What happens to my gift card if the retailer goes bankrupt?
You might have heard about the recent bankruptcies of Bombay, Sharper Image, and Linens-N-Things. Well, I hope you don’t have a gift card for one of them still sitting in your drawer. According to the recent issue of Money Magizine, you are not likely to get anything from them. It is possible that you could get a fraction of what it was worth, but not very likely.
They suggest that you start spending if you have a gift card for…
- Blockbuster
- Eddie Bauer
- Express
- Petco
- Toys R Us
Each one of these companies recently had their credit rating drop below investment grade. That is not necessarily an indication that they will go bankrupt, but definitely a cause for concern.
Personally, I often spend gift cards as soon as I get them, but they say that half of all Americans have an unused gift card laying around somewhere. It’s free money. Get spending!!
But I hate that store, I will never use it!
Can you imagine Paris Hilton trying to use a Home Depot gift card?
I can’t either. If you are in a similar bind with some of your unused gift cards, check out these sites. Each one allows you to sell the giftcard outright (at a discount) or trade it with other members.
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This article is a reprint of one I wrote for Gather Little By Little a few days ago…
I was thinking about how I have spent a whole lot more money on certain items only to find out that they are just a little bit better than the cheaper alternatives. And on the other hand there have been things I have spent just a bit more money on and they were a whole lot better than the cheaper alternatives. When you look at buying decisions this way, it can dramatically change how and what you buy.
Let me first say this is my list of things that I have found to be worth spending more money on. Everyone will have a different priority list of what is most important to them. But maybe this will generate some ideas for you. Here goes…
1. A Mac.
I know that this may rub some of the PC people the wrong way, but I just switched to Mac about a month ago and I just can’t believe what I was missing out on. The overall simplicity has saved me countless hours of time and frustration that was a regular event with my PC.
2. Quality food.
I am not necessarily talking about $100 meals prepared by French chefs, but rather food that will benefit your health rather than harm it. Organic food is great, but even just eating fruits and vegetables rather than hyper-processed stuff that once resembled food. There are consequences to our actions and decades of eating fast food 5 days a week is not likely to yield a good result.
3. A Honda.
Or Toyota. They are more expensive than a lot of cars on the market on the front end, but looking at the big picture you will end up saving money in the end. Consumer Reports says that the Honda Civic has the overall lowest total cost of ownership. This figure includes everything from sticker price, car depreciation, insurance, repairs, to resale value. After it all is calculated the Civic was the cheapest to own. But if you just look at the sticker price, you will find that there are a lot of cheaper cars out there.
4. Medical expenses.
Eating better is my attempt to prevent these from occurring, but when I am in the hospital I want the best Doc I can find working on me. It is amazing how little money seems to matter when you are in pain.
5. Looseleaf Tea
If you have always drank bag tea and never tried looseleaf do yourself a favor - find a Teavana near you and get some Rooibos Vanilla. You can thank me later.
6. Nice dress shoes.
(Disclaimer: I am a guy, I have no idea if this is true for ladies) Working in an office environment for most of my career, I have come to appreciate high-quality dress shoes. You can spend a couple hundred on a nice pair of shoes that can last you decades. You may need to replace the soles every few years, but if you take care of them they will last. The conservative business style hasn’t changed much over the last 50 years - I anticipate it to stay that way. (Tip: to save money, check what the Ebay sellers are selling them at. I have found some great bargains on Ebay.)
7. Potting soil.
I planted a balcony garden this year and I have always heard this from gardeners and it is true. Get good potting soil, it will make a tremendous amount of difference.
8. A wallet.
Like my dress shoes I like to keep my wallets for a long time. They get broken in so nicely and get contoured to fit just perfectly to your body. But if you don’t get a nice leather one, they probably won’t make it that long. I actually just retired my old wallet that I had for about 12 years. My wife bought me a new one from Coach - isn’t she sweet?
9. A bed.
We took all of our wedding money and bought a nice King sized bed. I am convinced that it was and will remain one of our best buying decisions of our marriage. You spend 1/3 of your life in it - it ought to be nice!
10. Chocolate.
I prefer to minimize my indulgences, but to make them really good. Quality over quantity is the key here. I like the darkest dark chocolate you can find. It is so strong that you can’t really overindulge like you can with milk chocolate. And the added bonus is that Dark Chocolate actually has health benefits!
