Get Smart in Your Car: Tips on Saving Gas & Avoiding Tickets

Gas prices are through the roof, traffic is getting worse everywhere, and inflation is about ready to pop. Good thing I'm here with tips on how to make the most of today's dreary condition.

There are plenty of ways we can make that tank of gas last longer, get out of traffic and avoid the occasional speeding ticket. All of this translates into extra time and money for you. Here are 4 tips that'll definitely keep your wallet green.
1) Get a GPS
Whenever you hit a traffic jam, you can use your GPS to redirect you around the jam to your final destination. There are also GPS's that offer up real time in-car traffic services. It'll alert you of any traffic ahead and automatically redirect you. In the past you had to buy the traffic receiver separately and pay a monthly fee to use in-car traffic services. A couple of new GPS's have been released that have it built into the device itself and I expect that trend to continue in the future.

It will definitely be worth the investment to get a GPS with traffic alerts in the future, as gas prices and traffic both are expected to rise with no end in sight. Even if you got a cheap GPS without real time traffic features, you could still use it to navigate around traffic saving you time and money. Stop and go traffic makes you use MUCH more gas. A GPS would mean a lot more saved time and money and a lot less stress.

2)Gasbuddy.com
Visit Gasbuddy.com. It lets you search for the cheapest gas stations in your area. It's updated pretty frequently and it's pretty reliable. The site is sure to save you lots of cash in the long run.
3) Take Care of Your Ride
Make sure that your tires are pumped up to recommended levels. If your tires are even slightly flat or in less than optimum shape, you are using more gas to push that sucker along. You can increase your MPG by 10% or more just by making sure that your properly pumped up.

Oh, and you know that load of crap you've been carrying in the back of your car for months now? That can also decrease your miles per gallon. Any added weight to your car drops your MPG and that means you'll be making visits to the gas station more often. Clean out your car and pump your tires up. Not only will you have more cash to spend, you'll also enjoy the good vibes that come with riding around in a nice, clean car. So stop procrastinating and clean that car up. You'll be doing yourself, your car, and the environment a huge favor.

4) Avoid speed traps...or keep the speed limit.
There are a variety of speed trap alert websites online right now. One of the most popular is Trapster.com. The site allows you find speed traps in your own area and the information is available for most big cities. The best way to avoid speeding tickets is to keep the good old speed limit. Boring, I know but true. Keeping the speed limit will definitely keep speeding tickets at bay, and it also makes for an increase in miles per gallon. Yup, 65 miles per hour gets you a high rate of MPG. If you go over 65 MPH, you end up dropping your MPG.