I'm not here to tell you about how the weak US dollar affects oil prices, or how the emerging Chinese economy creates upward price pressure on oil (though these contribute!).

I'm here to help you cut down your gas bill, so that you can spend less the easy way!

Not unless you've developed a taste for petroleum products recently. But seriously, it doesn't involve driving around all over the place to find the cheapest gas prices (though knowing where your best prices are certainly helps!)

There are a few ways to do this without walking or biking everywhere (though, again, this isn't a bad idea either!)

Some involve changes of driving habits, like accelerating and braking gently. Others involve taking care of your car to improve or maintain the fuel efficiency. Proper tire inflation, regular oil changes and tune-ups accomplish this.

• Clean out your junk. Every extra 100 pounds of stuff you carry around costs you about 1 mile per gallon.
• If you have two cars, choose the one with better gas mileage unless you need the other one for some other reason.
• Go for the 87 octane. Some cars actually do worse on the expensive gas, so there's no really good reason to pamper your car unless you have money to burn!
• Watch prices to see which days of the week are cheaper.
• After filling up, turn the nozzle upside-down in the tank to shake out what's left (you paid for it, after all!)
• Get a gas rebate credit card. The Chase PerfectCard™, for example, gives a 3% gas station rebate at all gas stations. This shaves off 5 cents per gallon now. (This is the one I use.)
• If you have a Wal-Mart Supercenter or Costco nearby, and have a higher-than average tolerance for risk, then you can bid on cash cards on Ebay.com at a discount to face value. 25% discounts are not unheard of, and you can usually expect to get at least 7-10% discount. This translates to 10 cents to about 40 cents per gallon! However, this can be risky, as it can lead you to being scammed. Please check out this update!