If you are already using GasBuddy or Waze to find the cheapest gas near you, good. You are doing the right thing. Saving $0.30 a gallon on a 15-gallon fill-up puts about $4.50 back in your pocket, and over time that adds up to real money.
But with gas prices jumping from $2.81 a gallon in January to over $4.50 in May, a 60% increase in five months, even the cheapest station is expensive. So the question becomes: what else can you do on top of what you are already doing?
Turns out, quite a bit. And most of it takes zero extra effort.
$2.81
January 2026
national average
$4.52
May 2026
national average
60%
increase
in 5 months
The Errand Math Worth Doing
You probably already have a sense of this, but putting numbers to it makes a difference. The average car gets about 25 miles per gallon. At $4.50 a gallon, every mile you drive costs you roughly $0.18. That does not sound like much until you start adding it up.
A 10-mile round trip to the store costs about $1.80 in gas. If you make that trip three separate times in a week instead of combining them into one, you just spent $5.40 on gas for errands you could have handled for $1.80. Over a month, those extra trips can add up to $15 or $20 in gas you did not need to spend.
This is the next level beyond the gas app. Finding the cheapest station saves you money per gallon. Planning your trips saves you gallons.
The cheapest gallon of gas is the one you do not burn.
What Actually Saves You Money
Combine your errands. Before you leave the house, ask yourself: is there anything else I need to do in that direction? The grocery store, the pharmacy, the post office. One trip instead of three is the single easiest way to cut your gas spending without changing anything about your life.
Plan your route. If you have three stops, go to the farthest one first and work your way back. Backtracking wastes gas, and most of us do it without thinking about it.
Slow down. Driving at 55 instead of 70 on the highway can improve your fuel economy by 10 to 15%. Aggressive acceleration and hard braking can lower your gas mileage by 15 to 30%. Smooth and steady is not just safer. It is cheaper.
Check your tires. Under-inflated tires create more drag, which means your engine works harder, which means you burn more gas. A quick check at the air pump once a month can improve your fuel efficiency by up to 3%. Most gas stations have a free air pump.
Stop paying for premium if you do not need it. Check your owner's manual. If it says "recommended" and not "required," regular unleaded is fine. The difference between regular and premium right now is about a dollar a gallon. On a 15-gallon fill-up, that is $15 you do not need to spend.
The Commute Question
If you drive to work five days a week, your commute is probably your biggest gas expense. And it is worth doing the actual math on it, because the number might surprise you.
A 20-mile round trip commute at 25 MPG and $4.50 a gallon costs about $3.60 a day. That is $18 a week. $72 a month. $864 a year. Just getting to work and back.
A 40-mile round trip? Double it. $144 a month. $1,728 a year.
If your employer offers any kind of remote work flexibility, even one day a week, that one day saves you about $14 to $29 a month depending on your commute. Over a year, that is $170 to $350 just from staying home on Fridays.
If remote work is not an option, carpooling with one other person cuts your gas cost in half. With two other people, you are paying a third. The math is simple, even if the coordination takes a little effort.
If You Have Access to Public Transit
Not everyone is driving. If you live in a city with buses, trains, or a metro system, you already have an option that a lot of people overlook because they are used to driving everywhere.
A monthly transit pass in most major cities runs between $50 and $100. Compare that to $144 a month in gas alone for a 40-mile round trip commute, and that is before you factor in parking, tolls, and the wear on your car. The savings can be significant.
Even if transit does not cover your full commute, a hybrid approach works too. Drive to the nearest station, park, and take the train the rest of the way. You still save gas, you skip downtown parking costs, and you get that time back to read, rest, or just not sit in traffic.
If you are not sure what is available near you, most cities have a trip planner on their transit website. Google Maps also shows public transit routes and timing right alongside the driving directions. It is worth checking, even if you have not taken a bus or train in years.
Tools That Actually Help
Enter your starting point, destination, and vehicle, and it tells you exactly how much the trip will cost in gas. Use it before road trips, for commute planning, or just to see what your weekly driving is actually costing you. Try it here →
Real-time gas prices from stations near you. The app also shows price trends so you can time your fill-ups. Prices tend to drop on Mondays and Tuesdays and rise toward the weekend. Download GasBuddy →
If you are driving across state lines, check which states have lower gas prices before you go. The difference can be $0.50 or more per gallon. Fill up before you cross into a more expensive state. Check state prices →
Kroger, Safeway, and other chains offer fuel points for grocery purchases. Typical savings are $0.10 to $0.30 off per gallon. If you are already grocery shopping there, you might as well collect the discount.
The Bigger Picture
Gas prices went up 60% in five months because of a conflict on the other side of the world. You did not cause that, and you cannot control it. What you can control is how many miles you drive, how efficiently you drive them, and whether you are using the tools available to stretch every gallon.
None of this is going to make gas cheap again. But it can make your gas budget go further while prices are high. And right now, further is all most of us are asking for.
Sources: AAA Gas Prices, May 2026. GasBuddy national averages, May 2026. U.S. Department of Energy, fueleconomy.gov. Advisor Perspectives, May 2026. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, February 2026.