cost of gas

[RobGMN 5,000+ posts]

Slow down... breathe.

I plan ahead. If I know the cost of gas in my area then I can shop around for the best deal. Different gas stations have different prices. I don't wait until I am on empty then run to whatever gas station is closest and just accept their price because I didn't plan ahead. Because I planned ahead I now have extra monies. I do the same thing with car parts, car audio gear, food or whatever I elect to purchase. There is nothing wrong with budgeting even if you make more money than another person. It's smart finances. My extra goes into my savings. That is there for emergencies, rainy days, spurt of the moment purchases and so on. That is how it "saves me money."

What app do you use for gas prices, how much of a swing is there between all the stations in your area, and how much do you save on average per year by price-shopping?

I just Googled "gas prices near me" and got linked to Gas Buddy, which is showing every station in my city and a neighbor city (160,000 population) at the same price.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

What app do you use for gas prices, how much of a swing is there between all the stations in your area, and how much do you save on average per year by price-shopping?

Two apps. T-Mobile Tuesdays and Fuel Rewards. I saved a little over $300 in 2021 up until August when I stopped delivering pizza.

 

[RobGMN 5,000+ posts]

Two apps. T-Mobile Tuesdays and Fuel Rewards. I saved a little over $300 in 2021 up until August when I stopped delivering pizza.

Now we're straying away from pump price variance to getting discounts through a variety of methods. Like double-coupon Thursdays or "competitor plus two cents" promotions.

What happens if you are watching and waiting for a price drop, but it actually rises while you are waiting and you get low enough that you need to fill? Do you stop driving, or bite the bullet and fill up?
What happens if you keep "topping it off" only to have prices drop the day after you have a full tank?

These are situations I mentioned previously that bring cost averaging into play.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

Now we're straying away from pump price variance to getting discounts through a variety of methods. Like double-coupon Thursdays or "competitor plus two cents" promotions.

What happens if you are watching and waiting for a price drop, but it actually rises while you are waiting and you get low enough that you need to fill? Do you stop driving, or bite the bullet and fill up?
What happens if you keep "topping it off" only to have prices drop the day after you have a full tank?

These are situations I mentioned previously that bring cost averaging into play.

I don't wait. When I get to a 1/4 tank I go fill up to full. Before I leave the house the app tells me the lowest reported prices in my area. I go there, get the least expensive gas and apply my savings from my app and save even more. There are times I have gotten 50¢ off per gallon. My savings are not dependent on the current price per gallon which is why I shop around for the lowest price.

 

[Slo_Ride 5,000+ posts]

What app do you use for gas prices, how much of a swing is there between all the stations in your area, and how much do you save on average per year by price-shopping?

I just Googled "gas prices near me" and got linked to Gas Buddy, which is showing every station in my city and a neighbor city (160,000 population) at the same price.

Yeah gas buddy is the app everyone uses

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

Yeah gas buddy is the app everyone uses

I use the T-Mobile app because I use T-Mobile as my Cell Phone service provider and on Tuesdays the savings per gallon are more than the rest of the week. A little perk that I take advantage of.

 

[Slo_Ride 5,000+ posts]

I use the T-Mobile app because I use T-Mobile as my Cell Phone service provider and on Tuesdays the savings per gallon are more than the rest of the week. A little perk that I take advantage of.

Yeah I don't know anyone that uses TMobile but that's cool.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

Yeah I don't know anyone that uses TMobile but that's cool.

You do now. Me.

 

[Slo_Ride 5,000+ posts]

Well Metro PCS is owned by T-Mobile, don't know if they do the same thing. It's pretty much Verizon and Metro around here.

 

[RobGMN 5,000+ posts]

I don't wait. When I get to a 1/4 tank I go fill up to full. Before I leave the house the app tells me the lowest reported prices in my area. I go there, get the least expensive gas and apply my savings from my app and save even more. There are times I have gotten 50¢ off per gallon. My savings are not dependent on the current price per gallon which is why I shop around for the lowest price.

I use the T-Mobile app because I use T-Mobile as my Cell Phone service provider and on Tuesdays the savings per gallon are more than the rest of the week. A little perk that I take advantage of.

