Saving money through hypermiling

[varg]

Hi all, I have recently joined the struggle against gas prices with my little Civic. I was paying huge amounts of cash with the last vehicle I had and now I'm trying to save every penny.

I am going away to college this August and would like to be able to come down from northern FL to South FL to see my fianc? every weekend and still be able to afford books & supplies, so I'm saving money everywhere I can. Improving my FE is one of the priorities I've set so that I can use a minimum amount of money in the 120mi trip there and back and so that I can save money during my commute to work before I start college.

I already inflated my tires to 40psi, emptied the car out, drive without AC (in south FL nonetheless!), drive it gently enough that the AT shifts at between 2k and 2.5k RPM, shut the engine off at stoplights, coast as much as possible (FL is FLat so that's not very much) and I use cruise control whenever I'm not accelerating or decelerating. I'm planning to make some VGs for the rear section of the roof right above the window to reduce flow separation and maybe will be blocking some of my grill and cooling intake (the one under the bumper).

I have yet to see my first fill-up (at 270mi now) after all of these changes, it should be coming up later this week or early next week. I'm hoping to see at least 38mpg with all of the changes I've made.

I'd like it if some more experienced members could share with me some possible (very cheap) modifications and tips to bring my FE up. A scangauge is out of the question since that cost $170, or appx. 5 tanks of gas and it will take forever for it to pay for itself as far as saving gas goes (if it ever does). Remember; my budget is essentially zero.

Thanks in advance!