Thursday, November 5, 2009

Save Money On Gas..

Don't Be A Sucker My blog post for today quotes an article straight from MSN's website in the Lifestyle section. It gives us "10 ways to save money on gasoline". You can read the full article HERE. Let's just say I am a bit skeptical, but I just love these type of gas mileage savings articles full of helpful hints. The author has good intentions, but let's break it down into real numbers.


#1. New air filter can save you 10%
#2. Front end alignment can save 10%
#3. Tune up can save 4%
#4. Proper tire inflation can save 2.8%
#5. Proper gas cap can save .5% (1 cent per gallon @ $2 a gallon)
#6. Slowing down can save 7%
#7. Driving Smoothly can save 33% (66 cents per gallon @ $2 a gallon)
#8. Laying off the brakes can save 35%
#9. Carrying less weight can save 1-2% (let's just say 1%)
#10. Don't idle can save 1 cent per gallon for every 3 minutes - I idle maybe 6 minutes a day for a 2 cent or 1% savings by turning off engine.

So if I add up all my savings, I can expect to increase my gas mileage by 104.3%. It looks like I will have to stop every few miles to drain some gas out of my tank.

If you believe all this, maybe you can tell me where the Missing Dollar went.