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Most drivers experienced the $3.00 per gallon gas prices that occurred during 2006. And, while gas prices today hover around $2.20 per gallon, most automobile owners might wonder if that price is here to stay. It appears that few individuals understand what really drive gas prices. Whether the price is valued on seasonal changes, rising crude prices, or location, this cost has altered many lifestyles.

The solution, then, is to learn how to save from $0.03 to $2.20 per gallon (yes, up to a full gallon of gas or more) with some simple tips and tricks. Although you can find many suggestions on how to save gas, the following list contains only the most important issues that will save you the most money. The money saved is based on a price of $2.20 per gallon.

1. Conduct research before you leave home.

Find the cheapest gas in your area before you turn the key in the ignition. Gas Buddy offers a network of over 179 Web sites that allow you to find low gasoline prices across America. Since prices vary daily, it’s best to check this site often. Gas Buddy is an invaluable tool for the traveler as well, since it’s a crapshoot to determine which areas might carry less expensive fuel when you’re unfamiliar with the territory. For instance, if you traveled into Durham, North Carolina, you might discover a full $0.22 difference among low and high prices for pumps in that city on any given day. In addition, use the lowest octane level gas available that’s suitable for your vehicle. Your savings would be from $0.03 to $0.22 per gallon in pump costs and from $0.10 to $0.20 per gallon between unleaded and premium gas for a total of $0.13 to $0.42 per gallon savings.

2. Know where you’re going.

Gas Buddy offers maps that detail a gas station’s location for folks who are unfamiliar with an area. Maps are essential tools that will help you to save on gas — but only if you use them. If you’re lost, you can lose dollars, not just cents, as you try to find your way back to the beaten path. You can save full gallons of gas or more, depending upon how far you’ve traveled in the wrong direction. In addition, if you map out your destination and you discover that you’re going to pass by or through an Indian reservation, purchase a fill-up there. You might save up to $0.30 per gallon in this situation since you don’t pay taxes on that gas.

3. Find the path of least resistance.

If you know about construction or weather conditions that will force you to use more gas, then you can choose an alternate route or postpone that trip and save on gas. If you want to learn about road conditions in your area or in places where you plan to travel, visit either the National Traffic and Road Closure site or the U.S. Road Conditions site. Both Web sites lead you to information on a state-by-state basis through links to a state’s official site. Once again, you can save up to a gallon of gas or more depending upon the conditions.

4. Maintain your car.

You paid a lot of money for that vehicle, so it deserves to be pampered. Learn when to perform maintenance on your vehicle so that you can save money on your gas mileage as well as to keep the value of your car at its premium. You can save more money if you do the maintenance yourself in most cases. Even if you focused only on tire pressure, you could improve your gas mileage. With properly inflated tires, you can save up to 11 gallons of fuel per month, or $26.

5. Your driving style can eat gas.

Moderate driving and lower speed is the real ticket to lower gas costs. Although driving at 55 miles per hour might get you there slower, that’s the best speed for gas mileage on the highway. However, when you encounter interstates where the minimum speed limit is 60 miles per hour, you don’t want to break the law. But think about this: a 30-mile drive to work at 65 miles per hour instead of 75 miles per hour would save about $0.30 per day and you would spend just under four minutes more daily on the road. Over a month’s time you could save 1/3 tank of gas, or four tanks of gas per year, or $150 annually. Additionally, when you stop driving like a maniac, your savings will average 43 percent, or up to $0.90 per gallon.

6. Don’t idle.

This is a tricky suggestion as it concerns both gas savings and safety. If you’re sitting at a red light, do you turn off your engine? We think not, for safety reasons. But, there’s no need to burn gas when you warm up your car in the morning, because 30 seconds is all you need to get that motor going. And, there’s no reason to keep idling if you’re stuck in a drive-thru or in a roadblock that was caused by an accident or by construction. Why? Because two minutes of idling equates to about one mile of traveling.

