Saving Money on Gas---Don't be a Gas Guzzler.

Saving money on gas is not as hard as you may think it is. According to some recent statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation, most Americans drive an average of 29 miles and spend somewhere around 55 minutes a day in their cars. If you add this to the fact that the national average for car fuel efficiency is somewhere around 24.4 miles per gallon, which was the lowest since 1986 when the nation overall average was about 25.9 miles per gallon. What is cool is that 65 percent of U.S. households nowadays own two or more cars. Of course, the War in Iraq and Hurricane Katrina have changed these stats significantly.

Knowing this is the case, driving more sensibly can greatly assist you if you learn to  conserve gas during this time of excessively high prices. Aggressive driving, such as speeding and accelerating to quickly and braking to fast actually wastes gas. It can lower your gas mileage by 33 percent whenever you are driving at highway speeds and you are also wasting gas by 5 percent when you are cruising around town with no particular place to go. In fact, this 5 to 33 percent is the same thing as gas savings of 7 cents to 49 cents a gallon. This is just too cool when you know it.

Checking out the speed limit when you are driving and adhering to it can also help. Gas mileage lowers quickly when you are driving at speeds that are above 60 mph. basically for every 5 mph that is driven over 60 mph it is just like paying an extra 10 cents per gallon. Using cruise control on the highway helps you to maintain a constant speed that can help you save money on gas. If you can expect being stopped for more than one minute for things like trains, or tickets, your best bet is to shut off the car during this time. Contrary to popular belief restarting the car uses up less fuel than just letting it sit with the engine on.

You will want to try to consolidate all of your trips and errands that you need to make to cut down on the driving time which will cut down on gas money used. Also, take the time to clean out that trunk because the heavier the load in your car is, the more gasoline will be used. And with the summer starting to creep up on us you should keep in mind that using the air conditioner sparingly will also save gas. The A/C puts more force on the engine, which forces you to use more gas. About 20 percent more to be exact.

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