With current global events the way they are, one of the biggest changes we’re going to feel here in Canada is a massive rise in gas prices. In Ontario prices have already gone up to around $1.30 and they may increase from there as other parts of Canada like Vancouver are seeing prices higher than $1.7
You don’t want to break the bank on gas, so here are some of our tips to save money on gas during these complicated times.
Drive Extra Smart
Driving extra smart covers a wide range of strategies that you can use to save money on gas by reducing the amount of fuel you’re burning on a minute to minute basis. Let your car coast to a stop when you can and avoid hard braking and hard acceleration, doing everything more gradually is what the engine prefers and you’ll use less fuel this way.
Driving extra smart can also mean planning out your routes ahead of time, making sure your only doing the most efficient drives possible, and that includes combining multiple trips at once, warm engines use less fuel than cold ones, so if you can combine multiple errands into one trip it’ll save you in the long run.
Avoid idling as much as you can, engines really don’t like it when you idle and they’re just burning gas at that point for no reason at all, starting and stopping the engine will save you fuel in the long run.
It’s nice to go for a drive with no particular goal sometimes, but at the moment every mile of that drive has a real dollar value so try to keep that sort of thing to a minimum if you can.
Sacrifice Comfort
Driving with the A/C is another heavy cost for gas usage in the car. With the brunt of winter out of the way for the year it should be easier to drive without the A/C if you can. If you’re going anywhere at high speeds then you’ll want to keep the windows shut. Having the windows open will increase drag and the engine will have to work harder to compensate, burning more gas.
You’ll want to travel as light as you can get away with. Do a thorough clean of the car and take out anything you don’t need, if time’s get really desperate you can even remove the spare tire as long as you’re comfortable going without one.
Hunt for Savings
If you’ve never signed up for a rewards program with your local gas station now’s the time, most of the big brands have some sort of program you can join to earn points with your gas purchases that can be redeemed for savings on gas in Hamilton at a later date.
You won’t see an immediate return, but most reward programs are free so there’s no reason not to. Many grocery stores have similar programs too that can also be applied to gas.
Apps like Gasbuddy can help you scout around and find the cheapest gas in the area to make sure you’re not spending more than you need to.
None of us know how long this gas price increase will last, but the tips in this article can hopefully help for all times, not just these ones.
Thanks for reading! We hope this helps you save on gas in Canada. If you have any more questions, please contact us here.