1. Start It Up Properly
"Most of the wear on an engine happens when you start the car," says Edmunds.com's automotive expert Karl Brauer. "If you can get the starter stuff down, you'll find cars will wear much less over time." How do you do that? Make sure any extra accessories, such as headlights or climate control, aren't on when you turn the ignition. If you do, you're asking the engine to work harder than necessary right off the bat.

An even more destructive habit: revving the engine. Believe it or not, this won't help warm up the car. In fact, revving can do serious damage to the engine and significantly shorten its life. Engines need oil to run smoothly. But right after you turn over the ignition, the oil is still sitting in the pan. When you floor the gas pedal, you're asking the engine to work overtime without lubricant, putting metal to metal. Wear out this most important drive train component and you can expect to pay $3,000 to $5,000 for a new one.

Check back in about a week for another Tip on How to Keep Your Car out of the Shop!

For more information, call Leo Huggins at 404-435-8495 or go to Smart Choices

For more information, call Leo Huggins at 404-435-8495 or go to Smart Choices

The gasoline savings will pay for the oil or a little more, and it will dramatically reduce your engine wear = save money!

You may also use an anti friction additiveif you prefer to use a standard heavy duty oil.

For more information, call Leo Huggins at 404-435-8495 or go to Smart Choices,

8. This one is more for men. If you get lost ask for directions. I don't, and I waste gasoline driving around because I know I will find where I am. Women ask directions, that's why there's one on every space shuttle! It improves space shuttle fuel mileage!

For more information, call Leo Huggins at 404-435-8495 or go to Smart Choices

Don't use the drive through at McDonald's! Save gas! Quickly park your car and walk inside, not only does that save gasoline, but helps your heart! Stop driving around to look for the closest parking place at Walmart, park quickly and walk fast!

For more information, call Leo Huggins at 404-435-8495 or go to Smart Choices.

6. Use your cruise control (if you have it) any time you can. Cruise control is better than your brain to help you maintain constant speed. Constant speed (see #3), at a conservative rate, will save you more gasoline.

For more information on gas saving techniques and tools, go to Smart Choices, or call Leo Huggins at 404-435-8495.

5. Take the junk out of your trunk! Every 200 lbs in your car costs you a mile per gallon of gasoline. If you are in a car pool have every one that rides in your car go on a diet, to save gasoline.

For more information go to Smart Choices, or call Leo Huggins at 404-435-8495.

Go lightly on the gas pedal = save gas. That means slow down. The faster you go, the more air drag you create. This burns that expensive gasoline! That 55 mph may drive you nuts, but it saves gas.

Try not to stop... to save gasoline! Huh, you say? Here it is, slow down and look for space in traffic so that you can time the stop lights... so you don't have to stop at them. Make it a game! Getting all that steel around you moving, costs the big bucks in gasoline! If you have to stop, start out gently, jack rabbit starts bust the gasoline budget!

1. Check the gas prices on the link below for your Zip Code. Don't waste gas to drive to the cheapest place to get gas. It's simple do the math. If it's ten miles to cheap gas that is a 20 mile round trip. Forget it! Less miles? GO FOR IT!

CHEAPEST GAS CLOSE TO YOUR HOUSE

If you shop at Kroger, you can save $.10 over nearby stations by using the Kroger Card. A membership at Costco or Sams' Club will get you a better price also.

2. Put air in your tires to your car specifications, eighty percent of the tires on American cars are low on air and that costs you 1 to (ready for this) 5 miles per gallon!

For more information on gas saving techniques and tools, go to Smart Choices, or call Leo Huggins at 404-435-8495.

These tips will be a benefit to you as you become accustomed to following them each time you enter a gasoline station.

One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL or HALF EMPTY. The reason for this is, the more gas you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline vaporizes faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, every truck loaded from the refinery or tank farm is temperature compensated so that every gallon is actually the exact amount.

Another reminder. If there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up--most likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.

For more information on gas saving techniques and tools, go to Smart Choices, or call Leo Huggins at 404-435-8495.

When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages: low, middle, and high. In slow mode you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money.

For more information on gas saving techniques and tools, go to Smart Choices, or call Leo Huggins at 404-435-8495.

Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening....your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role. A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

For more information on gas saving techniques and tools, go to Smart Choices, or call Leo Huggins at 404-435-8495.