You'll accuse me of arguing for argument's sake, but it sounds like you are still locked in to paying the price at the pump whether you know the price or not, even moreso since you have to buy on a Tuesday.
I understand you go to the cheapest station the app sends you to, but you are still paying that price. If the app just said "Shell on 3rd and 7th is cheapest", you'd just go and pay.

I think the difference between my habits and yours (and others here) is that the stations in my area are all savvy to rapid price changes and they all match each other within minutes if not seconds. My knowledge of the price at fillup changes nothing for me.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

You'll accuse me of arguing for argument's sake, but it sounds like you are still locked in to paying the price at the pump whether you know the price or not, even moreso since you have to buy on a Tuesday.
I understand you go to the cheapest station the app sends you to, but you are still paying that price.

I think the difference between my habits and yours (and others here) is that the stations in my area are all savvy to rapid price changes and they all match each other within minutes if not seconds. My knowledge of the price at fillup changes nothing.

Hold up. I don't HAVE to buy anything on Tuesdays. I go to Shell gas stations. I choose between Falmouth, Dry Ridge and Alexandria area Shell's. The price can and has varied decently between these areas. An example: In Falmouth at the Shell gas station the price was $3.05 per gallon for 87. Down the road on the way to Alexandria the Shell gas station was $2.89 on the same day. The distance to each was negligible. You telling us you'd rather pay the $3.05 just because you drove to that one? You telling us you don't mind throwing money away? This would indicate that money has no value to you which typically comes from not feeling the pride of earning it and that pride helping you hold value to that money. But hey, you do you.

 

[RobGMN 5,000+ posts]

Hold up. I don't HAVE to buy anything on Tuesdays. I go to Shell gas stations. I choose between Falmouth, Dry Ridge and Alexandria area Shell's. The price can and has varied decently between these areas. An example: In Falmouth at the Shell gas station the price was $3.05 per gallon for 87. Down the road on the way to Alexandria the Shell gas station was $2.89 on the same day. The distance to each was negligible. You telling us you'd rather pay the $3.05 just because you drove to that one? You telling us you don't mind throwing money away? This would indicate that money has no value to you which typically comes from not feeling the pride of earning it and that pride helping you hold value to that money. But hey, you do you.

You indicated T-Mobile Tuesdays and maintinaing a rigid schedule of avoiding filling up when you NEED to, and utilizing Tuesdays to get the discount. Kind of easy to think you stick to that schedule, unless you’re willing to piss away free money by going on other days.

As I said, the stations around here all mirror each other within minutes. Technology can help and hurt business at the same time.
Id have to drive at least 40 minutes round trip outside of the area to get a lower price than “city gas”. That gas use plus the time expense is not worth it to me. Kind of like driving across town to a big box store for a hardware part when the neighborhood store has it, but at double the price.

If a gas station here had better prices, they would likely ALWAYS have better prices due to some business “edge”. In that case, I’d go there all the time. And the price when I got there would be irrelevant unless I could predict the future.
Can’t.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

You indicated T-Mobile Tuesdays and maintinaing a rigid schedule of avoiding filling up when you NEED to, and utilizing Tuesdays to get the discount. Kind of easy to think you stick to that schedule, unless you’re willing to piss away free money by going on other days.

As I said, the stations around here all mirror each other within minutes. Technology can help and hurt business at the same time.
Id have to drive at least 40 minutes round trip outside of the area to get a lower price than “city gas”. That gas use plus the time expense is not worth it to me. Kind of like driving across town to a big box store for a hardware part when the neighborhood store has it, but at double the price.

If a gas station here had better prices, they would likely ALWAYS have better prices due to some business “edge”. In that case, I’d go there all the time. And the price when I got there would be irrelevant unless I could predict the future.
Can’t.

You could have condensed that all down to "If they offered cheaper gas here, of course I would go there". Your habbit wouldn't let you... huh?

 

[RobGMN 5,000+ posts]

You could have condensed that all down to "If they offered cheaper gas here, of course I would go there". Your habbit wouldn't let you... huh?

You got freaked that I took your statement of using T-mobile Tuesday to save money as an indicator you stuck to Tuesday purchases, since you also talked about not waiting til low to buy so you have more control of your spending.