What about you? What do you think is worth spending more on?
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I signed up with ING about 4 years ago and have had a great experience with them. They have been a model business that has worked very hard to satisfy and meet the changing needs of their customers. These are just a few of the ways they have helped me.
1. They are nuts about safety.
A study from the University of California, Berkeley was just published that measured occurrences of identity theft at the top banks. Guess who came out the winner. Yep, ING was rated the safest bank from that study. It is really no surprise to me, just going through their login process you become well aware that it would be a tough feat to hack into someone’s account.
2. Consistently good interest rates.
You may occasionally be able to find a better interest rate online, but ING consistently has good rates. And the rates still clobber any brick-and-mortar bank.
3. Free Bill Pay.
Yes, you can get free bill pay from just about anywhere. But, I have used a few different bill-payment services and theirs has been the easiest and quickest to use.
4. No overdraft charges
This is an a brilliant service that they offer. Most banks charge you about $30-$40 overdraft fee if you bounce a check. With ING, you don’t have to worry about that. Rather than charging that overdraft fee, they basically lend you the money at a competitive interest rate until you bring the balance back to $0. So if you are short for a couple days, it might cost you pennies rather than $30-$40.
5. They send paper checks for you
If you need to send a paper check to someone, you just go to their site and fill the check out like you normally would. They will then mail it to whomever you would like. How easy is that?
6. CDs with no minimum.
Not only do they have very competitive rates on their CDs, but they also have no minimums. This makes it very convenient to do a CD ladder and open up multiple CDs with different maturities to take advantage of the rates available. Many banks only offer good rates to customers with $10,000 or more. Not ING.
7. They make budgeting easy.
ING has been my budgeting tool of choice for the last few years. I am not sure if they created it to be a great way to budget or if it was an accident, but either way it is great. You can read more about how I budget with ING if you want.
8. They now own Sharebuilder.
I opened a Sharebuilder account about 5 years ago and currently have most of my stocks with them. They only charge $4 to purchase stocks, which was the best deal going at the time (Now Zecco offers free trades). I was happy with Sharebuilder before, but now that ING bought them, they have made some nice improvements to it as well. Lowered some fees, simplified some processes, improved the user experience, etc.
9. Great customer service.
I have called them about 5 times over the last 4 years that I have banked there and I have not had a bad experience. They still do NOT outsource their calls, so every time I have been able to speak to someone who speaks my language 
- that is a good thing. I have never been on hold more than a couple minutes and most times I have gotten someone right away.
- that is a good thing. I have never been on hold more than a couple minutes and most times I have gotten someone right away.10. Bonuses for friends.
One of the things that ING has become famous for has been their referral program. New users get $25 if they are referred to open an account, while the referrer gets $10. Not a bad deal. So of course I will send you a referral if you are interested. Just let me know.
What did I miss? Are there other features or other banks that you love?
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Paypal - making online shopping safer
I have been a Paypal user for quite a few years, since I first started selling on ebay. They have added a bunch of features over the years and one of my favorite recently has been their plugin.
It is a little do-dad that pops up whenever you land on a page that has a field to enter a credit card number. It then offers to generate a one-time credit card number for you to use on the merchants site. If you say yes, it then generates the number, fills it in for you along with a generated expiration date, and even the extra 3-digit code if needed. Once the transaction is complete, the plugin offers to take a screenshot as a receipt for you and then the money comes directly out of your Paypal balance.
I know that lots of merchant sites have technology to protect user’s credit card numbers, but using a generated credit card number rather than your own seems like it will always be safer. And then again, you have sites that don’t have very good security measures in place to protect your credit card number. This baby comes in handy for those as well.
What you need to use it
Since I just recently switched to Mac, I was a little bummed to find out that it is only currently available to Windows users (I can still use it on my laptop). Mac users can go to Paypal’s site and generate single-use numbers, but that seems to take all of the fun (not to mention time saving) out of it.
- Internet Explorer and Firefox are both supported.
- Paypal also says it is only available to U.S. users as well… I am not sure why, sorry to all the Canadians
My experience with the Paypal plugin
I have been using it for about a month or so and I love it. It saves me time and makes my purchases more secure, that makes me happy. So, if you do much shopping online, you may want to check it out.
this post was included in the carnival of personal finance
Have you used it? What do you think about it?
