How do we cope-up?
With the trend of gasoline always going up, we need to somehow catch up to reduce our expense on this basic commodity. There are (I believe) a number of ways on how we can cope-up. Let's start on the very first thing that comes to mind that is -- our expense on gas.
Our Goal: Reduce Expense on Gas
1. Minimize Driving.
Walking – if you need to buy something or you need to go to a friend who lives a few blocks away; try not to get the car keys anymore --- walk! I would recommend having an umbrella though…. to keep you off the heat of the sun (and also to ward off stray dogs which might growl at you if you’re in the Philippines).
Biking – obviously this would get you faster than walking plus of course the extra exercise you’ll be getting; keep an eye though on your bikes --- you might end up walking afterwards. Lock your bikes even though you’ll be jumping off it for a few minutes.
Carpool – having one or two friends splitting up for the gas would mean significant savings on your pocket --- downside? You might end up a chauffeur here….haha.
Use public transport – it is significantly cheaper to commute rather than bring your car to work; what you will be weighing in here is your convenience.
Plan your trip – frequent stops means longer working hours for the engine hence more fuel being consumed. Try to contain your list of “to dos” into one location.
2. Keep your car in tip-top shape.
Keep your engine in good shape – do the needed check-ups, tune-up and change oil on a regular basis. A well maintained engine will work efficiently; hence, efficient gas mileage.
Keep your tires correctly inflated – you may opt to check the sides of your tires or your car manufacturer’s manual for the correct values.
Reduce the weight of your car – try to lighten up things a bit. If you can reduce the load on your car, this would mean less power needed to drive you off to your location. Check out unnecessary items inside your trunk.
3. Drive efficiently.
Avoid sudden braking – learn how to control your push on the brake pedals. Acceleration followed by sudden braking wastes gas. Try to keep a significant distance on the car in front of you to allow for a smooth stop. Pay close attention though to the cars beside as they maybe cutting into your lane.
Anticipate stop lights – anticipating when to stop means you’ll know when to pull-off your foot on the gas pedal; hence, less gas.
Avoid idling the engine for too long – your car consumes gas during idling; it is better off consuming gas moving rather than consuming gas in a stationary position and getting you nowhere. Learn to warm-up the engine to its ideal operating temp by driving it off slowly.
Turn-off the air conditioner – whenever possible, drive your car with the air conditioners off. You could probably turn it off when heading back home from work during the night or early evening.
Control your take off coming from a “full stop” – you will benefit significantly on gas mileage by learning this. Sudden acceleration consumes greater amount of gas as compared to normal acceleration. Learn to push gently on the gas pedal when coming from a “full stop.”
Shifting correctly – Manual Transmission: shifting at low rpms (shifting early) will significantly reduce gas consumptions. My advise is that you feel the car for you to know when you need to shift. Automatic Transmission: Use the cruise control option (if your car is equipped with one) when driving on a highway or where the traffic permits. You’ll not be needing to accelerate anymore hence you’ll save on gas. Overdrive gears will also keep your car’s RPM down; as such, savings also on gas.
4. Fill-up your tank smartly.
Choose to fill-up during the night or early morning - evaporation is the key here. Filling-up during daytime or when the temperature is high will end up in a lesser amount of fuel poured into your tank.
Do not top off the tank – the extra gas evaporates as you drive after topping off the tank; hence, they become wasted fuel. Stop filling at the automatic level as soon as the gas pump stops and clicks.
Learn to use credit cards to fill-in your tank – today, there are a number of credit card companies offering rebates when you fill-up using their cards. Most give around 3% rebates. This is significant savings when you compute on a monthly basis. Further, most offer added benefits like price shield protection for a certain period – this will get you protected from sudden increase in prices. Others offer towing services while others give you a free meal or snack when you fill-up.
5. Check out other alternatives.
Downgrade to a smaller car – simply put, a small car means less fuel consumption as compared to a bigger car. If you are using a car with a 1.6L or 1.8L displacement, generally a car with a 1.1L or 1.3L displacement will need a lesser amount of fuel to get you on the same location --- better mileage.
Shift from automatic to manual – if your car has an automatic transmission, you may opt to trade or sell your car in lieu of a car with manual transmission. Cars with automatic transmission consume more gas than those having manual transmission.
Shift from gas to diesel – generally diesel is cheaper by around 10% as compared to gasoline; too little? Try to look also into the maintenance side, a diesel engine wouldn’t need spark plugs during tune-up, you’ll just need to change the oil and that’s it over a certain period.
Use other fuel alternatives – if your car has a diesel engine, you may opt to check if your car will run using biodiesel. If your car has a gasoline engine, you may opt to check or try running using LPG. Both are relatively cheaper (than gas or diesel) and will also reduce the emission rate of your vehicle. Check out also if your car can use ethanol which is also another alternative. You can check them with your car's manufacturer.
Check out hybrid cars – as evidenced by Japanese automobile manufacturers, hybrid cars has better mileage as compared to conventional cars. However, I believe we still need to look into the maintenance side of it since we might end up loosing more cash on maintaining or repairing them.
Why not get a motorbike or a motorcycle? – this has become very popular in a number of Asian countries. I believe a liter of gasoline will yield up to 20 to 40 kilometers per liter --- very efficient? Yes. However, personally, I DO NOT RECOMMEND this. Please check out the number of fatalities or news headline of motorcycle accidents on a daily basis!
Some Personal Notes:
The ever increasing prices of gasoline, on a historical point of view, have turned out to be INEVITABLE. With this in mind, we need to check out other options on how we can totally deal with it.
1. Saving and finding out ways to reduce our expense on gasoline.
2. Switch to other fuel alternatives. Significantly reduce our dependency on fossil fuels.
3. On a more personal note, we need to Increase our income versus our expense --- try thinking about it.
