Saving gas money! When to buy gas...and how much to buy!

[isthia]

Most of us already know the usual tips for saving gas:

-don't drive (lol!) carpool or walk or take transit
-reduce weight (unload the shopping when you get home!)
-brake gently
-don't accelerate quickly
-drive a small car
-close your windows
-keep your car well maintained
-combine your errands
-keep your tires properly inflated

But I wanted to share my strategy for saving money when buying gas!

I hate filling my tank only to find that the price went down the next day It turns out that gas is usually at a peak on Thursdays in prep for weekend travel fill-ups! So buy before that if you can.

I play the odds a bit when I buy gas. If the price is low (compared to the last few months) I'll fill it up. If its a mid-price and I know I'll need gas in the next few days, and its coming up on Thursday I'll fill up or at least get enough to last another 4-5 days until the price comes down. If its expensive, I'll wait until I'm empty and then only buy $5 at a time, so that I can make it until the price comes down again. By doing this, I buy gas more often at lower prices on average

For example, if you had a 50 litre tank that you filled twice a month when it was empty, you would probably end up paying an average price for the 100L for the month. That is to say, between 2 tank fillings, chances are one was high and one was low, or both were average prices. Gas prices in Calgary have ranged between about $1.01L and $1.08L, so let's say you filled up twice at $1.05. Your total cost for gas for the month was then $105 (100L x $1.05L).

If you had filled your tank on December 19th at $1.01per Litre, and then topped it up on the 28th at $1.015, and topped it up a second time today at $1.02, you'd be paying an average of $1.015 per L for your gas, or about $101.50 for the month, a savings of $3.50.

If you'd had bad luck and run out of gas on December 22nd, filled your tank at $1.05 and filled it again on Cec 30th at $1.08, your cost is about $106.50 for the month.

$3.50 isn't a huge amount, but if you drive longer distances, you could easily be filling up 4 or more times in a month. And the difference is bigger if you got caught filling when it was more expensive!

So, to summarize, generally:

CHEAP gas? Fill the tank!
Cheap-ish gas + you know you'll need gas soon + its Tues/Wed? Fill the tank or get lots!

mid-priced gas? Get what you need, or if it will be going up (mid-week or pre-holiday) Get a bit extra

high-priced gas? Get the bare minimum to last until it goes down (a day or two, $5-$10)

You can check local gas prices at http://gasbuddy.com/

I try to check the site daily so I can see what the trend is, and get gas on lunch break if I see a nice dip.


By the way, I run into lots of people who still think that if they overfill their tank (withdraw the nozzle and add a few litres more after the autoshut off) that they get way better mileage. This is not true! The gas tank is wider at the top, so yes, you can get more gas in there, but it doesn't change your actual mileage. The worst case scenario is that you can bust your gauge

[MrsSunshine]

they all sound good. i just find it very pathetic that we all consider $1 something a deal when it goes down a cent or two and run to fill up. remember when it was .54 cents a litre.. them were the days... thankfully i drive a 90 escort she takes $20-30 and last me a month.

[isthia]

Good point, and I think I mentioned it - but yes, don't drive across town to "save" a penny on the gas prices. My bit above was based on you driving by your gas station and deciding to get gas today or tomorrow

[shirl57]

they all sound good. i just find it very pathetic that we all consider $1 something a deal when it goes down a cent or two and run to fill up. remember when it was .54 cents a litre.. them were the days... thankfully i drive a 90 escort she takes $20-30 and last me a month.

Yep, those were the goold ole' days that we'll never ever see again !!!

[slayer_glade]

Gas prices in Calgary have ranged between about $1.01L and $1.08L,

Apparently, moving to Calgary would save me money on gas



I just filled up today because Costco was having it at $1.25 compared to elsewhere going up to $1.37.

I normally fill up on Tuesdays, but since we are on break, we haven't driven enough for it so when I saw the $1.25 after shopping at Costco, I went "hell yeah!" and filled up instead of waiting until next week.

Our prices haven't been as low as yours in so long, I don't know what I would even do if I saw it. I'd go crazy.

[isthia]

I don't live in Calgary either. I just picked it for an example

I'm on Vancouver Island, and a Costco just opened in the summer. Gas was under $1 for a whole week! Amazing! Almost made you want to drive extra Now it hovers around $1.14, but has been as high as $1.35.....ugggg