topic Re: Ways to save on gas ? in Home

Ways to save on gas ?

151949 — Sun, 24 Jun 2018 13:08:44 GMT

With gas at the higher summer prices we are always looking to save on buying gas. Various areas seem to have different promotions - in Pittsburgh grocery stores like Giant Eagle & Shop & Save have a rewards card that keeps track of what you spend then for every $50 spent on groceries you get a discount on gas. Here in Florida Publix puts a coupon in their ad in the paper and for every $50 spent on groceries you can get a $50 gas gift card for $40. 20% savings! We buy as many as we can get and now only buy gas with the gift cards. Not only does it save us 20% but we don't have to worry about those scanners thieves put on the credit card readers at gas stations. Also , my DH has a code from Shell that he puts in and gets an additional 5 cents off per gallon. Other than that we don't do anything to save on gas, our car is only a couple years old so it's pretty gas efficient. Back when I used to have a car of my own I always bought a 4cyl. for a lower price on the car & the gas efficiency.

Re: Ways to save on gas ?

CAcableGirl2 — Sun, 24 Jun 2018 13:16:48 GMT

@151949 Those are some great savings. I think the biggest that you might have missed for savings on gas is that you don't live in California. The price of gas here is ridiculous and some blame it on the state for the additional taxes that are added to the price of gas.

And of course, no one knows what this extra money is for in the state. We do have some grocery stores that will give you a .10 per gallon discount (at Chevron), every time you spend $100 at their store. So, that equals a measly $2 per fill up. And there are slight savings per gallon if you want to go to Costco or Sams Club, but there is always a long line to wait in, and it doesn't make sense to sit in line burning gas just to buy more gas!

I paid over $4.00 a gallon for gas last time I filled up my car.

Re: Ways to save on gas ?

151949 — Sun, 24 Jun 2018 13:21:44 GMT

There are high taxes on gas in Pa too. Not near as high as Calif. though. It would shock us every year when we would go up to Pa for the summer, how much higher gas was there. Currently, here in SW Fl. it is about $2.75 /gallon. Take off our 5cents then the 20% and we end up paying $2.16 which seems very reasonable to me.

Re: Ways to save on gas ?

gidgetgh — Sun, 24 Jun 2018 13:50:34 GMT

@151949 wrote:
With gas at the higher summer prices we are always looking to save on buying gas. Various areas seem to have different promotions - in Pittsburgh grocery stores like Giant Eagle & Shop & Save have a rewards card that keeps track of what you spend then for every $50 spent on groceries you get a discount on gas. Here in Florida Publix puts a coupon in their ad in the paper and for every $50 spent on groceries you can get a $50 gas gift card for $40. 20% savings! We buy as many as we can get and now only buy gas with the gift cards. Not only does it save us 20% but we don't have to worry about those scanners thieves put on the credit card readers at gas stations. Also , my DH has a code from Shell that he puts in and gets an additional 5 cents off per gallon. Other than that we don't do anything to save on gas, our car is only a couple years old so it's pretty gas efficient. Back when I used to have a car of my own I always bought a 4cyl. for a lower price on the car & the gas efficiency.

@151949- Publix does the gas gift card promotion at all their stores I believe. They do in Georgia. I spent $105 in groceries on Wednesday and then bought two $50 gas gift cards. $100 in gas for $80.

I love the gas gift card deal. Because of it, I haven’t paid full price for gas in years. And, like you, I don’t use my credit card at the pump anymore. The only exception is if we travel out of state and they don’t have a gas station that we have a gift card for.

Re: Ways to save on gas ?

ccassaday — Sun, 24 Jun 2018 13:52:31 GMT

We shop at kroger and get the rewards for gas. Usually these days we only use one car. When my dad was working they would fill up wt the same time since it was good for so many gallons.

Re: Ways to save on gas ?

Mominohio — Sun, 24 Jun 2018 13:57:13 GMT

Probably the best way is to drive less.

