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eLearning Series:
Gas Prices Are Outrageous,
Save Me Some Money!
( 13 pages )
56. Purchasing a Vehicle
When you are purchasing
a vehicle here are some things that you should keep in mind
if you are thinking about fuel efficiency:
• Buy a smaller
vehicle that will meet your needs in the city. If you want a
larger vehicle, that you won’t be using on a daily basis, you
might want to think about leasing one.
• Consider putting yourself on the waiting list of the ever
popular hybrid car. The amount of money that you’ll save in
fuel costs will pay off in a short amount of time.
• Choose fewer of the “power” options that you are offered when
you buy your new car. These power options include air conditioning,
power windows, and automatic transmission.
• Buy a two wheel drive if you have no real need for a four
wheel drive vehicle.
57. Learn to drive efficiently
If it’s been years
since you learned to drive you may want to take a refresher
course in driver’s education so that you can drive more efficiently
and wisely.
You may have some bad habits that you have picked up that could
be causing you to drive your car in a way that increases the
amount of gasoline use.
Many driving schools
will offer special deals for refresher courses for just this
reason….to help you become more efficient in your driving habits.
If you have a
young person in your home that is learning to drive this is
the perfect time for you to become familiar once again with
clean and safe driving habits.
58.
Tax deduction
The government
will give you a payment if you are willing to become more environmentally
friendly and want to conserve gas.
The owner of an
IRS certified hybrid car is able to deduct $2,000 in the year
that the car was first purchased and used.
The cars that qualify
under the current law are:
• Toyota Prius
(model years 2001-2004)
• Honda Insight (model years 2000-2004)
• Honda Civic Hybrid (model years 2003 and 2004).
Take advantage
of these tax deductions if you are buying a hybrid car or are
planning to buy one in the future months.
59.
Miscellaneous driving tips
• Use a sunshade
to keep your car cool and avoid the use of the air conditioner.
• Park in the shade when it's warm.
• Make sure that your parking brake is fully released before
you start driving.
• Use a block heater in winter to pre-warm your car engine.
• Don't ride the brake. Drive with a smooth, constant speed.
• Keep the transmission fluid in your car at the proper level.
• If there is smoke is coming from your tailpipe make sure that
you make an appointment with your mechanic.
• Make sure that your cooling system thermostat in your car
is working properly.
• Avoid air conditioning leaks by constant checkups with your
mechanic. Pre-1994 vehicles use CFCs for cooling.
• Immediately fix a slipping transmission.
• When you rev up your vehicle's engine it wastes gas. Avoid
revving your engine before your turn it off.
• If you can’t find a place to buy low priced gas on one day
wait if you can until a few days later since the price of gas
is constantly changing.
• Buy your gas at the wholesale clubs, like Costco. You can
often save over 10 cents a gallon or more. If you don't like
the wholesale clubs get a gas credit card. You'll get a 1% to
5% discount when you buy that brand of gas.
60.
Links for useful information
These websites
are a great place for you to find more information about how
to save money at the gas pump:
• Advanced engine
performance in new model cars. www.gm.com/company/gmability/adv_tech/200_ice/fact_sheets.html
• Understanding fuel economy ratings. www.autorepair.about.com/library/weekly/aa021251b.htm
• Hot new hybrid cars. www.about.edmunds.com/advice/specialreports/articles/101677/article.html
• Determine how much in fuel and fuel costs a trip will cost
you. www.fuelcostcalculator.com/
• Information about octane gas. www.autorepair.about.com/od/generalinfo/a/aa060504a.htm
• General information about your vehicle and gas consumption.
www.fueleconomy.gov/
• Save money on car expenses. www.askmen.com/toys/cars/30_car_review.html
• Fuel consumption calculator.
www.oee.nrcan.gc.ca/transportation/tools/fuel-trip-calculator/fuel-calculator-input.cfm?attr=8
• Gas tips for Canadians. www.gastips.com/
• Car tune-up information. www.autoeducation.com/ask_the_mechanic/answer5.htm
• Another gas pricing site. www.gaspricewatch.com/usgas_index.asp
61. Types of vehicle fuels
Here is a listing
of the types of alternate fuels that are available depending
on what type of vehicle that you drive.
Researching these
different fuel types might give you the incentive to drive a
vehicle that uses a lower priced fuel so that you can save money
on your transportation costs.
• Biodiesel
• Ethanol
• Battery-electric and hybrid vehicles
• Fuel cells and hydrogen
• Natural gas
• Propane
62. Current
state average gas costs
You can purchase
software that will give you a daily reading of what the price
of gas is in the area in which you live.
Much emphasis has
been placed on finding the lowest prices of gas in your local
area.
When you pay attention
to how much you are paying for your gasoline instead of just
stopping at the first convenient gas station you can be assured
that you are taking some control for saving money at the gas
pump.
Keep a log of gas
prices for a few weeks and you may find that you see a pattern
emerging. Many gas stations raise the cost of gas on weekends
when people are traveling or when they are home with their families
and making more trips on a per day basis.
If you see this
pattern emerging in the cost of gas prices you will be able
to take advantage of the lower prices that gas stations have
during the week.
Make sure that
you purchase your gas before the weekend so that you can avoid
those high costs.
For current information
of daily gas prices make sure that you check out the website:
www.fuelgaugereport.com/sbsavg.asp.
Prices are in US dollars per gallon.
Conclusion
After reading through
this Life Guide you should have all the advice, tips, and information
that you need to start saving money at the gas pumps today.
Start by slowly
implementing one or two of the money saving tips and before
long you’ll start to see a sizeable difference in the amount
of money that you spend each week buying gas for your vehicle.
By the end of one
year you will have saved yourself from $100 to $500 just by
following the suggestions in this Life Guide.
Keep track of all
your auto expenses in safe place so that you can have access
to any information that you need in a single moment. This will
come in handy if you are trying to determine how much you are
spending in fuel costs or when the last time it was that you
had your car serviced.
Saving money at
the gas pumps is as easy as making a few simple changes in your
life and your driving habits.
All this money
is yours after reading this Life Guide!
You don’t need
to make big changes all at once but if you try to adopt as many
of the tips and suggestions listed in this Life Guide you’ll
be able to spend your saved money elsewhere next year!
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