Unless you’ve already gone electric, you don’t need a news report to tell you about just how quickly gas prices are rising. The national average was just recently a record $4.316 per gallon, according to AAA, and one record keeps breaking another. Things are so bad that Uber and Lyft are imposing fuel surcharges to help keep their drivers afloat.

                By                    Andrew Lisa

So what about people who only drive for themselves? How are they coping and what should they do to get by — especially if they were already on shoestring budgets before prices hit the roof?

See: A History of Gas Prices: Do You Remember How Little You Once Paid?Read: Record Gas Prices Obliterate Uber and Lyft Drivers’ Take-Home Pay — And They Are Not Being Compensated

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About 1 in 5 respondents would like to drive less but simply can’t manage to. Another 28% aren’t changing their driving habits at all.

Drive Well

You can’t control the price of gas, but you can control how you drive — and how you drive has a lot to do with how much gas you burn.

“Avoid sudden starts and stops,” said Jonathan Sykes, CEO of My Car Repair. “Avoid unnecessary braking — don’t speed up when the light turns green because the car in front is still stopped.”

The U.S. Department of Energy backs up that assertion, stating that aggressive driving like this reduces fuel economy by 15%-30% on the highway and 10%-40% in stop-and-go traffic.

Sykes also recommends shutting off your car when standing.

“Even sitting still, idling cars burn gas and emit pollutants,” Sykes said.

Here, too, DOE data backs up Sykes’ advice — idling cars can burn a quarter to a half-gallon of fuel per hour while starting a car’s engine burns only a few seconds worth of gas.

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Slow Down

One of the best things you can do for your own physical well-being, the safety of other drivers on the road and for your wallet is to simply drop a few mph on the speedometer.

“Maintaining a safe speed or driving just under it can benefit you in more ways than you might expect,” said Ian Lang, senior car advice editor at Bumper.com.

According to the DOE, every 5 miles per hour you drive over 50 mph adds 29 cents per gallon of gas at today’s prices. Much of that has to do with the aerodynamics at work on your vehicle. “Wind resistance increases the faster you drive, which reduces fuel economy,” Lang said.

Along those same lines, rooftop cargo carriers can create enough aerodynamic drag to reduce fuel economy by as much as 25%, according to DOE.

Take Care of Your Car

Driving well at modest speeds is part of the battle — but treating your car well can save you even more money on gas.

“Maintain your car properly,” Sykes said. “Don’t carry around extra weight in your car if you don’t need to. Remove unnecessary items like golf clubs or tools that you only use once in a while. Keep the tires properly inflated — the correct pressure is listed on the tire itself — and make sure they’re not over-inflated or under-inflated. Poorly inflated tires can reduce fuel economy by 10% or more.”

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Use Apps and Fill Up Early in the Week

Another thing you can control is when you fill your tank — and that stroke of timing matters more than you might think.

“In most cases, gas prices are cheaper toward the beginning of the week,” said Phil Dengler, co-owner of The Vacationer. “That means, on average, prices are cheaper on Mondays than they are on Fridays.”

A GasBuddy study backs up the assertion that Monday is the best day to fill up — but helpful reports like that aren’t the only reason you should download the app.

“The GasBuddy app is a must-have for those looking for the cheapest gas prices,” Dengler said. “It is easy to use and shows the cheapest gas station prices near you.”

He also recommends using the GetUpside app to save as much as 25 cents per gallon in cash back.

Remember, Good Gas Cards Pay You More When Prices Are High

At the very least, you can make sure you pay at the pump with plastic that rewards expensive gas purchases.

“I always use a credit card when purchasing gas and regularly earn 3% to 5% cash back,” Dengler said. “Credit cards like the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass card — earns 6x points per dollar spent on gas — and the Blue Cash Preferred Card — earns 3% cash back on gas — are some of my favorite cards for purchasing gas. Additionally, the Chase Freedom Flex card and the Discover It card — each with no annual fee — regularly offer 5% cash back on gasoline as a part of their quarterly rotating categories. Other good gas cards are the Chase Freedom Unlimited card — 1.5% cash back on all purchases — and the Citi Double Cash Card — 2% cash back on purchases, 1% when you buy plus 1% as you pay.”

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