The Best, Easy Ways to Cut Your Fuel Costs in 2025
Tired of high fuel prices? Uncover innovative methods to cut your fuel costs and maximize your savings. Start driving smarter today!
Ways to Cut Your Fuel Costs: A Comprehensive Guide
One of the biggest expenses in your budget can be fuel for your vehicle. There are several money-saving habits that can help with this, as well as some that you may have not heard of before. I want to offer my top tips for easy ways to cut your fuel costs.
Drive Less, Save More: Simple Strategies for Reduced Mileage
It seems super obvious and yet, people don’t value how much money you can save by simply reducing the amount of time you spend behind the wheel. Here are a few strategies. Some may be obvious, but they’re worth mentioning.
Stay Home
Don’t go out just for the sake of going out. There are plenty of things you can do at home. Here’s a list of no spend activities. Some involve going out, but most don’t.
Car Pool or Combine Errands
Pick one day a week to do all your errand running. We do our on Wednesday’s or Sunday’s. We’re out for church, so this is when we run our errands, drop off donations, do grocery pick ups, and whatever else needs done.
Carpooling can also save a lot of money. Either with a co-worker or friend, or even your spouse or kids to work and other events.
Ditch the Car
Try walking or biking where you need to get. Not everyone has this option, but do it when you can.
Public Transportation
Here in the US, we don’t have a great track record when it comes to public transit. Some places are better than others. If you have a good public transportation system, use it. Even if you don’t use it all the time.
Know When to Fill Up
The Worst Times to Fill Up
The worst times to get gas are going to be holidays, long weekends, and weekends in general. They’re also going to fluctuate based on different things happening around the world. For us, Christmas is next week, so next week and the week after will be highly traveled. Gas prices will go up, guaranteed.
The Best Times to Fill Up
The best times to fill up are going to be usually on Mondays or Tuesdays. It’s also better to fill up early in the morning if you can.
Smart Driving Habits: Techniques for Better Fuel Economy
Our driving habits greatly affect our fuel cost. The smarter we can be on the road will not only help our pocket books, but our mental health as well as physical safety.
- Coast to stop lights and signs
- Use the cruise control
- Don’t floor it
- Follow the speed limits
Fuel Saving Technologies
One of the main ways I save on gas is by using reward apps and programs.
Upside
Upside is one of the few gasoline apps that I know of. Earn a $5 cashback bonus on your first purchase of $10 or more with code CACTUS5 or Earn up to $0.25/gallon cash back on your first fill-up with code CACTUS25 or use code CACTUS10 for an Extra 10% in cashback on your first order of $10 or more (max savings of $10). Only 1 code can be used.
Gas Buddy
Gas Buddy is another great fuel app. We have used it since 2010. You can earn free gas, but most importantly, it allows you to check the cost of gas stations around you. You can also update the information yourself. I don’t think we have ever gotten gas on the road without checking the app first!
Fetch Rewards
I also use Fetch Rewards. They sometimes do extra points for certain gas stations, but I get 25 points per reciept regardless. Click here to sign up! You get 100 points for making a new account.
Gas Station Rewards & Cash Discounts
I can’t think of a gas station that doesn’t have some type of rewards program or discount card. Don’t forget that most also offer a cash discount. You usually get $0.10 off a gallon, just for using cash to pay.
Here are some we use frequently to save money at the pump:
- Circle K
- Kroger Fuel
- MPerks
- Shell
- Sam’s Club (Join now for just $20! The gas savings will pay for themselves!)
- Costco
- Walmart+ (Get 30 days free + Save 10¢ per gallon at 13,000+ stations nationwide including Exxon, Mobil, Walmart & Murphy.)
Bank and Credit Card Rewards
Most banks offer cash back into your account through your debit card. I also get 5% cash back through my Discover credit card for 3 months out of the year, usually in summer.
Here are the rewards my bank is offering, completely free, just for using these gas stations:
- 5% back at Sunoco
- 3% back at ARCO
- 2% at Marathon
Plan Your Routes Efficiently: Avoid Unnecessary Driving
Choose the fuel efficient route when driving. Google Maps will give you this option when using the GPS. Sometimes, avoiding tolls will be cheaper than going the fuel efficient route, but you have to weigh the costs.
Regular Vehicle Servicing: Keeping Your Engine Running Smoothly
Keeping up on vehicle maintenance is actually super helpful when it comes to fuel costs. Check your tire pressure regularly, alignment, and make sure your oil is changed when it’s due.
Use Deflectors and Park in the Shade
A lot of people don’t think about this, but keeping your car cool in the summer is important. Just like at home, the more you run your air conditioning, the more gas you’re going to use. If you keep your car cool when you’re not using it, you won’t need to crank up the A/C, or maybe not as long. Hence, cutting down on your fuel costs.
Reduce Your Vehicle’s Weight: Less Weight, Less Fuel
Pretty self explanatory. Don’t keep unnecessary things stored in your car. The more the car weights, the more gas you’ll be using.
Pick a Fuel Efficient Vehicle
Not everyone is going to drive a hybrid car, I get it. We have a large family and our next vehicle will likely be a full size van. However; try to do your best when purchasing your next car to pay attention to what the fuel economy is.
We have two cars. We always try to drive the smaller, more fuel efficient car when we can. This is what my husband drives daily to work. If he’s going somewhere where we don’t all need to go, he uses the smaller car. It just makes sense.
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