11. Not Pumping Your Ride
This is more of a near the pump mistake. Do you check the air pressure of your tires and add air if they’re under-inflated? No? If you are driving a car with tires that don’t have enough air in them, like most of the cars on the road, you are losing money. The U.S. Department of Energy discovered that a drop of 10 psi in tire pressure can decrease fuel efficiency by up to 3%. Yet, 36% of cars today are at least 20% underinflated! That’s money out the exhaust pipe, folks. Low tire pressure causes you to have to fill ‘er up more frequently because the car doesn’t drive as efficiently. And if you’re like most drivers, you don’t check the tire pressure and add necessary air often enough. Next time you’re at the pump, find the air machine and check your tires. Fill them to the recommended psi as shown on a sticker inside the driver door frame…or listed in your owner’s manual. If possible, use a quality tire pressure gauge and not the one attached to the air machine, and not one that cost $1.99.
12. Not Checking Your Change
If you pay with cash at the register (as you should to get the advertised discount), be sure to count your change. At peak hours, when there is a line of customers, questions, cash being exchanged, credit cards being swiped, gas purchases and mini-market purchases…oh, and “Can I use the bathroom?”…the one or two inundated cashiers can be rushed or even overwhelmed…and bound to make mistakes. The mistake might be too much change handed to you or too little. If it’s too much, you’ll do the honest thing, right? Returning the extra dough not only shows you’re an upstanding and honest citizen and will let you sleep at night, it might even inspire the others in line to be honest (at least that day). Ahh, a better world. Of course, if you are shorted money, you’ll let the cashier know—but you have to check by counting the change yourself.