It’s time to get a little extra mileage from your computer.

Literally.

Your computer can help cut the amount you spend on gas each month. At today’s prices, saving just a few gallons can keep quite a few bucks in your pocket.

I saw the difference myself recently. I made a trip to Arkansas over the Memorial Day weekend and kept track of what I spent on gas. I covered about 575 miles each way and paid about $180 for gas.

The gas expense would have been even more had I followed my usual path. But before the trip, I used MapQuest (www.mapquest.com) to calculate various routes and found one about 70 miles shorter. That saved me more than two hours of driving time roundtrip and perhaps $24 in gas.

Using a route planner is the first and most obvious way of cutting costs. But there are plenty of others.

For instance, it’s a no-brainer to buy gas from stations that charge less. Sites such as http://www.ajccars.com/articles/gas-prices.html and, nationally, http://www.gasbuddy.com provide a fairly reliable index of what various station charge. I don’t drive miles out of my way to pay a few cents less. But it makes sense to find stations nearby — and along the route of longer travels — that are more reasonably priced.

I knew the route for my trip to Arkansas in advance so I was able to predict where I would stop. More than once the Web led me to cheaper stations just a couple of miles from interstate exits — where gas has always been notorious high.

Another bit of technology can come in handy for finding the most economical route: A GPS. Keep in mind, when you plan a route using a Web site or a GPS, the shortest route is not always the best. Cars get their best gas mileage without the stop-and-go pattern of two lane highways.

Like most people, the bulk of my driving is between home and work. Because of my jobs and hours I’ve never been a good car pool candidate. Besides, my drive is only about 8 miles. But I know co-workers who commute from distant counties and in one case from another state.

If I was in that long range crowd, carpooling would be essential. Here in Atlanta, I could use this Web site — http://www.erideshare.com/carpool.php?city=Atlanta — to find a partner with the same route and similar hours. In other parts of the state and country, I could use this site — http://www.commuterchoice.com — to do the same thing.

You’ll find carpool sites by using this Google search: +carpool +(the name of your city).

Even if you carpool to work there are plenty of trips you’ll make solo. There are some common sense ways to get more miles to the gallon. Here are some Web sites that offer ways to increase your mileage: http://www.wikihow.com/Save-Money-on-Gas and http://www.howtoadvice.com/savinggas.

Of course, the best way is to drive less. Your computer can help you cut down on the miles, especially for things like entertainment, shopping and errands. A few examples:

Shopping: Many local merchants have Web sites. When I buy locally, I use sites to compare prices as well as check availability. That avoids trips to a store only to find the price is too high or the item is out of stock.

Entertainment: We haven’t given up on going to the movies, but home-delivered DVDs from services such as Netflix (www.netflix.com) make sense.

Errands: A few years ago I would have never considered planning routes for several stops in the city. Now, I spend a few moments with an online map or with MapQuest to plot the most efficient course.

The biggest savings from your computer? Using it to telecommute — assuming your job and your company allow it. You can learn more about telecommuting — and pick up some arguments for the boss — at: http://www.telcoa.org/.

Finally, be aware that your computer can also make high gas prices worse. I’ve found many slick sites that promised the moon if only I’ll buy a product that injects a bit of water into the combustion process, or that uses magnets to magically save on gas consumption. So take a few moments at this site — http://tinyurl.com/5vltom — to learn how to avoid online scams like this.

That’s it for today. Now I need to join the jam on I-85 and head to work.