Plan trips, and get things done in some kind of order as you run errands and go to appointments. For us, if we are going the 20 miles into town, it pays to make a circle around town for all errands and appointments in one trip, rather than say, getting groceries on Tuesday, then run up on Friday to do the banking, then make a dentist appointment the following Monday. Consolidate the things you need to do, and drive fewer times/miles per week.

Maintain your car to maximize gas mileage (there is a lot of info online for what to do for this), and when choosing a new car, pay attention to mileage and make it a focus of your choice, rather than some other bells and whistles being more important.

Re: Ways to save on gas ?

SilleeMee — Sun, 24 Jun 2018 14:04:03 GMT

Run errands in batches. Use the ac to reduce drag. Maintain correct tire pressure. Keep all filters clean.

Re: Ways to save on gas ?

151949 — Sun, 24 Jun 2018 14:19:19 GMT

@gidgetgh We always get Shell cards and so far on our travels we have not needed gas that we couldn't find a Shell station. We watch the highway signs that tell you the gas brands available at each exit.

Re: Ways to save on gas ?

gidgetgh — Sun, 24 Jun 2018 14:31:15 GMT

@151949 wrote:
@gidgetgh We always get Shell cards and so far on our travels we have not needed gas that we couldn't find a Shell station. We watch the highway signs that tell you the gas brands available at each exit.

@151949- I just recently added Shell cards to my stash so that will help. I get BP, QT, Racetrack and Shell. BP and Quik Trip are the stations I go to the most.

Re: Ways to save on gas ?

summerwind — Sun, 24 Jun 2018 14:40:03 GMT

Gasbuddy dot com.

Re: Ways to save on gas ?

SahmIam — Sun, 24 Jun 2018 14:50:50 GMT

What I do:

*Drive less (seems obvious, but I ask myself do I NEED to make the trip).

*Bundle all errands into one trip and then hit each place going from farthest to closest so there is NO doubling back.

* Use my gas reward card: this saves me anywhere from .75 a gallon up to $1.75 a gallon OFF the price at the pump. If I don't have and need gas (shame on me for that), I know where to go to get the cheapest gas in town and I plan that in my errand run.

* Cut down on how many cars you use. DH drives to work but his car gets 45 miles plus to the gallon and his commute is a whopping 15 minutes (25 on a bad day). My son (18) and I share his car. I base my needs around when he is not at work or school. It's working so far and has cut out the cost of using 2 cars. Obviously when he moves to his own place, I'll need to purchase a car but until then....money saved on gas.

Re: Ways to save on gas ?

RedTop — Sun, 24 Jun 2018 16:58:22 GMT

I stick to the same routine I started years ago when gas jumped sky high.

I was working then, and ALL errands and appointments were done on the days I worked. I came home after my last shift and didn’t go anywhere until time to go to work again. This is when I started shopping smarter, stocking more food and supplies in the house, as there were NO quick runs out for a forgotten ingredient. I rarely bought gas more than once a month.

Now that I'm retired, I go less than ever. My vehicle is 5 years old with 21,700 miles on it, and I buy gas about every 6-8 weeks, depending on whether we've made a trip to the VA. During the winter, I buy groceries every 2 months. During summer months, I go to the grocery store monthly. My husbands vehicle is 4 years old with 10,500 miles on it.

Re: Ways to save on gas ?

Evie2004 — Sun, 24 Jun 2018 18:14:50 GMT

We bought a Subaru Crosstrek last summer & it literally sips gas! We drove 200+ miles last weekend & had 1/2 tankful left when we got home..the trip included city driving.

We use our Kroger Plus card for discounts..rarely pay over $2 per gallon.

Re: Ways to save on gas ?

CelticCrafter — Sun, 24 Jun 2018 18:44:05 GMT

@Mominohio wrote:
Probably the best way is to drive less.

