Nov. 12: Gas Saving Tips

November 12, 2026

More ideas on how to save on gas

The problem of expensive fill-ups continues to be a mainstay of conversations both around the golf course and the line dancing class. How to save a few dollars at the pump?

One of our friends pointed out that gas at the pump is always cheaper in the country versus in the city. So now we routinely fill up in places like Carleton Place or Almonte, Ont., which are both on the way to where we golf.

A second friend suggested filling up in the evening, after supper. Sure enough, the few times we are out later we’ve noticed lower pump prices.

Save with SPP decided to check out a few more ideas on saving on the price of gas, and conserving the gas you have.

Avoid filling up on the weekend, advises the Savvy New Canadians blog.

“When it is the weekend, gas prices typically spike, so fill up during the week as much as possible,” the blog advises.

Another good idea is to use cashback credit cards when filling up – that way, you’ll get cash back in amounts ranging from 0.5 to two per cent at the end of the billing period, the blog suggests.

With prices inching up towards the $1.90 per litre mark, the blog notes, now is not a good time to splurge on even more expensive premium gas. “Unless your car explicitly requires you to use premium fuel, you’re better off opting for regular gas. Most cars can function perfectly well on cheaper, regular gas, so there’s really no need to spend extra money for premium,” the blog concludes.

The Brokerlink site provides a few more ideas, but more around the idea of adopting more gas-friendly driving habits.

Accelerate and brake gently, the site suggests. “Take five seconds to reach 20 kilometres per hour from a complete stop. Or, use a moderate amount of throttle and shift gears between 2000 and 2500 rpm if you drive a manual. Look ahead and leave as much space as possible to reduce stop-and-go,” the site advises.

Keep your speed steady, the site continues.

“According to Natural Resources Canada, varying your speed between 75 and 85 km per hour every 18 seconds can increase fuel consumption by 20 per cent. On a 25 km trip on the highway, driving 120 km/hour instead of 100 km/h will increase your fuel consumption, but only save you approximately two minutes in travel time. Use cruise control on flat roadways and in light-traffic conditions on the highway to optimize your gas mileage,” the site recommends.

Finally, the site adds, try not to sit around with the engine idling.

“An engine idling for more than 10 seconds uses roughly 1.8 litres of fuel per hour or 300 millilitres (over 1 cup) of fuel for every 10 minutes—much more than it would use just to restart the engine. As a rule of thumb, if you’ll be stopped for more than a minute, turn your engine off,” the site concludes.

Let’s finish things off with a few ideas from the Narcity blog.

Stay tuned, the blog advises, to “forecasts” about gas prices going up and down – this is often covered on the local news and is always featured with services like the Gas Wizard app.

Using a gas price app “allows drivers to track whether gas prices will spike or drop off a day in advance, letting you know with surprising accuracy when to fuel up quick or hold off until tomorrow,” Narcity reports.

Pick the best time of day to fill up, the blog continues.

“Weekend evenings tend to be slightly cheaper as gas bars lose some of their retail margins for a few hours,” Dan McTeague of Canadians for Affordable Energy tells Narcity. “Many stations part with some of their 7-9 cent a litre retail margin which is included in the price, to attract more volumes of sales when traffic slows down.”

Finally, the blog suggests, be sure you have a points card for the station or stations where you fill up. We have so many different gas point cards in the wallet that it’s work finding the right one(s) when we are filling up. However, using points cards saved us $10 a fill up multiple times on our recent trip to the East Coast.

Perhaps the money you are able to save on fill-ups can be deployed to help the future you enjoy some post-work retirement income.

A great savings partner is the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. You provide the dollars – any amount up to your annual registered retirement savings plan limit – and SPP chips in with investment know-how and experience. Savings dollars received by SPP are professionally invested in our low-cost, diversified pooled funds.

You can also transfer in any amounts you may have in unlocked RRSPs.

SPP will focus on growing your savings for that future day when savings turn into income. At that point, your options include the security of money for life via an SPP annuity, or the more flexible Variable Benefit.

Check out SPP today!

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Brokerlink, Narcity, Natural Resources Canada, Savvy New Canadians

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