Fill up on gasoline savings.

Drive down your spending on fuel

There's good news for drivers. [According to a forecast by the Washington, D.C.-based Energy Information Administration (EIA), gasoline prices should be declining this year. "We're expecting additional crude oil to hit world market and that will push crude prices down, as well as the [price of] products refined from crude oil, including gasoline," states John Cogan, EIA energy information specialist.

As per an EIA report (October 6, 2000), average national gas prices were expected to be $1.48 per gallon during 2000 and $1.40 per gallon during 2001. That's a savings of more than 5%. Says Cogan, "The supply and demand for crude oil is very tight now, but consumers should see a significant difference in price [in 2001]."

For more savings, find out the optimum octane-number gasoline for your car by referring to your owner's manual and evaluating your car's performance at different octane ratings. Octane ratings measure the antiknock properties of a gasoline; higher numbers indicate a better resistance to knocking. However, Public Citizen, a Washington, D.C.-based consumer advocacy group, found that only 5% of cars (such as Ferraris, Jaguars, Mercedes-Benzes and Rolls Royces) actually need a higher octane gasoline to perform properly. Paying for premium gasoline for the remaining 95% of cars is fueling unnecessary spending totaling $3 billion a year, or $95 per vehicle.

To further reduce the number of trips you take to the pump, heed the advice of The Consumer Bible: 1001 Ways to Shop Smart by Mark Green et al. (Workman Publishing Co., $15.95). It advises consumers to reap additional gasoline savings by maintaining properly inflated tires, getting regular tune-ups, turning off the air-conditioner when driving on local streets, staying within the speed limit, and avoiding carrying excess cargo.