{"id":3572,"date":"2012-06-06T05:26:12","date_gmt":"2012-06-06T12:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/?p=3572"},"modified":"2012-06-04T09:29:11","modified_gmt":"2012-06-04T16:29:11","slug":"fuel-the-road-trip-money-pit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/fuel-the-road-trip-money-pit\/","title":{"rendered":"Fuel: The Road Trip Money Pit"},"content":{"rendered":"

So you\u2019ve decided to save money on airplane, bus, or train travel and settle in for a long family road trip. You may think you\u2019re saving money<\/a>, but if you don\u2019t consider the following tips, you could end up paying more for fuel than you expected. In turn, spending too much money on fuel will probably translate to more limited spending on the fun aspects of your vacation. Missing out on key vacation goals because you under-budget for fuel would be disappointing, so if you plan ahead, you shouldn\u2019t have to.<\/p>\n

Perform a pre-trip maintenance routine on your car.<\/strong>\u00a0Did you know that simply maintaining the proper air pressure in your tires could save you more than 3% in fuel costs? Also be sure to check and replace the oil if it\u2019s getting close to time for a change, and replace the air filter if necessary. You can get all of this checked at once during a routine full-service oil change at most tire and lube establishments. Fuel-injection cleaners are also not a bad idea to maximize your car\u2019s gas mileage.<\/p>\n

Clean out your car.<\/strong>\u00a0Excess weight in a car decreases gas mileage, so rid your vehicle of anything not needed during the trip. If you have a choice, pick lighter-weight coolers, backpacks, luggage, and other necessities, as well.<\/p>\n

Shop for fuel.<\/strong> It may seem odd to think of shipping for fuel, but gas prices can vary greatly from one station or chain to another, as well as from one state to another. A good site to check before heading out is gasbuddy.com. Some gas stations offer 1-2 cents off per gallon if you use their gift cards, so check to see if the chain will be available on the route you are taking. If you have a smart phone, use a GPS app to locate the nearest gas stations when you\u2019re on the freeway so you don\u2019t have to waste fuel looking for a station. Then check one of the above sites for the lowest price, and you\u2019re good to go.<\/p>\n

Watch how you drive.<\/strong> Many drivers have the bad habit of accelerating and decelerating quickly, which can lower gas mileage up to 33%. Try to accelerate while going downhill, as well as coast to a stop sign or light. When you\u2019re on the highway or freeway where you won\u2019t need to stop frequently, use cruise control if you have it. Not only will you optimize your gas mileage, you\u2019ll also save on potential speeding tickets if you tend to have a lead foot.<\/p>\n

Avoid traffic jams.<\/strong> Consider leaving earlier or later than peak traffic hours, especially on the weekends when everyone and their boat is heading the same direction. A lot of fuel is wasted idling and in stop-and-go traffic. Check googlemaps.com or traffic.com and listen to local radio stations for frequently updated road conditions so you can take a less congested route if necessary. As always, it\u2019s a good idea to avoid construction zones when possible.<\/p>\n

Taking a little time to prepare your vehicle, shop for gas prices, plan your route<\/a> and refueling stops, and drive efficiently while on your road trip will go a long way toward increasing your gas mileage and, in turn, the spending-capacity of your vacation budget.<\/p>\n

There’s always those trusty travel coupons you can use to save for your trip<\/a>, but what other tips do you have for road trips? Share them with us below.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So you\u2019ve decided to save money on airplane, bus, or train travel and settle in for a long family road trip. You may think you\u2019re saving money, but if you don\u2019t consider the following tips, you could end up paying more for fuel than you expected. In turn, spending too much money on fuel will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[94,108,510,58],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3572"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3572\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}