A logical conclusion, no?

 

[metalheadjoe 10+ year member]

Three octane levels, no diesel at these pumps. 87 is leftmost button. Rightmost is non-ethanol 91 “for recreational vehicles only”.
I’m not a bullshitter. I’ll take a picture at next fillup for you.

From memory, how much do you pay per kilowatt hour for your electricity? It’s on your bill every single month.

I don't know the price per kilowatt hour, but that's far less relevant than the price of gas. I don't have the option to live in a more efficient house to save electricity. I don't have different grades of electricity to choose between. I can't save significantly on my power bill by driving five minutes to a different power company. I don't have to weigh whether to put contaminants (ethanol) or additives in my home's electrical system when I pay my electric bill.

Not identical, but very similar to this. View a simple LCD at 45 degrees off perpendicular, tell me how well you can read it.
Tell me how hard a time you would have hitting that big yellow button without looking at the price.
It’ll be even easier when they put tap-to-pay on all pumps.
View attachment 32848

You forgot to mention your polarized glasses... I'm sure you always wear them to make this more plausible.

...your dumb little dog you let sit on your lap hanging its head out the window while you drive. Yeah, you seem like that guy... sorry... person.

I chuckled at this.

If I need gas, I need gas. I’m not going to park the car and wait. It’s a necessity, which make price irrelevant.
Maybe that’s not the case for you, but I have to drive no matter what.

There are still many factors to determine which grade of gas you buy and to impact your overall consumption.

I don't get why some of you people have a hard time believing that some people don't look at the price of gas or groceries and such.

Commission-based salesmen must love you.

They don't have a hard time, they just think that it strengthens their narrative. Kind of like Thx trying to make it a bad thing that I do volunteer work in my community.
When they have nothing, they clutch at straws.

What "narrative" is enforced by looking at gas prices? Sounds like you're the one trying to fit a narrative.

You failed to answer the question of how it benefits you to know the price of gas at the pump when you fill up, if you can't change it in any way and you can't choose NOT to use it.
If it's a question of budgeting and only buying what you can afford until the next bit of money rolls in, then it makes sense. I do not live dollar to dollar and have not since I started working, so I do not have to put $5 in just to get to the next place I will get some cash.

When you see a price, do you waste gas and money driving around town looking for a better price, only to find out they're all the same? Do you do that with other essential commodities like water/gas/electric?
If you get injured, do you price shop the ER for the cheapest? When you get there, do you check the formulary and forego some treatments based on price? "Stitch it up without numbing it. That stuff is too expensive".

When the cost cannot be avoided, the cost becomes irrelevant. I cannot avoid the cost of gas if I am to remain employed. It therefore is irrelevant for me to know the cost at fillup. Were I ANY type of self-employed or contracted delivery driver, I STILL wouldn't pay attention unless I was building it into the cost of each delivery.
Instead, I would be doing EVERYTHING I could to maximize what I get out of each gallon of gas I buy. Fuel efficient vehicle, shortest and fastest routes, delivering once to the same are with multiple packages instead of multiple trips, setting up routes that involve the maximum number of right-hand turns possible. THAT is stuff that shows frugal spending, NOT simply knowing the price during an unavoidable purchase.

Please tell me EXACTLY what knowing the price does for you at that moment in time, and how I am somehow less of a person in your eyes for NOT knowing or caring to know. Your excuse that it is "being frugal" holds no water unless you can show how it saves you money.

Life is all about cost and reward. I'm going to buy gas anyway, yes, but I can do a lot to affect how much I use and how much I spend on it.

Cars and engines are a hobby of mine, so I likely have more fluctuation that most.

Some reasons I look at gas prices:
Gasoline or gas/ethanol?
Should I drive my Explorer or my big block?
How tidy should I keep the lawn?
Snowblow or shovel?
Should I take my work pickup home or drive my own vehicle? (Work buys gas for work pickup, but I prefer to drive my own vehicles).
Should I adjust my driving style to save fuel?

This post has turned into a novel, but the last thing I'll mention is Costco consistently has gas around forty cents cheaper per gallon than other gas stations in my area. That alone covers the membership cost for me.