Using Resources Wisely - Part 9 Long Term Consistency Saves Money
I went to lunch with a friend last Saturday. I noticed when he drives he mashes on the gas pedal and then lets off. Then he rushes up behind a car, brakes and pulls around them and does this all over again. I am guessing he uses a lot of gas and doesn’t realize his driving style has more to do with his high gas bill than the price of gas. I encounter plenty of people on the road who do this.
According to Tip #61 Don’t Use the Brakes So Much in my new favorite book How To Get Up To $7 Worth of FREE Gas Every Time You Fill Up: You can get up to 100 miles per gallon extra when your car is decelerating, the car is in gear and the foot is off the gas petal. Let me just say that is a great reward for coasting!
I currently make a game of this to see how smoothly I can drive from my house to work without braking or stopping. Try it, it is fun! Look beyond the car directly in front of you and anticipate what the line of cars ahead of you are going to do in a few minutes. Then give yourself some distance behind them so you can slow down before they start braking for stop signs and red lights. This is where you take your foot off the gas and just coast.
My best advice for my friend is to use cruise control. This will stop his up and down speeding - gas surging type driving habits. This will also save him tons of money. Tip #44 of the same book confirms this. John Stronsick recommends cruise control for highway driving and long trips but I use it as often as I can even in the city on straight aways.
Related posts:
- Using Resources Wisely - Part 6 Having Fun Pinching Pennies & Stretching Gasoline
- Using Resources Wisely Series – Part 7
- Using Resources Wisely - Part 8 The Higher Gas Gets, The Smarter I Get
Submitted to Customer Tips
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