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Ridiculous (and Rising) Gas Prices Getting You Down? Here's What To Do

By: Kade Phillips, contributing writer at kanetix.com.

Sub-prime mortgage crisis, food prices soaring, gasoline costs through the roof - do you feel like you're being financially squeezed at every turn? Here are some easy things you can do about some of your auto related expenses:

Saving money at the pumps

Slow things down a bit
On most major U.S. highways and freeways, the posted speed limited for automobiles & motorcycles is typically between 55-75 mph. If you’ve got a bit of a lead foot, you should know that increasing your speed does increase your automobiles gas consumption accordingly. Driving 20% faster than the posted limit increases your gas consumption by roughly 20% as well. Think about it, with today's soaring gas prices, do you really want to be buying 20% more gas?

Relax, live longer and enjoy the ride
Aggressive driving, like rapid acceleration, speeding, and hard braking increases gasoline consumption by up to 37% according to a recent study done by Natural Resources Canada. Incredibly, it’s also been reported that aggressive city driving only gets you where you want to go about 2½ minutes faster on a 60–minute trip. 37% more gas to buy??? It’s a lot to pay for so little time saved, dontcha think?

Is your vehicle actually another 'storage room'
While it may seem like a convenient place to keep certain things, minimizing the amount of “stuff” you keep in your automobile can save you a significant amount of gas money. It is estimated by the U.S. Department of Energy that for every additional 100 pounds that you truck around in your vehicle, you are increasing your gas consumption by about 1-2%. This can really add up over time.

Not going anywhere and still burning up loads of costly gas?
It seems silly to state the obvious, but…you get 0 miles per gallon if your car is idling. You could simply turn off the cars motor if you're not moving for a while. Instead of idling while waiting at the fast food drive-up window, why not park the car and go inside? It's often way faster to get served anyway, and you should know that idling in the line up for more than 10 seconds burns more gas than restarting the engine would. Use this tip wisely, and your gasoline savings will mount.

A well maintained and smoothly running vehicle uses less fuel
Your auto was designed for optimal operation with certain minimum requirements in place. If these minimum requirements are not met, your cars fuel-efficiency suffers.

Consider the following:

• Keeping your tires properly inflated can improve your gas mileage by around 3.3 per cent.
• Your car's air filter keeps impurities from damaging the inside of your engine and it helps the engine to operate more efficiently. Replacing a dirty air filter can improve your vehicle's gas mileage by as much as 10 per cent.
• You can improve your vehicle's gas mileage by 1-2 per cent by using the manufacturer's recommended grade of motor oil. Using lower grades will not only hurt the engine, but will hurt your wallet as well, in the form of much costlier fill-ups at the pump.

Drive less - much less if you can
Now we know that this is not for everyone, but for many of us, this is not only a viable option, but it could lead to some wonderful side benefits if enabled correctly. Much better health and fitness levels could be ours if we chose instead to walk or cycle whenever possible, instead of driving absolutely everywhere. Other options are car pooling with others (could be great for your social life) - or downsizing your ride - how about one of those new scooters that gets like 80 miles per gallon?

All kidding aside, most of us could drive a lot less, walk a bit more, and we'd all be far better off for it.

Cheaper auto insurance? - yes, it's very possible
With gas prices through the roof, saving money at the pumps is a real hot-topic these days, but you should know that there's another vehicle (excuse the pun) worth looking at for significant savings where your auto costs are concerned. It's easy to do, usually costs nothing but a bit of your time to do, and most people are still unaware of just how much money can be saved.

Did you know that car insurance rates can and do vary wildly from insurer to insurer - for basically the same coverage? Only by shopping around for your auto insurance coverage and getting quotes from several insurance companies will you know whether you are getting the best possible rate on your car insurance coverage. Don’t pay any more than you have to - shop around for your car insurance policy. If you have a few minutes, compare your current auto insurance rate with multiple competing offers right now. Click on: cheap auto insurance to get started. It could be the best 5 minute investment decision you make all year.


Kade Phillips is a contributing writer at kanetix.com.
Cheap auto insurance really is possible with the help of kanetix.


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