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Just in case you haven’t heard, all TV channels are going to Digital early next year. February 17, 2009 to be exact. So, if you have an older TV, “that is not connected to cable, satellite or other pay TV service,” you will need to take some kind of action to be able to watch TV on February
18, 2009 and beyond. Click here to read more about the benefits and reasons for the switch.
I previously wrote about fix for this problem with my HDTV tuner for my computer which allows me to watch HD television on my computer. But, we aren’t going to through our regular television away, so I signed up for the coupon as well.
This from the government site about it…
“if you currently watch TV on an analog TV set If you own a television with a digital tuner or subscribe to a pay TV service, you will likely continue to receive TV programming as usual after the transition.”
If you are not sure, they actually have a handy little page on their site that asks you a series of questions to help you verify whether or not you need to upgrade.
The converter box coupon
If you will need the converter box you can click here to fill out an online form to get the coupon (or two) sent to you.
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After spending a good chunk of change on my wife’s engagement ring a few years ago, I was a little bit annoyed to read this article about new diamond technology. Evidently, the diamond farming technology has improved to the point where experts can no longer tell the difference between a real and a lab grown.
Growing diamonds like crops
The natural process for creating a diamond requires a lot of pressure, heat and time. Scientists have been trying to duplicate and speed up this process and unitl recently they have been small and impure. But, over the past decade they have had pretty good success.
Researchers have perfected a process called chemical vapor deposition (CVD) which grows pure and comparable sized diamonds in a matter of months. They are so good in fact that the writer of the article went to a jeweler with one of the stones to get an unbiased assessment of the diamond’s quality:
…The next day, I place the .38 carat, princess-cut stone in front of Virgil Ghita in Ghita’s narrow jewelry store in downtown Boston. With a pair of tweezers, he brings the diamond up to his right eye and studies it with a jeweler’s loupe, slowly turning the gem in the mote-filled afternoon sun. “Nice stone, excellent color. I don’t see any imperfections,” he says. “Where did you get it?”
“It was grown in a lab about 20 miles from here,” (he) replied.
He lowers the loupe and looks at me for a moment. Then he studies the stone again, pursing his brow. He sighs. “There’s no way to tell that it’s lab-created.”
So this begs the question: If diamonds will soon be able to be mass-produced on demand, won’t real diamonds be worth a lot less?
Unless they can figure out a fail-proof method of telling them apart, I think it is inevitable. The challenge is that unlike a Gucci handbag and a knockoff, both diamonds are made from the same materials: carbon. One is just created a lot faster than the other.
What good could come out of grown diamonds?
- The positive to this is that those involved in the exploitation of people in this movie may see their profits dry up. I haven’t seen Blood Diamond and I really don’t know much about the whole situation, but hopefully this would help bring it to an end.
- You may be able to get a fat rock for your honey for a fraction of the price. If it is just the sparkle of the gem that you are interested in, it will still be there.
- There are endless technological advancements that can come from the cheapening of diamonds. Some experts think they could, “become as significant as steel or silicon in electronics and computing.”
I will not be pawning my wife’s ring anytime soon, but it may be something to keep in mind before spending your hard-earned cash on a new diamond.
This article was featured in the Carnival of personal finance.
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I have been a huge fan of Craigslist over the years. The site is about the most boring looking site out there, but is also about the best place to buy or sell used local items. I still sell most goods with eBay when I need a little quick cash, but for the larger items Craigslist has been the way to go.
Can Walmart beat Craigslist at their own game?
Enter Walmart. The giant that has gotten just a little bit too big has launched a similar classified service.
Quick side note: My grandpa has owned a small appliance store for most of his life that was passed down from his father. A few years back when Walmart decided to start selling appliances, my grandpa told me that Walmart was selling them (to customers) for less than he could buy them from his dealer. Quick business lesson - Since Walmart was purchasing the appliances in such a huge quantity, the dealers gave them a much greater discounted price than they gave my grandpa.
While I know, “it’s just business,” I am not a fan of super-corporations running the little guys out of town. The story ends well: my 84 year old grandpa still goes into work everyday, his business made it through it, and I think Walmart has left the appliance business to find more profitable opportunities.
