Buy your gas at ARCO. ARCO is usually 7-10 cents a gallon cheaper than other stations. If you aren’t in the western states, you probably have some other low price retailer. Learn where there stations are.

If your grocery store also sells gas, they might give you a discount when you purchase with a rewards or loyalty card. Usually you can get gas at ARCo cheaper than the discounted price at Safeway, but if you’re in an area where there aren’t any ARCO stations safeway is cheaper.

Plan to get gas. The prices in Souther California are 45-60 cents higher than the prices in AZ. When I go to LA I fill up before entering CA, then buy only enough gas to get past the Colorado River on the way back. I used to fill up in Banning because a tank will get me home from there. Now I only put enough in to get the to AZ.

Hitchhiking is also a good way to lower your gas bills. Especially if you’re a woman with a hot body who is willing to put out. If the right guy picks you up, you could even make a few bucks.
Terry

Full tax credits for the purchase of a hybrid are only available for the first 60,000 units manufactured. After that there is a sliding scale of 50% - 25% and 0. So, Toyota and Lexus buyers get NO credit as those sales have long since been passed.

Below is an excerpt from ClarkHoward.com regarding true hybrid savings:

Oct 30, 2007 — Most cost-effective hybrid vehicles named
There’s one call that Clark has taken on the air about 60 times over the years, and he’s never been able to answer it convincingly: Is it worth it to pay the extra bucks to buy a hybrid just to pay less in gas every week? Now Edmunds.com has done a cost analysis of some of the top hybrid models. Their research indicates how much longer it takes to get a return on investment if you buy the hybrid versions of any cars in the study. It’s the Ford Escape that gives you the quickest payback — owners will break even at around 3 years. The Honda Civic and the Mercury Mariner tie at No. 2. The Saturn Vue checks in at No. 3, allowing owners to break even in 4.8 years. Keep in mind that any hybrid offering return on investment in under five years is a smart buy. On the other end of the spectrum, the Toyota Highlander takes 11 years before you break even and the Camry will take you 12 years. And what about the Prius? Because there’s no exact gas-engine equivalent, Edmunds looked at the Prius vs. Corolla. Turns out it will take you a whopping 13.6 years to get payback if you only drive your Prius 15,000 miles/year! So Toyota — the greenest of all the automakers — actually does not give you good payback on your hybrid-purchasing dollar. Clark advises people to only buy a Toyota hybrid if they’re doing it because of deeply held environmental beliefs.
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If your #1 reason for switching to a hybrid is to save money, there are many variable to consider before running into your nearest car dealership.

Debbi Bressler