The other night I was driving a friend back to his place, and my car was running low on gas. Since we both live around the same area, we started talking about the cheapest place to get gas. It turns out we both agreed that Chevron has the cheapest gas in our area.
However, I didn’t realize that there are two Chevron stations literally within a block of each other, and one is cheaper than the other. As luck would have it, I’ve been going to the more expensive one, because that’s the only one I drive past on a regular basis. On the other hand, my friend drives past both of them on his way to and from work everyday, so he knew about the cheaper one.
On the bright side, the difference in price was only 5 cents per gallon, so even after filling up an entire tank for my car, I’d only be saving around 60 cents. That’s not even enough money to buy the really cheap nachos that Taco Bell has been promoting lately.
Having the conversation with my friend reminded me of being back home with my parents. If there’s one topic that always comes up when I go back to visit, it’s the price of gas. My parents are definitely willing to drive a few miles out of the way just to get the lowest price on gas. It’s also amusing when my mom gets disappointed after finding out that I filled up at an “expensive” gas station.
While I generally do try to find the lowest gas prices, I’ve never driven out of my way just to save a few nickels and dimes on gas. Unless there’s a huge disparity among gas prices in your area, you most likely won’t save that much money. Someone has even done the math.
What type of person are you? Do you drive around to find the cheapest gas or do you just fill up at the most convenient location?
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Unfortunately I live on an island and every single gas station in the region has the exact same price for gas. They all move in lockstep so there’s no such thing as the “cheap” gas station unless you’re willing to drive for a few hours… No price fixing, my ass!
I am like you that I know a few stations that are generally cheaper and I will try to stop by the ones I know to get it. However, I know that wal-mart down the street from the exxon that I normally use is cheaper but there is so often a line to get it and I don’t believe that the gasoline at walmart is up to par with what is sold at other stations.
I know that my parents will do their best to need to fill up when they go to sam’s because they think it will always be the cheapest, not always the case though.
There’s a huuuge disparity in the prices of gas stations depending on how close to berk I am.
I just plan on getting gas at different places when I run errands… usually save me ~20cents/gallon.
I always get gas right by my work because it is a little bit cheaper, so I try to time it out. But I wouldn’t drive out of my way just for gas. You would end up spending that saved money just by driving a little further than you normally would. For a few cents, not worth it.
I guess it also matters what size gas tank you are filling up too. I have a 36 gallon tank, so when you starting counting how much it changes that makes a bigger difference than if I were driving your car with a 12 gallon tank. Not that $1.80 is much more worth it than your 60 cents since it would go about the same distance for that price most likely.
I’m a slacker. I’ll just got to the closest one around @ the time, although I will look at 2-3 stations on the block and pick the cheapest – that’s something, right?
I only get gas from Chevron or Exxon – in a pinch I’ll use Shell – so I look for those and that’s that. There is a little neighborhood that has a Chevron across the street from another Chevron and they’re always trying to outdo each other. One is usually cheaper than the other, so I’ll go across the street to save a few pennies. But, in the grand scheme of things, I don’t normally go out of my way. It’s not worth it to me.
Oh my god I do that all the time!!! Hahahaha I thought I was the only idiot that does this
I usually drive to the one most convenient for me, but if I pass several gas stations, then I will of course pick the cheapest one.
Unfortunately… I do.. wakakkakaaaaa.. There’s a certain satisfaction feeling when I could get the best price.. My husband always laugh abt that.. but he let me do that.. I’m a woman!! wht will you expect???