Back to the topic: Walmart’s new classifieds offer a few conveniences that craigslist doesn’t:
- Pictures on the results page - so you don’t have to actually click the item to see the picture
- Prices on the results page and in the same location - it makes it quick to scan prices for bargains
- The ability to refine your search by various criteria - this saves a lot of time if you have something very specific in mind
Even with Walmart’s size it is going to take them a while to get the users that Craigslist has gotten. If you check it out don’t expect much right now - I browsed through the electronics category for my town and there really isn’t much yet. It will get there. I am sure. It’s Walmart.
Do you use online classifieds? Do you think Walmart will run Craigslist out too?
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Get paid to shop with Live Search Cashback
I just found a cool new tool to make some extra cash for shopping online (thanks Phil!). Amazon prime has turned out to be a good investment for me, but I also love having options. Enter Live Search Cashback.
No, this isn’t one of those ridiculous email forwards that say something like, “Bill Gates wants to pay you $450 for every person you forward this to in order to do market research. I didn’t think it would work until I got my check for $45,000 signed by Bill Gates himself.” It’s not quite that ridiculous.
Per the Cashback site, here is how it works:
Step 1 - Search
Search for Cashback deals at Live Search Cashback. Each time you click a Live Search Cashback listing, you’ll find great deals on the product you chose. Your results will clearly list the Cashback savings you’ll receive off the store price, and your final bottom-line price that includes tax and shipping costs. Also look for this icon
when you search for a product on Live Search to find great Cashback deals.
Step 2 - Shop
Compare and sort products by the bottom-line price. Click the best deal to go to the store. Everything you buy during that store visit will be eligible for Live Search Cashback. On your first time using Live Search Cashback, we will ask you for an email address so we can tell you how to quickly set up your free Cashback account.
Step 3 - Save
Keep saving money each time you use Live Search Cashback. Every time you make a qualifying purchase, we’ll send you an email to confirm your Live Search Cashback savings. When your Cashback account reaches a balance of at least $5, you can claim your cold, hard cash. Terms and conditions.
Searching on Live Search Cashback
I recently signed up and the process is surprisingly simple. You just go to Cashback search screen and type in whatever product you are interesting in buying (Mac Mini). It then displays all of the items that fit your search terms…
Then you just select which product matches what you were going for. It displays the prices and Cashback % for each seller.
By default it picks the best deal for you and tells you how much cash you will get back on the deal. In this case we would get $30 cash back for buying this Mac…
Apparently, Microsoft is desperately trying to get shoppers to use Live Search rather than Google. Well, as far as an everyday search engine goes, it doesn’t even compare to Google, but for price comparison shopping it looks like a decent competitor to Google. I mean hey, they are paying you to use it - what’s not to love?
I have seen percentages ranging from 2%-12%. The funds are paid:
- after 60 days once you accrue at least $5.00 in Cashback rewards
- via paypal, direct deposit to your bank account, or a snail-mailed paper check
It seems simple enough, I am going to try it out for a while - not much to lose I guess. I haven’t got a check yet, but come to think of it Bill Gates never sent me a check for that email I forwarded to 100 people either.
Technorati Tags: online shopping
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I just found out about a couple cool tools to make some cash when shopping online. The first of which is Ebates. I will write about the other one soon.
Basically, merchants pay Ebates to refer customers to them. Ebates then pays a chunk of that back to the shoppers themselves. Win, win, win.
Here is how Ebates describes the process:
A few things worth mentioning about Ebates
- The payout percentages vary from 1% to about 25%
- They have a ton of merchants - many well known stores: Best Buy, Walmart, Staples, and really about anything you can imagine
- Some merchants offer cash bonuses for signing up
- Ebates also offers referral bonuses for friends that sign up
- Payment options include Paypal or a paper check
- They also have a toolbar that will tell you if you are on a site that offers a cashback bonus
I recently signed up for Ebates and am planning to add them to my online shopping arsenal. But, since I am so new to Ebates I don’t have too much experience with them. Has anyone had good or bad experiences with them?
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It goes without saying that gas prices are making everyone’s financial lives a bit more “interesting.” I am hearing rumors that it could be as high as $5 a gallon this summer. So I scoured the Internet looking for the best tips I could find to save gas and here is what I found….
THE MOST EFFECTIVE GAS SAVING TIPS
Edmunds.com did a real-world test of a few of the common gas saving tips to see how they stacked up and these were the tips they found to be most important.
