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In a great many cases, a large part of every family or individual’s budget involves transportation.  This is especially true if someone in the household has a lengthy commute to and from work.  With the price of fuel seemingly on a never ending climb, the added cost can very affect a family’s budget in a very negative way.

When this happens, there are only a couple of options.  One thing that can be done would be to change jobs to something closer to home, though this is seldom possible.  The other option is to come up with actual things that can be done to save money on gas.  With that in mind, here is a list of four little known things that almost anyone can do to save money on fuel.

Find The Low Priced Pump

While it doesn’t make economical sense to drive around hunting down the cheapest gas, usually more is spent in gas driving out of the way than is saved by buying the cheaper gas, it does make sense to find out if gas is cheaper near your home or near your work.  Once that information is known, it is easy to save money on gas by always making sure the vehicle is refueled where the less expensive fuel is. You can use our handy gas price map to find the lowest prices in your area.

Gas Station Loyalty Cards

Many gas stations and convenience stores, and even grocery stores now, offer customer loyalty cards.  The way a customer loyalty card works is very basic.  A gas station or store provides a loyalty card to the customer, the card offers a discount off the price per gallon, and the store hopes that by having the discount card that the customer will only get their gas there.  If the store is conveniently located to where the customer regularly drives, this is a great way to save money on fuel.

Using A Block Heater

During cold weather, it is recommended that a car be started up and left to idle so the engine is “warmed up” before it is driven.  While this is a good practice, it also wastes money because to warm up and idle the car has to burn through a certain amount of fuel.  A way to avoid the length of time it takes to warm up a car properly is to use a block heater.  A block heater is a heater that sits on the engine block and plugs into an electric power source.  This can do a good amount of the warming up that a car needs, especially in the colder winter months, and it does it without using gasoline.

Put Away The Credit Card And Get Pre-Paid

Another way to save money on gas is to avoid the need or impulse to pay with a credit card.  This can be done by paying with either cash or with pre-paid gas cards.  What can happen when buying gas with a credit card is that the high price of fuel is first paid at the pump, and then when the balance on the credit card is not paid at the end of the month, more money is paid in the form of a finance charge.  Luckily there is no finance charge when paying with cash or a pre-paid gas card. Also, some online agencies will actually give you free gas cards if you complete surveys or other offers.

There are a number of ways to save money on gas, and though many are not widely known, most involve applying simple common sense to the problem.  Any feasible way that lowers the price per gallon, the amount of gas used, or the distance that is driven is a great way to save money on gas.  With the rising prices on everything in life, getting a handle on the cost of gasoline can free up money for other things in life.