The Sun's Financial Diary » Oil and gas

Save Money on Gas Tips from Consumer Reports

Sun — Thu, 08 May 2008 03:32:00 +0000

In the June issue of Consumer Reports, the magazine gives its readers some ideas to save money at the pump. In addition to tips that we have already knew, such as avoiding rapid acceleration/stop, there are also tips that I didn’t know before or haven’t paid any attention, such as the rolling resistance of tiers. The conclusions were based on tests the agency conducted with Toyota Camry and other vehicles.

Drive smoothly: Frequent rapid acceleration and breaking reduced the Camry mileage by 2 to 3 mpg.
Drive at a moderate speed: Driving at 55 mph instead of 65 or 75 mph can save money. When the Camry goes from 55 mph to 65 on highway, its fuel efficiency dropped from 40 mpg to 35.
Reduce unnecessary drag: Don’t carry things on top of your car if you don’t have to.
Don’t use premium fuel if you don’t have to: If your car need only regular gas, don’t buy premium. Your engine won’t run better with higher grade gas.
Minimize driving with a cold engine: Making multiple short trips and starting the engine from cold each time can reduce fuel economy by nearly 4 mpg.
Keep tires properly inflated: When the Camry’s tires are under-inflated by 10 psi, the loss in mileage is 1.3 mpg.
Buy tires with lower rolling resistance: The rolling resistance of tires can further reduce the car’s fuel economy by 1 to 2 mpg. By high-rated tires with lower rolling resistance.
Avoid idling for long period: When your car is idling, it gets zero mile per gallon. Turn off the engine when you expect to stay longer than 30 seconds (??).

BTW, oil price has broken all-time record everyday this week. Now, crude oil is traded above $123 a barrel (Bloomberg) and the national average of regular gas is $3.665/gallon (gasbuddy.com).

Featured Information: Gas Rewards Credit Cards

Feeling the pain at the pump? Get up to 5% cash rebate for the money you have to spend from these gas rewards credit cards:

Discover Open Road Card: With Discover Open Road Card, you can earn 5% cashback on gasoline purchases at any stations where Discover is accepted. Plus, it also offers 5% Cashback Bonus on auto maintenance. However, the drawback is only the first $100 are eligible for 5% bonus. Other purchases earn 1% Cashback Bonus.

Chase Freedom Credit Card Chase Freedom Card is the gas reward card I am using, though not exclusively for gas purchase. The card gives 3% cashback on all purchases at any gas station. But it comes with a catch: Gas purchase must be one of top 3 categories in monthly spending to e receive the 3% reward. Otherwise, the rebate will be just 1%. In addition, the card also has a maximum of $18 you can earn on 3% bonus every month.

American Express and Costco TrueEarnings Card The TureEarnings Card just added gas to its rewards program. Now it allows cardholders to earn 3% cashback on all gas purchase. The TrueEarnings card also gives back 3% bonus for restaurants, 2% for travel, and 1% everywhere else including at Costco. There’s no limit on cash rebates you can earn. The TureEarnings Business Card gives a even more generous 5% cashback on gasoline.

More card offers can be found here.

photo credit: williamhartz

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Save Money on Gas Tips from Consumer Reports

Looking for Cheaper Gas?

Sun — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 02:32:24 +0000

Then come to New Jersey!

And fill up at gas stations along the Garden State’s pay road!

With national average of regular gas at $3.574/gallon (Gasbuddy.com), NJ’s $3.374/gallon average is the second lowest (only Wyoming has cheaper gas). However, $3.374 per gallon is NOT the cheapest you can find in the state.

Along NJ’s toll road, Garden State Parkway and NJ Turnpike, regular gas is still sold at $3.179 a gallon, but only for a few more hours. Because of the contract between the state and gas stations, stations can only adjust their price once a week, at the mid-night every Friday. By tomorrow morning, the price will go up 23 cents. No wonder people are lining up to fill up their tanks today! Even out-of-state drivers are attracted to these stations to get a full load before heading back home to facing near-4-dollar gas.

And today CIBC World Markets analyst came out with a prediction that gas price could hit $7 in four years. Talking about being squeezed, the ever increasing gas price has a much bigger impact on our wallet than food, at least for now.

Featured Information: Gas Rewards Credit Cards

Feeling the pain at the pump? Get up to 5% cash rebate for the money you have to spend from these gas rewards credit cards:

More card offers can be found here.

*Photos from NJ.com

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Looking for Cheaper Gas?

$3 Gas is Back

Sun — Mon, 21 May 2007 20:53:14 +0000

I stopped at a near by Valero station this morning to fill up my car and I didn’t need the $40+ receipt to remind me that 3-dollar-per-gallon gas is making a come back. Actually, gas price has been rising quietly lately. Less than a month ago, I could still get a full tank for under $40, but now it’s approaching $45. Though I am living in a low-gas price state (New Jersey that is, as the following plot from GasBuddy.com shows), it’s quite pain to see that little by little, the cost of driving every day starts to have noticeable impact on our monthly bills.

I don’t know exactly what cause the upswing of gas price. These’s no disruption of the supply and oil price now is not higher than a month ago. One explanation could be that it’s just a seasonal pattern as we are entering the summer driving season and people are expecting the supply of gasoline will be tight between now and Labor Day.

For us, most of our drivings are to and from work that we can’t cut. We don’t have any long distance travel plan for the summer. Even if we do, it won’t be affecte because it will cost more to drive now. It’s the daily commute that makes my wallet thinner, not a one-time trip. That said, if I do have to pay more and more gas everyday, it does make it less desirable to have a long trip that requires more financial resources.

Like it or not, there’s nothing we can do but live with it.

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$3 Gas is Back

Yes! $2 Gas is Back!

Sun — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 15:14:48 +0000

When I passed by the gas station I used to fill up my car this morning (it was Mobil before, but changed owner last week and now it’s Valero), I noticed the price of one galon regular dipped below $2 for the first time in I-couldn’t-even-remember-how-many months, at $1.99/gallon. As crude oil price rebounded a little bit to $60.36 ppl after touching a low of $56.05 early this month, the gas price continues to head south. It’s truly amazing to see the price came down so fast in a period of two months, from $3.00 to $2.00 per galon.

But for this one, I have no complain!

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Yes! $2 Gas is Back!

Local Gas Price Watch

Sun — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 17:18:00 +0000

When I passed the Mobil station, the one I use to fill up the tank, on the way to take my daughter to the babsitter’s home, I notice the price of a gallon of regular has dropped to $2.66. That’s 13 cents lower from ten days ago. Haven’t seen price at this low for a while. Since we spent more than $300 to fill up our cars last month, any decline is welcome.

As the driving season comes to an end and no major damage on the oil facilities so far this year, the gas price could decline even more. However, one uncertainty is the nuclear issue with Iran and what, if any, the UN Security Council will do next if the standoff continues. If sancation is imposed, we probably see price go up again.

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Local Gas Price Watch

Did You Notice

Sun — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 15:52:00 +0000

how much gas price had come down in your area in the past two weeks? For me, that’s 20 cents, from $2.99/galon regular to $2.79/galon. Nearly a 7% drop. You can check your local gas prices at GasBuddy.com.

BTW, I’m living in New Jersey.

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