1. Stop Aggressive Driving
In their road tests this was the most important factor in saving gas. They found up to a 37% savings with an average of 31% savings. That is like getting $4.00 gas for $2.69 - it sounds like a no-brainer, but I am still amazed at how many people still drive like they just robbed a bank. Edmunds says, “If you slowed your 0-to-60-mph acceleration time down from your current 10 seconds to a more normal city pace of 15 seconds, you’ll feel the savings immediately.”
2. Drive Slower
This one is a difficult one to get used to. Personally, I find that I am just more comfortable driving at certain speeds. 55mph on the highway isn’t in my comfort zone, but I have tried to make a point to drive 5 mph slower than I used to and believe it or not I am getting used to it.
Their test consisted of driving 50 miles on cruise control at 75mph and 65mph. They found that by driving slower you can save up to 14% with an average of 12%. Not to mention the savings from not having to pay speeding tickets.
3. Cruise Control does save gas
In my research to find all these gas tips, I found that there is some debate on this issue, but I think I am leaning toward using cruise control - I think it depends on the type of driver you are and the size of engine you have. But for most people, in my humble opinion, I think you would save more by using it.
Edmunds was surprised by the effectiveness of using it. They got up to 14% savings on gas with an average savings of 7%. That would equate to about a 25 cent discount on each gallon. The exception to this is for mountainous driving. It will try to keep you up to the speed you’ve set and will use a lot of extra gas downshifting to lower gears to accomplish this.
4. Avoid Excessive Idling
Another one they found to be important is not to idle very long. They said that by avoiding excessive idling you can save up to 19% on fuel consumption. They suggest that if you are stopped for longer than a minute to shut down the engine.
NOT AS IMPORTANT AS SOME THINK
5. Should you use A/C or windows to save gas?
This is another hot topic among the gas-saving tips. A/C’s have become more efficient over the years, but they do put a strain on the engine. And of course having the windows open will create more wind-resistance than not having them open. But, their tests found no measurable difference in fuel consumption.
Personally, I love having the windows open. But another thing to consider is the health factor. If you are driving in a lot of traffic, you may be breathing a lot more of the exhaust by having the windows open. Many cars have cabin air-filters that (at least try to) filter the air that comes in to the car. I don’t know how well they work, but I would think it is better than not having a filter at all.
6. Checking Your Tire Pressure
Keeping your tires properly inflated is another common gas saving tip. They say they saw no measurable difference on this test. They still recommend keeping them properly inflated, but they say not to expect much savings.
I have been doing this one over the last few years. I thought I had an improvement each time I filled them to the proper level when they were very low. Since I didn’t measure it I am wondering if it was just all in my mind.
Other Gas Saving Tips
DRIVING ECONOMICALLY
The art of driving to save gas
7. Drive steadily. Slowing down or speeding up wastes fuel. Also avoid tailgating - the driver in front of you is unpredictable. Not only is it unsafe, but it affects your fuel economy if he slows down unexpectedly.
8. When you see a hill ahead, build up speed before you reach it, then maintain your speed on the slope. Then coast down the other side.
9. Avoid accelerating when driving uphill. It uses a lot of gas. If your car has a display that shows your instantaneous gas mileage, try it out. You’ll see your mileage plummet — from 25 or 30 MPG… down to 6 MPG — or sometimes even as low as 2 or 3 MPG.
10. When driving, keep your eyes moving and your feet still! Keep your steering wheel still too. The more you weave back and forth, the farther your car has to travel and the more gas is consumed.
11.
If you must stop for more than 30 seconds, don’t idle your car. The engine is more fuel efficient if your turn it off and restart it.
12. Avoid “revving” the engine, especially just before you switch the engine off; this wastes fuel needlessly and wears out the cylinders.
13. Eliminate jack-rabbit starts. Accelerate slowly when starting from dead stop. Don’t push the pedal down more than 1/4 of the total foot travel.
14. Avoid panic stops. When possible, coast to stops such as traffic lights.
15. Don’t forget to release the emergency brake before pulling away.
16. Exceeding 40 mph forces your car to overcome tremendous wind resistance. Never exceed legal speed limit. Primarily they are set for your traveling safety, however better gas efficiency also occurs.
17. Traveling at 55 mph give you up to 21% better mileage when compared to former legal speed limits of 65 mph and 70 mph.
18. Use only your right foot for accelerating and braking. That way you can’t accidentally ride the brake and use excessive gas. The slightest pressure puts “mechanical drag” on components, wearing them down prematurely. This “dragging” also demands additional fuel usage.
