How can consumers save money on gas this winter?

In the last few months, millions of Americans have likely been delighted when they head to their local gas stations. The days of paying $4 for a gallon seem to be over for now, and with prices falling to nearly half that number in many parts of the country, more people might be feeling good about the financial opportunity this presents. However, one should also keep in mind that some of the habits they have when it comes to driving can be amended to save them even more money.

One of the biggest issues Americans typically have when it comes to wasting gas in the winter is that they let their cars run so that they can warm up on cold mornings, according to a report from the Poughkeepsie Journal. However, experts say this is a huge waste of fuel that probably shouldn't be worth it to people; Americans tend to burn off about 3.8 million gallons of gas every day just by idling their vehicles, and after just 10 seconds, a car has used more fuel than it does when it's initially started up.

For this reason, people who are concerned about getting into a cold car in the morning might do better to just bundle up a little bit as a means of saving a few bucks here and there over the course of a week, the report said. And in fact, getting into a a vehicle and simply driving it away will actually serve to make it heat up more quickly.than if it idled for a few minutes.

Another method for saving
Likewise, consumers who attempt to make multiple trips over the course of a day might be wiser to simply run all their errands simultaneously, the report said. That's because driving to one location and back home, then another, and another, adds miles to the car that probably don't need to be used. Consumers who can plan a trip with multiple stops will probably end up saving a lot on gas over the course of a year.

Often, the steps toward saving money on gas are relatively simple to take, but may not occur to consumers unless they really sit down to examine their driving habits and see what they can do to cut costs. However, even the most basic improvements in these areas could save hundreds of dollars annually, which can then be put toward more pressing financial problems including outstanding debt.