Gas is six dollars a gallon right now. And everybody's got a tip, everybody's got something to sell you. So let's cut through all of that — here are five things you can actually do today, for free, that will save you money every single time you fill up.
1. Slow Down How You Drive
This is the biggest one, and most people don't realize how much it's costing them.
Your car is kind of like your body at the gym. If you're going hard every single rep, spiking your heart rate, you're burning way more energy than you need to. Same thing with your car. Every time you mash the gas and then slam the brakes, you're wasting fuel.
Aggressive driving can kill your fuel economy by 10 to 40 percent in stop-and-go traffic. That could be 5, 8, even 10 miles per gallon depending on what you drive. Just smoothing out how you accelerate, anticipating stops, and coasting into red lights makes a real difference — and it costs you nothing.
2. Watch Your Speed on the Highway
Most cars hit their sweet spot for fuel efficiency around 50 mph. Every 5 mph over 60 costs you about 7 percent in fuel economy. If you're cruising at 75 or 80, you're paying a premium for every single mile.
Use cruise control on the highway to keep a steady speed — constantly speeding up and slowing down burns more fuel than most people realize. Just turn it off in hilly areas, otherwise the car works harder than it needs to trying to hold a set speed uphill.
Gas isn't getting cheaper anytime soon. Slowing down even a little bit on a daily commute adds up to real money over a month, and a lot of money over a year.
3. Check Your Tire Pressure
This one surprises people.
Your tires lose about one pound of pressure every single month just naturally. Most people never check. So you could easily be driving around 5 or 6 psi low without knowing it.
Underinflated tires create rolling resistance — your engine has to work harder to move the car. It's like riding a bike with soft tires. You're pedaling just as hard but going nowhere near as fast.
Properly inflated tires can improve your mileage by up to 3 percent. It takes two minutes and a cheap gauge from any auto parts store. Check the sticker inside your driver's door for the right number — not the number printed on the tire itself, that's the maximum. The door sticker is what you want.
4. Get the Extra Weight Out
Every 100 extra pounds in your vehicle reduces fuel economy by about 1 percent. That doesn't sound like much, but a lot of people are driving around with half a garage in their trunk — tools, strollers, bags, sports gear. It all adds up.
Same goes for roof racks and cargo boxes. If you're not using it, take it off. A roof cargo box at highway speeds can hurt your mileage by up to 25 percent just from the drag alone. A rear-mounted rack is a much smaller penalty if you need to keep something on the car.
5. Stop Idling
Idling gets you zero miles per gallon. Zero. You're burning fuel to go nowhere.
Sitting in a drive-through, warming up the car in the driveway, waiting to pick someone up — it all adds up faster than you'd think. Modern engines don't need 10 minutes to warm up like the old days. A minute or two is plenty. After that you're just burning gas for no reason.
If you're going to be sitting somewhere for more than a minute, shut it off. It actually takes less fuel to restart the engine than it does to keep it running.
The Bottom Line
Five things. No products, no gimmicks, no spending money. Smooth out how you drive, watch your speed, keep your tires inflated, lose the extra weight, and stop idling.
At six dollars a gallon, every one of these habits puts money back in your pocket. Might as well start today.