19. Manual shift driven cars allow you to change to the highest gear as soon as possible, thereby letting you save gas if you “nurse it along”. However, if you cause the engine to “bog down”, premature wearing of engine parts occurs.
20. Shift into high gear as soon as possible. If you have automatic transmission, lift your foot from the accelerator about one second early.
21. Automatic transmissions should be allowed to cool down when your car is idling at a standstill, e.g. railroad crossings, long traffic lights, etc. Place gear into neutral position. This reduces strain on the transmission and allows it to cool.
22. If you have a manual transmission and want to save some gas, you need to shift up early and shift down late. Traveling at fast rates in low gears can consume up to 45% more fuel than is needed.
23. Pass other cars as soon as you see you are overtaking them. Don’t wait.
24. Stoplights are usually timed for your motoring advantage. By traveling steadily at the legal speed limit you boost your chances of having the “green light” all the way.
25. When you use overdrive gearing, your car’s engine speed goes down. This saves gas and reduces engine wear.
26. Turn off the A/C five minutes before you reach your destination and don’t keep it working until the last second.
27. Park your car in the shade if you can and crack your windows to allow air to circulate in the car, so you won’t have to keep the AC working as hard when you go somewhere.
28. Park car so that you can later begin to travel in forward gear; avoid reverse gear maneuvers to save gas.
PLANNING THE TRIP
Thinking to save gas
29. Before getting into your car, ask yourself “Is this trip really necessary?”
30. For short trips, try walking or bicycling. It’s good exercise.
31. Consider car-pooling and share the gas bill. Car pools reduce travel monotony and gas expense, assuming all riders chip in to help you buy. Conversation helps to keep the driver alert. Pooling also reduces traffic congestion and gives the driver easier maneuverability. For best results, distribute passenger weight evenly throughout car.
32. Organize activities and perform as many errands as possible in one trip. Make a list and do all the grocery shopping once or twice a week.
33. If possible, avoid driving during rush-hour & other peak traffic periods.
34. Do they deliver? Let them pay for the gas! Try mail order firms, too.
35. Let the kids run some of the errands. Let them walk to school, too.
36. Better planning reduces the need for speeding to get there in time.
37. Shop around for service stations with the lowest gasoline prices. - also use GASBUDDY!!
38. Keep tuned to radio traffic reports & avoid traffic jams and other delays.
39. Public transportation may be cheaper, especially when you are traveling alone.
40. Pack as little in your car as necessary so it has less weight to carry.
41. Avoid rough roads whenever possible, because dirt or gravel can rob you of up to 30% of your gas mileage.
42. Avoid heavy traffic and lots of traffic lights. The shortest route is not always the most fuel efficient if you have to stop a lot.
43. Use alternate roads when safer, shorter, straighter. Compare traveling distance differences - remember that corners, curves and lane jumping requires extra gas. The shortest distance between two points is always straight.
WHEN BUYING A CAR
Look for high MPGs
44. If you are in the market for a new car, you definitely should consider fuel efficiencies. Consider a hybrid just for the better fuel economy if I weren’t in the market for a new car. You can easily calculate how much money you would save a year and weigh that against the cost of the car (plus the potentially higher maintenance cost).
45. In hot climates, drive a car with light colored exterior and interior, to reflect light, heat. Tinted glass also prevents heat buildup. Stay away from Black! I have owned black and beige cars and I can tell you that black cars get a lot hotter than lighter colors. Therefore with a black car you will need to use the A/C more often.
46. Operate as small a car as possible for your driving needs. (Small cars weighing half as much as large cars use about half as much gasoline!)
47. Avoid cars with gas-consuming options such as air conditioning; power equipment such as window, door locks, etc.; automatic transmission, etc.
48. When buying a new car, keep in mind that a sunroof helps disturb smooth air flow (and gas mileage).
49. It’s not commonly known, but Diesel engines can give you a much better gas mileage than Hybrids on long distance drives. That’s one of the reasons, hybrids aren’t popular in Europe but Diesels are. The downside is that diesel fuel costs a good chunk more than unleaded right now.
BUYING GASOLINE
50. Buy gasoline during coolest time of day - early morning or late evening is best. During these times gasoline is densest. Keep in mind -gas pumps measure volumes of gasoline, not densities of fuel concentration. You are charged according to “volume of measurement”. (I know the effectiveness of this one is debated, but it won’t hurt.)
