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With the price of gas expected to top $4 on average across the US the summer, some small gas saving tips are beginning to become more important. Recently, I was talking with my wife and thinking about what we could do to drive less, and other ways to save on gas. Upon conclusion, I wanted to tell you about a few of those gas money saving tips:

• Mail your deposits to the bank, instead of driving to it.
  In the old days, it cost about as much or less in gas to  drive to the local bank. But at $3 per gallon, and an approximate 8 miles (16 miles round trip) to our bank, we are looking at significantly more money to drive there than to mail it. Our Acura Integra gets about 26 miles to the gallon so: 16 miles / 26 miles to the gallon X $3 per gallon = $1.85 as compared to a 41 cent stamp and a few pennies for an envelope. Unbelievable, but its the honest truth. On a side note, don’t send cash through the mail, make sure it is in your name only, and write “for deposit only” just below your signature on the back. That will minimize the chances of someone making off with your money.
• Leverage the internet to pay your bills.
  Absolutely wherever possible, use the internet to pay your bills. Many, many typical household service/product companies like mortgage companies, cable companies, internet service providers, electrical providers, etc. have websites that you can use to pay your bill online. My wife and I use this in almost all of our bills. Be careful of the ones that charge a fee for the online bill pay service. In this case, it is often best just to mail in your payment (this is what we do).
• Buy gas early in the morning.
  Gasoline, as is the case for most liquids, tends to be more dense when cold. So if you can get the gas while it is cool outside, you stand a chance of getting slightly more gas for the same amount of money. It isn’t going to be much more, but again, at $3+ per gallon, every little bit helps.
• Plan, plan, plan.
  Plan your trips during the day. It doesn’t take much to come up with a list of things you need to do, and take care of them all in one shot. This will avoid having to turn around, waste time, and spend more money on gas.
• Keep the idling of your car to a minimum.
  So on those cold days when you want to warm up the car, don’t. Warming up your car for 30 minutes a day, everyday can cost you a considerable amount of gas. Just bundle up, jump in, and go to work. Often it will only take a couple of minutes for your car to warm up and you can get the heater going. It usually only takes me about 2-3 miles to warm up the engine, then the heater works good.

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