Save Money on Gas by Tracking Your Mileage
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FacebookAbout two months ago, I wrote an article detailing my progress in improving my gas mileage. By making a few small adjustments to my driving style, I was able to improve my mileage by 15%. Today, I wanted to share a more general tip for saving money on gas: track your mileage mileage.
If you’re at all competitive or motivated by numbers, then I can virtually guarantee you that your mileage will improve, and thus you’ll save money, if you simply keep track your mileage at every fill up. Not only does this make you more cognizant of your driving habits, but it helps make a game out of improving your gas mileage.
The old school way of doing this is to simply keep a small notepad or ledger in the glove compartment and then record your miles driven and amount of gas purchased at each fill up. But guess what? If you have a web-enabled smartphone, it’s even easier. You can now track your mileage online using a web-based service.
The two such services that I’ve heard the most about are FuelFrog and Fuelly. Both of these sites allow you to update your information on the go. FuelFrog relies on Twitter, whereas Fuelly has a mobile version of their website.
After looking at the two, I’ve decided to create an account with Fuelly. To me, the mobile web interface is a more elegant solution than Twitter, and I also like that fact that I can easily compare my performance against that of other users.
Published on August 22nd, 2008 - 8 Comments
Filed under: Automotive, Energy
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About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!
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I find tracking anything is key to success.
Comment by Brandon Henak — Aug 22nd 2008 @ 10:08 ami started doing this last year (maybe even before that?) and am pleased with the improvement in gas mileage i’ve been able to accomplish. My driving habits have definitely come back down to earth and I am happy with the fact that my old Saturn now can get around 35-38mpg on average for every tank I fill up. This is a great piece of advice and I would recommend this to all drivers.
Comment by Jennson — Aug 22nd 2008 @ 10:30 amFuelly looks interesting. It would be nice if the portable GPS units had an interface that would allow you to enter gas usage data so that it could track mileage not only overall but on individual trips and trip legs.
Comment by ToughMoneyLove — Aug 22nd 2008 @ 10:51 amI found FuelFrog first, and it is supposed to get comparisons to others similar to fuelly but doesn’t yet.
RIght now, I’m recording in both, but I don’t do it mobile, I wait ’til I record the expense in my accounting program.
Averaging about 42-43 mpg right now.
Comment by Blaine Moore — Aug 22nd 2008 @ 11:28 amI’m using Excel to track my mileage for 5 years now. In the past I was more of a racer, but now I tend to drive on the highway in the 90-100 km range using the cruise control …
Comment by Plamen — Aug 22nd 2008 @ 8:59 pmI am a number cruncher but I don’t crunch my gas mileage. My wife and I bike as much as possible to save on gas.
Comment by Mark Nelson — Aug 23rd 2008 @ 9:03 amTracking IS always key. Since paying attention to gas mileage I was able to increase it by 3mpg just by laying off the pedal a little. Another great thing to do is keep your car in good working order. Fill your tires, clean the air filter and remove excess weight you may be carrying in the trunk(not your tire, leave that in).
Comment by Jared — Aug 23rd 2008 @ 6:31 pmThanks for the money saving tip. A firend just turned me on to driving under 2 1/2 MPR’s at all times. It makes driving less stressful and puts a few extra dollars back in my wallet whenever I fill up.
Comment by Greg — Sep 25th 2008 @ 3:53 pm