Fuel Economy Tip - Stop Driving Out of Your Way to Save $.03
April 24th, 2006 | by Brian Carr |With the proliferation of sites like Gas Buddy, it seems more and more people are trying to find the cheapest gas in their area. This isn’t a bad thing, but it may not necessary be good either.
Stop driving across town to save pennies per gallon of gas!
I’m sure some of you are asking, “isn’t that the point of this site, to help me save money on my car’s gas bill?”
Yes, that is this site’s goal, but I’m going to show you why taking even a 5 mile trek out of your way to get cheaper gas probably isn’t worth it.
Let’s say you’re like me and drive an average car with a 12 gallon tank and that gets roughly 25 miles per gallon.
By driving 5 miles (10 round trip) to fill up and save $.03 per gallon, in theory you’ve saved about $.36 on your fill up. Not bad considering this site’s mantra is “every little bit adds up.”
But, what did it COST you to save that $.36?
Since your car gets 25 mpg, that 10 mile round trip caused you to use .4 gallons. With the average price of regular unleaded fuel being $2.91 per gallon, that .4 gallons cost you $1.16.
You LOST $1.16 by saving $.36, putting you $.80 in the hole!
So, all of that being said, it probably isn’t worth it to fill up anywhere but your closest gas station.
4 Responses to “Fuel Economy Tip - Stop Driving Out of Your Way to Save $.03”
By March on Apr 24, 2006 | Reply
I tried to make this point back when gas was only $1.99 a gallon. Nobody listened to me back then. Maybe now that gas is approaching and in some places above $3 people will finally stop driving around wasting gas. Using more gas of course increases demand which increases the price of gas. Happy happy joy joy!
By Brian Carr on Apr 24, 2006 | Reply
Thanks for the comment. I obviously agree with you!
A couple of years ago I called up my dad to tell him I had found a station that was $.08 cheaper than the station less than a half-mile from my house. When he asked how far away the new station was, I told him it was about 8 miles out of the way. He then went on to ask if I had actually thought everything through.
In principle, it feels good to pay the least amount of money for each gallon of gas, but it’s not always the best practice!
By broom on Mar 16, 2007 | Reply
This thread is way old, but don’t foget that you’ve just wasted an extra 15 minutes of your life doing this. If your life is wort $10/hr that’s another $2.50 down the drain.
By bob on May 23, 2007 | Reply
finding the very cheapest gas isn’t just for cost-saving — it’s micro-economics 101. The theory is if everyone did it, then the other gas stations would have to lower their price by those few cents, to get those people back.