Why doesn't anyone know the real best ways to save gas?

Question

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/104826/Five-Ways-to-Save-Gas-Money

Not a single practical piece of advice, just the same old tired mantras:

"Drive like old people have s*x, slow and sloppy! Take the bus, smelling people's B.O. is fun! Shop for lower gas prices, just 15 miles out of your way, save 2 cents per gallon! Ride a bicycle to work on deserted dirt paths through the woods!"

Please. How about some REAL advice:

1. Just don't drive as much. Shop once a week. Don't go out as much. Cut the demand, prices will fall.

2. Sell your 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th car. One car per household. (We do it, it works. Saves $$$)

2. Work from home. INSIST (you only have one car)! Technology: it's a wonderful thing. You probably have better equipment at home anyway!

3. Motorcycle/scooter. 50 mpg+ and FUN.

4. Stay at home mom. Seriously. Do the math. You'll be shocked.

5. Park once in a lot, then walk to all your stores. It's amazing. Feet work!

Answer 1

I like you, great answers and your a smarta$$ But honestly if you really want to save gas, don't use any. Sell the car, as you said feet do work plus the exercise will keep you healthy. Cook at home ( I know I know that one is a toughy) we depend on gas and oil WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too much. With the gas prices soaring, because the wind blew from the East, we need to take a stand and refuse to purchase it period

Answer 2

Well, I don't have a motorcycle, because I don't want to die, and it's not usable for much of the year in New England.  Think about wearing a leather outfit in the summer, too.  Also, you can't go to work in a suit on a motorcycle, or bring your cat to the vet on a motorcycle, or bring home groceries or any sort of large package on a motorcycle.

I do shop once a week.  I go out maybe twice a week, including the shopping.  Demand for gas has fallen, domestically, but foreign demand, combined with the dollar devaluation (thanks Fed!), still means gas prices are going up.  

I do have only one car.

Stay at home Mom, well, I'm not a woman, but I think a Mom could come out ahead financially if she worked during the day.  Stay at home Mom's don't make money.  Or most don't.  You could if you could write at home and sell the result, or something like that.

I don't live in a setup where I can walk to all my stores.  Even if I could, doing shopping once a week, I can't carry everything I get from one store around, much more one store + 1.

So basically, the best way to save gas is to not be fat, don't be one of those airheads blabbering on their cellphone while driving a SUV, not using your car as portable storage, and not  being one of those jerks on the road whose reckless driving causes everyone else to burn gas by trying to avoid the messes they cause in the traffic pattern.  Seriously, if people stopped buying largely awful American and European cars and stopped driving apartments on wheels, we wouldn't have these problems.  Instead, those of us that don't drive McMansions are sort of screwed because of the brainless drones that spend $100 every other day on gas to feed their Sherman tanks.  And then they have the audacity to whine that government should ensure they can afford to fill up their vehicle.  Well, look at what ethanol did.  They're just going to make gas even more expensive, or there will be price caps, and therefore, gas lines.  So they should

If people want cheaper gas, stop voting for people who will raise your taxes, stop voting for people who will increase gas prices by  corporate welfare schemes such as ethanol, and start voting for people who know they aren't omniscient, who will get the government out of the market, where it can only make things worse and raise prices or artificially limit supply, and will allow for domestic oil exploration and refinery construction.

Answer 3

Stop driving completely,,,,,,,use public transpotation. It's not all that bad, and all it takes is a little planning.

Otherwise, if everyone in the USA parked their cars two days a week the oil companies would be forced to lower prices to sell all of the excess fuel they would have.

Answer 4

Yeah too bad life isn't that simple.

Answer 5

Good point, I do all the above. When I seen this coming two years ago, I purchased a used gas efficient vehicle. We live in the country, don't have much choice in driving to town. No public transport. 20 miles from town.

But my job centers around driving - (newspapers and delivery)

so almost impossible to NOT drive. For personal, I went to town one time last week.

I'm cutting down, I cannot afford the prices.

Answer 6

You can make fun of driving slow all you want,  speed is fun but it seriously wastes fuel.

Lead foot is an expensive hobby.   Even going 70 on the freeway is expensive.

At 55 your car uses some 15% LESS FUEL than at 65.  And if you go over 80, forget it!  MPG plummets exponentially.  But acceleration is where most your fuel is consumed.  

Refuse to drive over 55, just two days a week, and take twice as long to accelerate as you normally do, you will save as much as 20%.  That’s like taking 80 cents a gallon off the price (assuming $4.00 per gallon)

(pretend there is an egg on your accelerator, step lightly)

Plus, when you try it, you find that, at the next red light, you catch up to all the morons   who  jackrabbit on green and cut everyone off.  In fact its sort of funny, driving slow you can actually pass them sometimes (if they get stuck behind a truck or something) which just infuriates them.  Don’t knock it till you try it, driving slow can be very entertaining, and fancy stunt driving seldom gets you where you are going any faster.



I’d rather drive slow than take a bus or drive a donor-cycle.  It’s all about priorities.

Answer 7

Best way to save gas and gas money:

Ride a bicycle, walk, or jog.

