Tips to Save Money by Using Less Gas

Here’s some money saving tips I use to spend less on gas by actually driving less. Driving less also means my car will last longer (which has huge long-term savings benefits). It also makes me feel better knowing I’m conserving resources and doing my part to reduce crude oil imports.

Basically, I try to keep my driving to a minimum by combining trips and finding alternatives. Sometimes that means packing lunch, walking, carpooling or waiting a few days to get something. Let me explain a thought process I use to make these sometimes inconveniences easier to take.

I often calculate the gas cost of the trip by estimating the driving distance and then dividing my car’s gas mileage into that distance. That way I find out how many gallons of gas it will take to make the trip. I then multiply the number of gallons needed by the current gas price per gallon to get the total fuel-costs for that particular trip.

For example, if a round trip to the mall is 50 miles (25 miles there and 25 miles back) and my car gets 20 miles to the gallon, then it takes 2 1/2 gallons of gas for that trip. If gas is $3.00/gallon, then the fuel cost alone for that trip to the mall is $7.50. Sometimes just calculating that cost leads me to change plans.

Often I change plans by shopping online instead of driving. Yes, I have to wait for delivery, but even if I have to pay shipping (which I often don’t since I use coupon codes), I frequently end up paying less than than I would for the same items plus the cost of driving. (And that’s just factoring fuel costs into the equation and ignoring time and other cost considerations.)

This system works well for me and encourages me to save money. Since I am frugal by nature, I find it easy to use this personality trait to encourage conservation actions in areas like driving.

And because of these considerations, now you know why we like to say that Shopping-Bargains.com saves you time, money and gas.