Plan trips, and get things done in some kind of order as you run errands and go to appointments. For us, if we are going the 20 miles into town, it pays to make a circle around town for all errands and appointments in one trip, rather than say, getting groceries on Tuesday, then run up on Friday to do the banking, then make a dentist appointment the following Monday. Consolidate the things you need to do, and drive fewer times/miles per week.

Maintain your car to maximize gas mileage (there is a lot of info online for what to do for this), and when choosing a new car, pay attention to mileage and make it a focus of your choice, rather than some other bells and whistles being more important.

That's how we do it.

Re: Ways to save on gas ?

151949 — Sun, 24 Jun 2018 18:57:26 GMT

We are very fortunate to live in a small town where everything is close by. The grocery store is 1/2 mile away, in the same strip mall as the grocery is our bank, dry cleaner/laundromat, Bells dept store, dollar store, hallmark store,office supply store, eye doctor. Within 2 miles from our house are DH's barber, our church, my hair stylist, our favorite diner, post office, hardware store, YMCA where we swim, hospital which is also where we get labs drawn and x rays etc done. Our doctor's office is about 4 miles away. So most of the time our driving is limited to a few miles a day.

Re: Ways to save on gas ?

bonnielu — Mon, 25 Jun 2018 09:08:55 GMT

We have a Prius, 50 miles per gallon. We buy our gas at Costco or use credit from Giant Eagle purchases. If we drive South to see our daughter prices in her area are much lower.

Re: Ways to save on gas ?

151949 — Mon, 25 Jun 2018 15:01:24 GMT

@bonnielu wrote:
We have a Prius, 50 miles per gallon. We buy our gas at Costco or use credit from Giant Eagle purchases. If we drive South to see our daughter prices in her area are much lower.

But don't you have to also charge the electric batteries - electric isn't free and the cost of the car in the first place is higher. As you can tell - I'm just not completely convinced yet that electric cars are an economic advantage.I'm waiting for one with solar batteries - just sit it out in the sun to charge it up.

Re: Ways to save on gas ?

jannabelle1 — Tue, 26 Jun 2018 02:00:21 GMT

I live in Missouri and our gas prices are around $2.75+/gallon. It looks like those of you who live on both coasts are paying the most. I'm retired, but even if I was working, the average commute in my major city would be around 30 minutes - add maybe 15 or 20 minutes for rush hour. I can't imagine gas prices and commute times elsewhere. Life is pretty good in my part of the Midwest, so I can't complain. Edited to the question: since we're retired, we combine trips for shopping with doctor/dentist appointments. We don't eat out more than once or twice every couple of weeks. - we're pretty content at home. We live in a metropolitan area, but we keep our travels close to home. Gas prices go up and then they come down, so I don't worry about them where I live.

Re: Ways to save on gas ?

Mj12 — Sun, 01 Jul 2018 11:50:37 GMT

I used to try to always fill up my tank on the Army post here. It seemed to be a lot cheaper than on the economy (on the local economy). But it's not any longer, not for my area. Not worth the trip to post to fill up.

We use the GIant rewards cards too, and my husband uses the points to partially fill up his F-150. But Giant (our Giant chain at least) put a cap on the gas points, only good for so many gallons, and they don't roll over. My husband likes to fill up at Costco.

Re: Ways to save on gas ?

Lipstickdiva — Tue, 26 Jun 2018 14:27:45 GMT

Our gas was between $2.55 and $2.65 in my area. This morning as I came to work, I noticed the 4 stations I drive by are now at $2.85.

I shop primarily at Giant Eagle because it's the grocery store closest to me. I have the rewards card so we get the fuel perks.

They limit us to 30 gallons max so we never use it just to fill up our cars because our cars only have around a 13 gallon tank so we'd be losing 17 gallons at the discount price. They won't roll the gallons over.

We make sure we fill up DH's truck which has a 30 gallon tank or we put it in our boat, which has a 100 gallon tank. That way we get what we can at the discount.

Other than that, DH and I both work very close to home and we drive where we need to drive otherwise and pay what we have to pay.