I think I've wasted a lot of money on gas.

In planning the budget for an upcoming vacation, I realized I've wasting a bit of money of gasoline. Nothing big like sitting in an idle car all night (it was a cold night, and I was in no shape to drive... and my truck lasted about 8 hours), it's all the little trips here and there.

I would take a trip to the local grocery store in my 20 mpg truck or small suv (if bringing the wife and kid) about 4 times a week. For me, it's about 1.5 miles each way. Add in a cold start (equivalent to about 1/8 a gallon for me) and that's .275 gals or $1.10 (if gas is $4/gal). Then there's the trip to the Super Wal-Mart, Target and/or Petsmart (I'll refrain from the links here) made at least twice a week, which is 4 miles away with 2 cold starts (cause let's face it, we almost never run in and out of a Super Wal-Mart). That's .675 gals or $2.70 for each round trip. Finally, since our kid goes through milk, apple juice by the gallon and diapers by the box, we make a trip to Sam's Wholesale Club at least once a week which is about 8 miles and another 2 cold starts (same reason as the Super Wal-Mart) and totals out at $4.20 per trip.

4 - $1.10 trips to the grocery, 2 - $2.70 trips, and 1 $4.20 trip = $14 a week in gas just to buy weekly essentials.

Ok, $56 a month may not seem like much for some, but that's a night of babysitting for us. So, in order to help earn us a night out (or more likely pay down some debt), we're making a few changes.

First, on a recommendation from a friend, I bought a new high performance air filter and timing advancer for my truck. I spent about $100 total (installed) and now get an average of 1.3 mpg more than before (6.1% increase). For me, that's like getting another gallon of gas per fill up for free, so they should finish paying for themselves in another couple months.

Second, and most important, we're changing our shopping routine a bit. Sam's is on the way to work, so I can stop there on the way there or back, and since I'm trying to get to work/home, I'm not as prone to exploring (time saver). Also, we're only going to go to the grocery store and the Super Wal-Mart/target area once a week at most (so we say). Plus, if we time our trips to the Super Wal-Mart right, then I load up a gift card and use it for gas, saving $.03 per gallon.

Last, I'm trying to get the hang of hypermiling... it's a bit tougher then it sounds (at least to produce any noticeable results).

Feel free to share any other tips.

Oh (last minute tip), don't forget that Discover Card holders get 5% cash back on gas purchases July-September ($4 gas will cost $3.80). Not bad.