51. 
Choose the type and brand of gasoline carefully. Certain brands provide you with greater economy because of better quality. Use the brands which “seem” most beneficial.
52. Avoid filling the gas tank to the top. Overfilling results in sloshing over and out of tank. Never fill gas tank past the first “click” of fuel nozzle, if nozzle is automatic. It could also leak or spill in heat or on a hill.
53. Set the Pump Trigger on lowest position.
54. If a gasoline truck is pumping into the storage tanks, don’t buy.
55. Don’t fill up unless you are on empty, since all this gas weighs a lot and more weight reduces efficiency.
THE CAR ITSELF
Seasonal fuel-saving tips
56. Auto air conditioners can reduce fuel economy by 10% to 20%. Heater fan, power windows and power seats increase engine load; the more load on your engine, the fewer miles per gallon.
57. Use snow tires and/or chains as little as necessary because they make your car work harder and use more gasoline.
58. Remove snow tires during good weather seasons; traveling on deep tire treads really robs fuel!
59. During cold weather watch for icicles frozen to car frame. Up to 100 lbs. can be quickly accumulated! Unremoved snow and ice cause tremendous wind resistance. Warm water thrown on (or hosed on) will eliminate it fast.
60. Avoid prolonged warming up of engine, even on cold mornings - 30 to 45 seconds is plenty of time.
Maintenance tips
61. Keep wheels aligned for better gas mileage - longer tire life, too.
62. Make certain your gas cap fits properly.
63. Keep brakes properly adjusted. Dragging brakes increases resistance.
64. It’s not a bad idea to make sure there are no gas leaks. Gas spilling out on the road doesn’t help your mileage either.
65. Regular tune-ups ensure best economy; check owner’s manual for recommended maintenance intervals. Special attention should be given to maintaining clean air filters… diminished air flow increases gas waste.
66. Inspect suspension and chassis parts for occasional misalignment. Bent wheels, axles, bad shocks, broken springs, etc., create engine drag and are unsafe at high traveling speeds.
67. Inflate all tires to maximum limit. Each tire should be periodically spun, balanced and checked for out-of-round. When shopping for new tires, get large diameter tires for rear wheels. Check manufacturer’s specifications for maximum tire pressures.
Good idea adjustments to your car
68. Get a locking gas cap - stolen gas really hurts your MPGs
69. You can also try to reduce the mass of your car by emptying out the trunk and removing heavy items that you don’t need (keep your spare tire and car lift, but get rid of the gardening equipment). Extra weight reduces mileage, especially when driving up inclines.
70. If you drive a car with a car top carrier, bike rack, or really any thing attached to it, you may want to take it off to reduce air drag.
71. Remove vinyl tops - they cause air drag. Rough surfaces disturb otherwise smooth air flow around a car’s body. Remove items that cause wind resistance, such as luggage racks.
72. Use radial tires for less friction between tire and road. Radial designs are the recognized fuel-savers.
73. By using the recommended grade of motor oil you can improve your gas mileage by 1-2 percent. For example, using 10W-30 motor oil in an engine designed to use 5W-30 can lower your gas mileage by 1-2 percent. Using 5W-30 in an engine designed for 5W-20 can lower your gas mileage by 1-1.5 percent.
74. Look for motor oil that says “Energy Conserving” on the API performance symbol to be sure it contains friction-reducing additives
Advanced ways to save gas
75. Eco-tuning. Many tuners offer replacement chips for your engine computer that increase the power while at the same time saving gas. How? They improve both ends of the curve. At the upper end they give you more power (with reduced efficiency) and at the lower end a better efficiency. You choose with the gas pedal which mode to use. Make sure you use manufacturer approved tuners if you don’t want to lose your warranty.
76. Convert Your Car To Burn Water + Gasoline. This method consists of converting the water to HHO gas and then burning that in your engine as well as the gasoline. They say it can double your gas mileage. I am going to be testing this out on my car and once I do I will let you know what my results are.
For more tips check out the inspiration for this article:
Cartalk.com, Money.cnn.com, opentravelinfo.com, fueleconomy.gov, edmunds.com, howtoadvice.com
Technorati Tags: Gas saving, fuel saving, Tips
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