I hate gas

The price of gas is on a lot of people's minds these days, which is understandable. As a commuter with two jobs, I think about it all the time and wonder why it is that I never get to buy anything fun anymore.

Yes, I'm becoming a bit petulant, but since it's not going to change any time soon, I've decided to try a little experiment.

We all know a few tips and tricks for using less gas on the road:

Keep tires properly inflated

Don't speed

I never understood the not speeding one and how that saves gas. I was thinking it was because when you speed, you typically slow down and speed up more, which uses more gas, but it turns out that for every mile over 60, it's like paying $.10-$.24 more per gallon. I've seen different figures floating around the internet, but no one disputes that driving 60 miles per hour will save a person on gas.

So I'm going to put that to the test.

In a typical week, I drive to work six out of seven days. My schedule is a bit goofy in that A week, I work 13 days in a row and B week, I have a day off (huzzah!), so that may factor in, but also really shouldn't since I probably won't be driving on my day off. The distance to job #1 is 17.1 miles, which usually takes me about 30 minutes (depending on traffic), and the distance to job #2 is 13.1 miles, which usually takes me about 25 minutes. In the month of March, I spent $167 on gas, and filled up about every ten days driving like I normally drive.

For this experiment, I'm going to fill up my tank on Monday, and then drive like I normally would taking a picture of the gas gauge at the end of each day. Then, once I need to fill up again, I will get my oil changed, top of my tires, and drive no more than 60. Since it's nice out and I rarely drive when I'm in town, I'm going to make sure for the duration of the experiment that I avoid driving in town whenever possible. The goal is to see if by following all the rules of saving gas, how long I can stretch a tank.

If anyone else has any tips on how to save gas, let me know and I'll incorporate those as well. Wish me luck!