Tips to ease the pinch at the pump

With the price of gas nationwide now reaching more than $2.55 a gallon, some drivers are looking for ways to make the pinch at the pump a little less painful.

One way could be to buy gas in Wyoming, where according to AAA, gas is only $2.31 a gallon. But for those who don’t live in Wyoming, there are many simple driving tips that can help the stretch the gas dollar.

Liz Moyer, staff writer for Forbes.com, joined MSNBC-TV's Donna Gregory on Tuesday to lend some tips to help save at the pump.

To read an excerpt of their interview, continue to the text below. To watch the video, click on the "Launch" button to the left.

DONNA GREGORY: Now I have to tell you, and I think most people have realized this when they go to fill up their car, gas prices up 70 cents over the last year, though we haven’t changed how we drive. In fact, I guess demands is up one percent from a year ago, where is the consumer backlash, where is the outrage?

LIZ MOYER: Well it’s summer, people want to drive to get to their vacation destinations, and they’re not going to give it up.

GREGORY: But there are ways to change the way we drive, even if we’re not going to change how much we drive.

MOYER: How you drive is as much important as what you drive.  And one of the biggest factors is driving the speed limit. Interestingly, for every five miles per hour you drive over sixty miles per hour, your gas costs ten cents more per gallon.

GREGORY: What about driving in the city, so many people have to stop-and-go in start-and-stop traffic?

MOYER: Stop and go traffic does chip away at your gas bill, the best thing to do is avoid the time of day when you know there’s going to be a logjam on the roads.

GREGORY: But isn’t that the reason there’s a logjam, because most people have to be on the roads at those times of the day? A lot of people can’t avoid those times of day, what else can they do?

MOYER: There are number of other things, drive at a higher gear on the highway. That is more economical in terms of you gas usage. Don’t pile a lot of stuff on the top of your car that reduces the wind drag. 

GREGORY: Lets talk about wind drag. I know one of the tips is to turn off the air conditioner, especially now that it’s getting cooler in parts of the country. But isn’t their wind drag when your windows are open as well, does it balance out with the gas you save?

MOYER: There probably is a little wind drag, but I think that it balances out. Most wind drag comes from putting a lot of camping gear on the top of a station wagon, or bicycles, that’s a lot of wind drag there.

GREGORY: Alright, well there’s always that argument about idling, say when you’re going to run into the post office, should you turn the car off, or leave it on?

MOYER: There’s a misconception that leaving your car on actually saves more gas than turning the car off than turning it back on. In fact, it is more economical to turn the car off, even if you are going to be turning the car back on in five minutes.

GREGORY: Well what about the credit cards that you use at the pump, is there a better one to use than another?

MOYER: Well I would use the branded labels that you have, a bankcard, a Visa or Master Card, not the gas station cards. Anything that you can get miles on, you get a little extra for the gas that you buy, and you’re not paying as high an interest rate as you might with a store branded card.

MSNBC Live with Amy Robach and Randy Meier can be seen weekdays from 9 a.m.-Noon.

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