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Exhausting your budget:         6 top tips for cutting petrol costs article
Exhausting your budget:         6 top tips for cutting petrol costs article

Lockdown changed our daily habits in many ways, and one of them was how often we used our cars. It’s fair to say when you can’t commute to the office, take a trip to visit family, or even leave your local council area, you don’t use your car very often.

But lockdown has now lifted, and the easing of restrictions, combined with ‘staycation summer’ for UK holidaymakers, has resulted in a petrol boom.

As the Guardian reports, petrol prices in the UK have now reached their highest point since 2013, and prices only seem to be going one way.

With that in mind, here are our six top tips to cut your fuel costs and make your petrol money go further.

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1. Plan your journeys

When it comes to fuel efficiency, anything that makes your car work harder to get you where you need to go is likely to use up more fuel – and cost you more money.

That’s where it pays to think about your journey. Road surface quality plays a big part. Obviously road surface quality isn’t always within your control but for trips where you know the route well, try to stick to smooth, flat roads as much as possible.

Advance journey planning can also help you save fuel by making combined trips. If you know you need to pick up a few things from the supermarket ten minutes away, and visit your parents across the city, why not do both on the same trip? It will save you hassle as well as money.

2. Check your tyre pressure

For many people, the only time they think about tyre pressure is when that annoying little icon flashes up on your dashboard to let you know you need to check your PSI (pounds per square inch).

That’s fine for most drivers, but if you’re looking to save money on your fuel costs, you should take a proactive approach to tyre pressure, something that can have a serious impact on fuel efficiency.

Similar to road quality, even slightly flat tyres can create a drag on your car which will cause you to use up more fuel, and reduce your fuel efficiency by as much as 5% according to experts. For maximum efficiency, keep on top of your tyre pressure, especially during particularly warm or cold temperatures.

3. Don’t idle

Hearing the words ‘don’t idle’ might give you flashbacks to a particularly grouchy schoolteacher, but idling is one of the worst offences for drivers who want to conserve fuel and spare their wallets.

Every second you spend running the engine at a set of traffic lights, or waiting for the friend who said they would be ‘five minutes, promise’ to finally appear at the door, you’re burning unnecessary fuel.

Many modern cars come with start-stop systems that will automatically cut your engine after a certain period of time. Even if yours isn’t one of them, you can do this manually – as a general rule of thumb, if you know you’re going to be stopped for more than ten seconds, cut your engine (as well as your fuel costs).

4. Watch your speed (and drive smoothly)

It will come as no surprise to know that moving off from a stationary position, or picking up speed after slowing down, are the moments that make your car work the hardest. That means they’re also the moments when the vehicle uses up the most fuel.

Another tip for saving on your fuel costs is to drive more smoothly. Rather than picking up speed quickly and then braking harshly, try driving at a slightly lower, more consistent speed – especially in built-up areas where there are more traffic lights.

If your car has a cruise control function, make use of it on the motorway or on longer journeys. Making sure you stay at a steady speed will keep your car moving and help you avoid that gas-guzzling, start-stop driving.

5. Look for cheaper fuel

Sounds simple, right? If you want to cut your fuel costs, just use cheaper fuel – it’s so obvious when you think about it.

Actually, it isn’t. While you can’t control the price of a gallon of petrol, you can do the work to make sure you’re getting the most from your money.

The first step is to shop around. As you no doubt know, different petrol stations charge different fees for the same fuel. If you don’t already have a favourite petrol station, find one – search around your local area for the station with the most consistently low cost.

It’s not as easy as just finding the cheapest rate, however. If station A is cheaper than station B, but you have to drive further to get to station A, station B might be your best bet. Find out for sure using tools like money supermarket’s fuel cost calculator.

6. Go green

If there’s one sure-fire way to cut your fuel costs, it’s by switching to a car that was created for the specific purpose of reducing petrol and diesel costs.

You’ve probably heard of a hybrid by now; cars that cut down on your fuel consumption by powering a portion of your journey through electricity or using an electric motor to reduce the burden on your petrol or diesel engine.

While hybrids were once reserved for the wealthiest or the greenest people around, they’ve now gone mainstream. Most major car manufacturers either already produce a hybrid or have one in the works, meaning you can now purchase a quality hybrid car for less than £10,000.

If that still sounds a little steep, think of it this way: not only do hybrids hold their value far better than petrol or diesel-powered vehicles, they’re also up to 30% more fuel-efficient. That means the upfront cost of a hybrid will be offset by the money you save in the long run.

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Maxine McCreadie

Maxine is an experienced writer, specialising in personal insolvency. With a wealth of experience in the finance industry, she has written extensively on the subject of Individual Voluntary Arrangements, Protected Trust Deed’s, and various other debt solutions.

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Current Version

August 5 2021

Written by
Maxine McCreadie

Edited by
Maxine McCreadie