Frugality Friday: Gas Mileage

We follow most of the common recommendations for getting good gas mileage -- regular tune-ups, appropriate air pressure in tires, reasonable driving habits. My Toyota minivan has a readout that tells average gas mileage and I've been getting 24.6 mpg. I like to multiply that by the four people who usually travel in said van and figure we get excellent mileage.

Then I came up on a mileage-improving tidbit on Wisebread.com. I'm trying out some new things to see if I can improve on 24.6 mpg. I've been trying to accelerate more gently, coast more, and turn off the engine at the bank drive-thru. I reset the mpg calculator at the beginning of March and so far I'm doing worse. I'm at about 23.9.

I have a 100+ mile highway trip coming up and I'm counting on that to boost the average. Maybe I'll even drive the speed limit.