Answer 8

Car pool

Answer 9

Carpool if all possible. I saved $50 dollars a week, just by riding to work with a friend.

Answer 10

People are retarded.  (No offense intended to retards)

People can't even drive safely from point A to point B, to expect them to do it efficiently is like asking dogs to perform tonsillectomies while reciting Shakespeare.

My big gas saver........... ****drum roll***.........

IF I SEE A RED LIGHT OR SLOW TRAFFIC IN THE DISTANCE (duh) I LAY OFF THE GAS!  Call me silly, I know, but it works.

Answer 11

Very funny and right on the $$, especially about the b.o.  It's amazing how much moolah you can save by using your noggin. In addion to common sense, I found a few new & helpful tips just this morning in this Kiplinger's article: http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/art...

Cut & Paste and use your feet! Also, and it would be most courteous and save fuel if everyonel will kindly STOP tailgating -- all that unneccesary acceleration and braking...

.

Answer 12

I'd actually take the motorcycle/scooter thing. I mean its warming up, and if you actually just go from work to home why not. No need for any real trunk space, and why those three extra seats just you. I still keep my car lol. But if this is gonna be happening for some months and keep rising.

Answer 13

It just that America is soo lazy these days they don't really want to do anything. Most people say " take the bus" or "shop for gas" but that still doesn't help. People want a solution to make themselves feel better but actually it doesn't make a difference. I agree with all your points but I have tips to add to them.

. Cut down on long distance trips ( by plane, car, etc) it eats up a lot of gas.

. Try to go home from work, school, etc by the highway. It is a actual proven fact that local roads use up more oil cause of the constant stops

. This one will be hard but try to get the governement to drill in the U.S. There are tons and tons of oil in Alaska, Florida, California, Montana, etc. ( combined 112 billion barrels! available but these politions don't let us touch it)

. Athletes/Movie stars/Politions use too much oil traveling places to places but u cant do to much about it

Answer 14

buy an alternate fuel vehicle

IMO electric or solar/electric hybrids will be taking over within a decade

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIwYwAQ8j...

Answer 15

did you know our cars and other oil biproduct consuming devices are running on 1920's tech. they are so inefficent that 80% of the gas in you tank is lost to heat and never used to power your car, i think that if we make everything quality over quantity then that will solve alot of our probs.

Answer 16

Those you suggest will all work,  except #2.    One car per household will save fuel only because there is not a vehicle for every person to run to when they want to go.    This probably assists in combining trips and not being the one who volunteers to drive.    But the savings on insurance,   registeration,  and maintenance is well worth the extra effort to do without the extra vehicles.

Answer 17

Good suggestions. Park once once is excellent. It also ties in with the nation being overweight. Walking is good exercise.

Answer 18

1. Find the Lowest Gas Prices

2. Target the Best Time of Day to Buy Gas (dawn or late at night, when the sun and traffic volume are both down. Stations usually will raise prices during the day, especially for rush hour.)

3. Improve Your Car's Gas Mileage - (High speeds, quick starts, and squealing stops burn more gas and money)

4. Keep Your Car in Healthy Shape

5. Get a Gas Rewards Card

Answer 19

I have no idea why people don't know.

1.  If you don't have to drive walk or ride a bicycle.

2.  Fill up late at night or early in the morning when the gas has contracted so that you get more into your tank.

3.  Plan your routes before you leave, and stick to them.  Don't drive all willy nilly.

4.  Spend the extra money to save more gas with upgrades for your vehicle.

5.  Trade in your vehicle for an electric one or hybrid.

6.  If there is a replacement engine that is electric or hybrid for you vehicle, have it installed.

7.  Hang Glide to work.  Ha, ha.  Thought that would catch your attention.

8.  Use public transportation if available in your area.

9.  Sign up for a gas card with your grocer.  That extra 3 to 6 cents saved will add up.

10.  Boycot driving.

11.  Never let your tank get less than half full.  You burn more gas when you do.

Answer 20

Best way to save gas..............?

Stay away from baked beans.

mwahahahaha

Answer 21

Here's the best way to save gas, in my opinion...

I realized to save money just for gas...

I'm cancelling cable this week.  We pay almost $50/month just to have it in analog and we don't even get or like to watch 90% of those channels. I'd rather invest that money. If the price keeps going up, we may have to cancel cellphones too. We will completely stop patronizing restaurants, movie theatres, festivals, amusement parks, video rental stores, malls, etc. No vacations period.

These businesses will surely feel the impact of the rising gas price.

We will have to meet our basic needs first - that's food, water, shelter, clothing, gas for work, etc.

Here's another thing I do to save on gas during the summer.

If you can't do without air condition, in my car I've installed one of those clip-on fans from Wal-Mart that you can get for less than $ 9.00.  I turn on the A/C and fan, then once it's cool inside the car, I turn the A/C off and let the fan recirculate the cool air inside the car. I only turn the A/C back on as needed.

Answer 22

Switch to ethanol, use a hydrogen fuel cell, use a electrical vehicle, buy a higher MPG vehicle, and finally use a passive solar system on your home and charge the vehicle.

those are all alternatives, if you want to save money on gas, then you already got the basic idea

Answer 23

Just use a bike i guess.