There are a number of methods you can use to reduce your overall expense of gas purchases even before you consider changing your driving habits or taking any actions on your car. These strategies consist of smart buying and good management of your gas purchases.

The most basic and logical method is to shop for gas. Look for the lowest priced gasoline you can buy. Sounds so obvious it almost seems ridiculous that this article addresses that solution. But it's not ridiculous because gas is always looked at as something different. If you were shopping for an mp3 player or camera you would try to find the place with the best price. For some quirky reason we have learned to treat gasoline differently. Think about it, you most likely purchase fuel at stations where it is the most convenient rather than where the price is the lowest. You also find that you will fill up at any station you are near if you are running low on gas regardless of the price. That behavior is what needs to be unlearned.

As with any other item you want to save money on, you need to shop around for the lowest price for fuel. You must keep in mind though, that if you use 12 gallons of fuel to find the lowest priced station it will be counterproductive. The idea is to do the shopping consuming the least amount of gas doing it.

Shop around in your neighborhood for the lowest price gas that you can find but don't go too far out of your way. As soon as you start driving the meter starts running. Since the idea is to save money you would be working against yourself by driving around for too long.

The American Automobile Association has done studies that show the average cost to drive a car is about 51.7 cents per mile. That is based on data for cars so the numbers for SUVs and trucks are higher. At 51.7 cents per mile every three miles you drive to find the lowest price gas station could be costing you more than $1.50.

Therefore if you have a 15 gallon gas tank that you would completely fill , you would have to find a price lower than your neighborhood station by about 7 cents. Every two miles you drive after that you would need to save another 7 cents. You can see that after a relatively small distance it would not save you any money and could end up costing you money.

The best way to find the lowest price stations is to do so during your normal daily driving routine. If you do that you will not be using any extra gasoline. Have a small notebook with you or in your car. When you see gas stations that have good prices indicate the location in the notebook.

Later, after reviewing the information you have collected in your notebook, you can plan to stop at the station that has been noted by you to have the lowest prices. Then you can fill up at a location that you would normally be driving near in the course of your daily routine. That way you are not using any extra gas to find your bargain. The net result is spending less on gas!