Straightforward Ideas for Straightforward Savings

THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY HAS A FEW IDEAS TO SAVE YOU MONEY AT THE PUMP

So fuel efficiency is all the rage, but not everyone has a hybrid or more fuel efficient car.

Luckily, the Department of Energy is here to help.  At the DOE website, you can find tips on driving techniques that will save you gas.  Here are some highlights:  

Drive Conservatively. Just a little extra speeding, braking and rapid acceleration can make a big difference. According to the DOE, these behaviors can lower your gas mileage by 33% on the highway and 5% around town, costing you as much as $1.25 per gallon.

Obey the Speed Limit. This one’s a no-brainer, but it’s easy to forget to slow down when you’re in a hurry. Still, the DOE claims “that each 5mph you drive over 60mph is like paying an additional $0.30 per gallon for gas.”

Remove Excess Weight. This might sound simple enough to be insulting, but we all carry around some extra stuff we don’t need in the trunk or back seat. If you take a minute or two to clean your car out, you could save almost $0.10 per gallon, depending on how much stuff you’ve got in there.

Avoid Idling. Whenever possible, turn your car off instead of leaving it to idle. This could make the biggest difference in the coming summer months because leaving your car to idle with the air conditioning on can cost twice as much ($0.02-$0.04/min.) as leaving it to idle with the AC off ($0.01-$0.03/min.).

These four points seem pretty basic, but they’re also easy to dismiss and forget about because they’re so simple. They could save you a few bucks a month though, so try to keep them in mind. It couldn’t hurt.