If you want to argue about the cost of turning your vehicle on and off compared to the gas cost, you might save it until you price the parts you might need to replace starter systems and then compare those prices to current gas prices. Point is that you will save on gas costs if you turn your car off when you’re stuck in a situation where you will be in one spot for more than two minutes. The total savings may be negligible, but if your car gets 30 miles per gallon on the highway you could possibly save $0.07 per gallon within that two-minute stretch.

7. Why are you running on diesel?

You might not save on gas if you turn your diesel engine off rather than idle, because it takes longer for a diesel engine to warm up — hence the use of more gas. But, why are you using diesel? According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, when you evaluate a diesel vehicle’s impact on oil dependence, you should adjust the listed fuel economy downward about 20 percent before comparing it with a gasoline vehicle. That issue deals with the environment more than with price, but you probably know that diesel fuels have been running neck-to-neck with octane gas prices over the past year. If you’re running diesel, then, adjust all the savings in this article downward by 20 percent.

8. Choose a gas-efficient vehicle.

If you’re in the market for a new car or if you rent cars to get where you want to go, the difference in price between 20 miles per gallon. and 30 miles per gallon can surpass $500 per year if you travel 1,000 miles per month or more. Find that gas-efficient automobile through the government’s Fuel Economy site. You can use Edmunds.com for a second opinion. If you choose a gas-efficient rental for a short weekend trip, your savings could equal up to a full tank of gas, or about $30 or more.

9. Save money on gas saving gadgets.

In other words, don’t buy them. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has evaluated or tested more than 100 alleged gas-saving devices and they discovered that none of the gadgets significantly reduced gas costs. Visit the EPA’s fuel economy section for more information about these gadgets and for more ways to save money on gas.

10. Pay cash for gas.

Unless you pay off the balance on your credit or gas cards monthly, you can add up to 29 percent more to your gas costs through interest paid to that credit or gas card. One exception to this tip is if you use reward cards and pay those cards off each month. Then, you don’t pay the interest charge, and you can receive credit toward airline or hotel points. Savings: up to 29 percent per year or additional freebies like a night at a hotel while you’re on the road.

11. Rideshare or carpool.

An effective way to save on gas costs is to avoid using that car unless you contract with other people to ride with you. If you use your vehicle for the rideshare, add up the costs of gas for each individual, and also prepare them for the fact that you need to charge them for the costs of maintaining your vehicle. The argument would include the fact that you’re actually saving them gas costs with proper maintenance. This ploy only works if you have a long-term rideshare agreement [PDF] that focuses on a variety of issues.

In addition, it doesn’t hurt to take a few practice runs with additional people in the car to see how their extra weight affects your gas mileage before you divvy up the costs. Check out local incentives for carpooling and use them to save both time and money. Gas savings would be 50 percent per year with one additional person, up to 75 percent per year with three other people. If you drive 1,000 miles per month, this savings would range from $440 to over $660 per year.

12. Get a bike.

While most people can’t live without their cars, some people would agree to leave them at home for short errands. Get a bike with a basket and use it for local errands. Savings to you would be 100 percent during these little trips. Total annual gas savings: from $25 to over $660 per year, depending upon how often you used this method for gas savings.

You probably figured by now that you could be in the zero-dollar price range for gas if you complied with all the tips and tricks shown above. But, gas will never be free, and it can be safe to say that you won’t find a gas station that will pay you to cart away its fuel. But, you can avoid paying the full price for gas if you simply lightened your foot on the gas pedal, because that action will add more miles to your gas tank.

No matter how you try to conserve gas, the payback is two-fold. You become a safer driver in some instances, or you might make new friends if you carpool. You could lose a few pounds while biking to the store, and if you shed enough weight you’ll save on gas prices with your lighter load. Finally, you add your two cents to environmental protection, because the less fuel you use, the less CO₂ you emit into the atmosphere. For that effort, we thank you.

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