drives fast, uses the brakes suddenly and speeds up quickly. It’s known that people who do not follow aggressive driving habits can save on gas money just by following more careful driving techniques.
Plan Your Trips Mindfully
To give you an example to understand how planning your trips correctly could make a change, let’s say you have to make a trip that is 12 miles away. You have the option to take a 25-minute route or a 60-minute route. Choosing to drive for an unnecessary 35 minutes will definitely lead to using more gas than you should. For this reason, it’s always best to plan your trips mindfully by using different apps such as Good Maps or Apple Maps, etc., to navigate the fastest and shortest routes for your trips.
Choose the Option to Drive Less
Let’s say there’s a nearby coffee shop that you like to drive to and it’s 4 minutes away from your house. It’s best if you choose the option to walk this short distance instead of driving when it’s possible. If you choose to walk, this leads to you driving less, which then leads to you using less gas.
Learn to Park Better
There’s a lot of money that goes to waste just by people circling around the parking lot trying to find the best parking spot available. This, however, can waste gas when it’s unnecessary. Try to find a parking spot that isn’t necessarily close to where you are staying instead of circling around and wasting gas. You can also use the help of some available apps to help you find a parking spot!
Understand When to Get Gas
You need to take care of your car correctly. In fact, every car has its own different needs. A specific need to keep in mind is the type of gas your car consumes. If you’re going through a financial situation and your car can work fine without premium gas, there’s no need to spend extra money to get it.
You can also try to get your gas when it’s necessary and on the right day. It’s been known that gas is usually the cheapest on Mondays. On the other hand, gas is the most expensive on Thursdays.
Know the Best Gas Pump Locations
It’s widely known among people that gas is often more expensive the closer you are to a city.
To give you an example, gas in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is probably more expensive than gas closer to the suburbs like in Ambler, Pennsylvania. You need to find the best gas pump locations with the best prices. People may also save on gas if they are part of gas station memberships. An example of this is Costco, a wholesale company that offers cheaper gas to its members (60 cents cheaper per gallon than a Mobil gas station).
Know the Fuel Efficiency of Your Car
As we mentioned before, each car has its own different needs. Another thing to consider about your car is its level of fuel efficiency. Fuel efficiency means the distance that a car can drive with only one gallon of gas. Each car will have a different fuel efficiency level. Some cars are not that efficient. If this is the case with your car, you may need to consider getting a car that will make the most out of the fuel that is used to make it run.
Get Car Maintenance Often
Some common forms of car maintenance are oil changes, replacing wiper fluid, etc. Car maintenance, however, can be in the form of other things that have the ability to affect the way your car uses gas. Your car will likely burn more fuel if it’s not frequently checked compared to another car with regular maintenance.
Use Cash to Pay for Gas
You can actually save up to 10 cents per gallon if you use cash to pay for your gas. The reason why that is possible is that gas stations often require a surcharge for payments done via credit card. This means more money is spent! People who use cash to pay are known to save $1 on average for every 12 gallons filled.
Use the Help of Gas Rewards Programs
Some gas stations offer benefits from rewards programs even though some other stations don’t. The benefits of these rewards programs can be very helpful to some people in getting gas price discounts, exchanging free points for items at the gas station, and more. 7-Eleven, for example, offers consumers the opportunity to save 11 cents per gallon for the first seven filled gallons.
To Sum Up
Even though gas prices can be costly to deal with, you can still have hope to get through it! Keep in mind the many ways you can save money on gas. Things you should start doing include:
- Notice Your Driving Habits
- Understand When to Get Gas
- Know the Best Gas Pump Locations
- Know the Fuel Efficiency of Your Car
- Get Car Maintenance Often
- Use Cash to Pay for Gas
- Use the Help of Gas Rewards Programs
You may not be able to control how fast the price of gas increases, but you can control how much you spend on it. Doing the best of your ability could help you notice some important changes in your savings over time!
