Yesterday was Part I: Buying Gas: Watered Down Gasoline?
By now, you’ve seen GasBuddy.com. If you have, I’m listed as mapgirl on the DC one. It’s a pretty good repository of information, but I find it somewhat unhelpful since I don’t live in the place where gas is cheapest in DC. To get over this, you can search by zip code, which helps, but I have no idea where I am driving out in the burbs where my office is. Getting lost and burning gas on the way to get gas seems kind of dumb to me.
What’s my plan for buying gas? It’s easy but takes dedication. I learned to do this from my dad, the gas retailer. It’s called doing a price survey. When my dad is feeling like he should change the prices at his station, he drives around the neighborhood. He has asked me to do this several times. I note down who is selling gas at what price. That’s 3 grades per gas station with sometimes 3 stations at one intersection. It’s kind of hard to memorize or note down 9 prices when you’re sitting behind a tall truck, but I got really good at it. He also quizzes me about the price of gas where I am living so he can tell his customers that they’re getting a good deal compared to folks in San Francisco or DC. After a while I just started looking at the price of gas all the time without fail. It’s an unconscious thing. I generally know the retail price of gas on any given day where I live.
So how do you make this a habit? First, on your commute, note down the different stations around you. So was it a BP or an Amoco at the last intersection? Trick question, Amoco’s have all rebranded to BP, so if the sign was red, white and blue, it could have been a Chevron. This matters because ‘branded’ gasoline sells for more. I’m of the firm belief that all gas is the same, so don’t shop at non-branded retailers because you think their gas is watered down. They get it from the same refineries that branded places do. You can see their tankers pull out of the refinery gates, so no need to be snobby. I used to only buy Mobil gas because I was a brand-loyal idiot. Now that pops doesn’t have a Mobil anymore, I buy wherever I please.
Second, look at the price of gas every day and remember the day of the week. Gas prices do change in advance of the weekend and especially during the summer, you’ll notice that prices start to rise on Thursdays on the afternoon commute. I try to buy my gas early in the week, but you’ll see why in a few paragraphs.
Third, think about where you are going regularly. I go to work and I come home. Rarely do I deviate from that path. But I also attend knitting group on Wednesdays and there is cheaper gas to be had on the way home on Wednesdays if I pay attention to the gas stations on the left side of the road. On Sundays when I go to my second job, there is an Exxon which has some of the cheapest gas I’ve seen in Arlington and Alexandria. I try most often to get gas here on Sunday evenings on my way home from work, even if it’s on the left side of the road.
Fourth, think about the left side of the road. Sometimes it’s a pain in the neck during traffic to get over there, and so those stations will post a cheaper price to entice you over there. If you work your errands right, or come home, or deviate ever so slightly, you can travel to the gas station on the other side of the road. You know that’s where that chicken was going to save some money on gas.
Fifth, when to buy. This is the toughest for me because I often drive around telling myself I can find something cheaper. It’s dumb because I’ve been on empty buying it at a premium. So in general, I’ve been buying it when I’m down a quarter tank and see what I think has been a good price over the last few days and I’m not expecting it to dip further in the next 2 or 3 days.
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I’m always checking gas prices whenever I’m out. I’ve figured out the 3 stations that consistently offer the lowest gas prices and keep an eye on them throughout the week. I typically buy gas every Friday because it means that my tank is never near empty (no worrying about making it to a pump) and it allows me to have a consistent weekly budget item. Yet, when prices get up really high, I’ll often skip a week in hopes of a better price. It’s not a common thing, but I’ve found that waiting a week often pays off if the price is high enough.
I had never heard of gasbuddy.com until you mentioned it in this post. Thanks! It’s a fantastic resource!
Also never do a tankful .Buy 5-10 gallons on quarter tank.
Keba- Why on earth would you not fill up? How else are you going to calculate your MPG to know if you have a lead foot or not? Just wondering because there isn’t really any other good way to figure out efficiency without a full tank.