There are many ways to cut your costs during the summer, especially if you plan on doing a lot (or any) driving. With gas prices going back up, traveling this summer may be looking more expensive than when you planned your trip. Well, there are ways to save a little bit of money on that road trip this year.

As always, what I will start calling the golden rule of frugality, SHOP AROUND!!! Comparison shopping means that you are going to get the best deal. At the same time, don’t drive 30 miles out of your way to save $.02 a gallon, that’s crazy and really not worth it. You can do price comparison on websites like GasBuddy.com and some GPS systems even have gas stations filtered by price. These websites do depend on users to enter in gas prices, so the prices you see may not be what they are for that day (or that week if you’re going to a small town).

Secondly, if you’re a cash carrying member of the population use it. Some gas stations have started trying to pass merchant fees off to gas buyers and have started charging more for gas if someone is paying with a debit or credit card. This is a legal way for the gas stations to help with how much they’re paying for credit card fees. The good news for you is that usually these gas stations that charge more for credit card transactions are usually cheaper than everyone else.

You should also perform regular maintenance on your car. Giving your car a tune up and getting the oil changed according to when the manufacturer says can lead to higher MPGs and more miles on your car. Keeping your tires inflated can also help improve your MPG’s by 3% over the course of a year, which could total to 20 gallons of gas! Air filters are another one of those little things that sometimes we forget about that can increase your fuel efficiency.

A little tip I picked up is that if you like stopping frequently for gas, don’t fill up your tank because the less full your tank is the less heavy your car is and the more miles per gallon you will average. I usually fill my car up to ½ a tank, and then refill at ¾ a tank. It is time consuming, but overall I’m getting better mileage out of it.

Lastly, if you really want to cut back on fuel consumption for your road trips, take it easy and try not drive too aggressively. The faster you accelerate the more gas you are burning.

After watching plenty of auto makers make more energy efficient cars, German auto makers have finally decided to start rolling out electric cars. VW is said to start in 2010, and BMW said just last week that they would start testing "several hundred" electric models of the Mini. I guess this is ok, except I thought the point of electric cars was to limit emissions and reduce energy costs on the average consumer. Consider the rising cost of heating and cooling our homes, this doesn’t seem like a great alternative. Not to mention that while an electric car may not produce any or a lot of emissions, coal does. In most locations in the U.S. coal is still the only provider of electricity. Ugh.

However, I have to say, it is about time for VW to make a more efficient car…or alternate energy car at least. When looking for a car last year, the best they could do is a diesel car. However, the better mileage with the diesel fuel was offset by the extremely high cost of diesel. boo.

Sometimes I still wonder if we’ll ever see hydrogen fuel cell cars. I know that right now the technology isn’t in place, but maybe one day.