Gas.

As most of you are aware, I subscribe to the eReader News Today newsletter, where I get daily updates of new Kindle books that are currently free. I often grab a fair amount for free and peruse them later... sometimes I question the purchase, sometimes I am pleasantly surprised, and sometimes I get freebies that I've been waiting for. 

Okay, so long story short: 

I purchased (for free) 54 Ways to Save Money on Gas! by Dan Eitreim the other day & browsed through it last night.

I don't even know what to say about this. First of all, it starts off with a disclaimer... basically to make sure I don't sue the author or publisher for any information that may be misleading or incorrect. Okay fine, I get it- things change after publication and they want to cover their asses.

So I started reading and must say that I pretty much just glossed over. I read the 54 tips and for all but a few, I just skimmed the paragraphs breaking down the tip. This book was filled with "duh" moments. Almost all of the tips were common sense... like take the bus or take fewer trips to the store... gee, thanks for pointing out the obvious. Some of the tips were ones that I knew because I took the time to learn about basic (and I mean VERY basic) car information... like tire pressure and changing the oil and filters. Again, thanks for recapping what my Dad taught me when I was 16. I know I'm being a bit snarky, but I totally felt led on by this book. I was thinking I'd learn some tricks, when in reality most of it was stuff I knew or stuff that its just plain common sense. BUT, I did find a few useful tips that I had been unaware of or just forgotten. One was buy gas on Wednesday- it is typically the cheapest day of the week (oh, and along with that thought process, buy 3 days before any holiday- that I did know already). Another is to buy in the morning-- I knew this, but didn't know why.. the book did explain the science behind this which was cool. Lastly, I learned that you shouldn't ever let your tank get to E and when you fill up, always fill up all the way but don't "top off" to get that last teeny gas squeeze (it'll just end up evaporating anyways). The whole "don't get to E" was interesting too- apparently sludge & gas nastiness is at the bottom of your tank and it can make your engine wear faster of you're always running on that last gunky bit of gas in the tank.

Basically, don't pay for this book. It is not worth it. The $3 is better spent on (less than) a gallon of gas. I'm glad it was free, because if I paid for this I would feel completely duped. Even still, I was annoyed that I wasted my time with the book- sure it was a quick read, but I can't ever get that time back! Haha. Even for the few tips I did take away, I'm pretty sure that none of it is going to make me save any considerable amount of money.

Oh well. At least I know that my "always fill up in the morning" mantra is actually scientifically backed.

write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow