I’ve been told for quite some time now that gas companies are only allowed to charge a certain amount above what they pay for the gas. The Department of Energy even has a site where consumers can report price gouging on gasoline.
A recent trip to Wal-Mart left me questioning what is going on around here. Murphy Express is selling gas for thirty cents less per gallon than the other gas stations. Thirty cents!!!! Unbelievable! Yes, it is definitely worth driving the few extra miles for the savings.

Needless to say, the competition has been …read more

Many of you will be traveling soon and with gas prices nearly $3 a gallon, we all could use some tips on ways to save.
1.  Drive sensibly – Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration, braking) wastes gas.  Driving sensibly can help increase your gas mileage by 5% for around town driving and 33% at highway speeds.
2.  Observe the speed limit – Gas mileage usually decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph. 
3.  Remove excess weight – Avoid carrying unnecessary, heavy items in your car which will reduce your mpg.

I like the idea of hybrid cars.  I think they can really save you money if you can afford the initial price.  On average, the cost of a hybrid is around $4000-6000 more than the regular version of any given model.  My question has always been why we have to absorb the price.  I know the answer is technology, but I don’t have to like it.  Well, now Saturn has fixed my wine.  They have created the hybrid Vue with a minimal increase – only $2000 more.  Now that is a reasonable increase for a 500 mile tank of gas.  …read more

Finally!  The gas prices have started going down.  Now maybe it won’t cost me $30 to fill up the tank.  Prices here where I live are $2.39/gallon.  I had to laugh though because I went to pick up a friend and the gas station read $2.31/g and when I came back, the sign read $2.39.  Now I know the supply of gas didn’t shrink that fast.  I wonder how they really determine the price per gallon?  The price so far has dropped $.60 on average.

I love the look of the Mini Cooper.  It was a huge hit in the movie, The Italian Job.  It is cute and thrifty with 28 mpg in the city!  That is way better than my Lumina gets and certainly better than our F-150 gets.  Now Subaru is getting in on the bandwagon of little cars.  Rumor has it from whatcar.com that they are getting ready to unveil a super mini that will be available in Europe and Asia.  Lucky ya’ll!  It isn’t as cute as the Mini Cooper but I am all about great gas mileage.

I love it when a great article is written to point out the advantages of sky-rocketing gas prices since the goods side is usually hard to find. TulsaWorld.com has a great article on how they expect people to stay closer to home and tour Oklahoma instead of traveling any distance.  Makes good sense to me.  My home state of Virginia has a ton of great vacation spots within a couple of hours from us.  Just a thrifty idea for summer vacation.

Have you seen the scooters on the roads lately? No surprise as to why. The gas prices went up $.13 where I live in only a week. I got spoiled paying $2.55/g. Well, the people who only have to drive around town have the right idea when they purchase a scooter and use that to get where they need to go. The Roketa Tahiti MC-03 moped, for instance, can go up to 60mph and get an average of 70-100 miles/g according to one website. Note: I am not indorsing any particular brand or style, …read more

I heard on the radio yesterday that if you maintain proper tire inflation in your tires that you can save 9 cents/gallon on gas.  The advertisement was from the rubber industry.  I admit that I don’t know the exact company but I thought the idea is interesting.  I have heard Mario Andretti say the same thing on several advertisements.  Must be some truth to it.  Just a thought.

I am from south Texas.  I love that fact.  But I was just watching Fox news and they just gave a report that the state of Texas will be raising the speed limit to 80 mph on some rural highways.  Let’s see…  Raise the speed limit on roads that have tractors and trailers traveling on them while sucking up gas.  We all know that the faster you go, the more gas you use and the few miles per gallon your vehicle gets.  Not to mention, the chances of fatal car accidents will probably increase.  That just doesn’t seem smart to …read more

Gas prices have been going up and down for a while.  Who is happy with paying up to $75 for a tank of gas?  I’m not.  I put $35 in mine the last time.  What about the cars that get good gas mileage?  Are there any cars out there that are actually thrifty to operate?  Here is a great list of the top 10 most frugal cars to drive.
Thanks About.com