You are being robbed. The thing is, it's by someone you have come to know and depend upon over the years. Who is the culprit, you ask? The gas pump.

Don't waste a dollar more at those thieving gas stations by following these five tips for saving money at the pump.

1. Buy gas on Wednesday mornings: According to gaspricewatch.com, prices are highest on the weekends and settle down by midweek.

Fill up in the morning: The colder it is outside the denser the gasoline is, giving you more for your money. Most gas stations don't compensate for a temperature change.

2. Put the nozzle on "slow" mode: Most pumps have three speeds: high, middle and low. Pumping on the low speed minimizes the amount of vapors created while pumping. If it's on high, vapors fill your tank instead of gas, but you still pay as if it were all gas.
3. Fill up when you're tank is half empty: The more gas that's in the tank, the less air there is in the empty space. Gasoline evaporates at an unimaginable speed, and the less air in the tank, the slower it evaporates.
4. Never fill up when a gasoline truck is pumping gas into the storage tanks: The gas in the tanks is being stirred and the dirt that usually settles at the bottom will be pumped into your tank. No piece of dirt is worth $3.25 a gallon.

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Copyright Brigham Young University 3 Apr 2008