Battling gas guzzlers

(FreeRangeStock.com)

When gas prices topped $1.75 a gallon for the first time ever, I lived about 30 miles from work and had to fill up every couple of days. Buying fuel at that price was painful, and apparently, I wasn't the only one who thought so, as articles outlining ways to save gas were commonplace.

I tried several of the tips the articles offered, from making sure my tires were properly inflated to not speeding to letting my car coast whenever I was driving downhill.

Of course, I had no idea just how high gas prices would get in a short amount of time. And that was either before I'd heard of climate change or before I was worried about it. I don't know which is true.

Nowadays, $1.75 a gallon sounds wonderful, but even if prices were to dip that low again, I would not return to the late 1990s version of myself. That girl often went for long drives when she was feeling stressed, and she was stressed out a lot. She also rarely drove the speed limit, never checked her tire pressure and viewed downhill slopes as a means to pass slower cars.

But the current version of me drives a gas guzzler that gets 20 miles a gallon on a good day. I would've loved to have bought a Prius or other hybrid, but the price of those vehicles makes them out of my reach.

So I make do with what I can afford, which means I need to be more mindful of how much gas I'm using. With that in mind, I'm revisiting the info on driving habits that can improve my car's fuel efficiency. The following tips are from the fueleconomy.gov website:

• Avoid excessive idling.
• Avoid driving aggressively.
• Remove excess weight from your vehicle.
• Observe the speed limit.