How the Internet Can Help You Lower Your Gas Costs
by Scott Siegel
There are a number of ways to lower your overall expense of gas purchases. You can do it without changing your driving habits or adding anything to your car. The most basic of these ways is to locate the gas stations that have the best prices.
Seems pretty obvious doesn't it. The fact is when it comes to gas this simple and logical behavior is forgotten. If you were buying a television you would look for the store with the lowest price. Apparently we have been taught to consider gas differently. Drivers generally purchase gas where it is easiest and most convenient fuel up regardless of price. The station closest to where you live is the usual place to fill up regardless of price.
When you run low on gas and certainly when you think you are going to run out you fill up at the first station you come to. Most likely this station will not have the lowest price. Once again you are buying gas at a higher price than you have to.
A great way to find a station that has the lowest prices is to search the internet. There are a lot of websites that list local gas prices. They list the prices and the locations of the stations where they are found. Here are a few:
GasBuddy.com
Automotive.com
FuelMeUp.com
Utilizing the internet is a great idea because you can research the best gas prices without driving. By not driving, you are not burning gas to find the best prices. If you burn gas to save money on gas you will find it is a self defeating strategy.
Studies done by the American Automobile Association have shown that it costs approximately 51.7 cents per mile to drive your car. That means for every three miles you drive looking for low price gas can cost you $1.50.
If you need to fill your car with 15 gallons of gas you have to realize a savings of about 10 cents for every three miles you drive. If you can locate the best prices for gasoline without driving to find it, you will gain 10 cents per gallon for every three miles in travel you have eliminated.
This is also important to keep in mind when you find the best prices online. If the best prices are 6 miles away from your closest station, you would have to beat the price of the closest station by 20 cents to break even.
The best way to take advantage of the online pricing information you have gathered is to make sure you use it in conjunction with planning your driving activities. For example: if you always pick up your dry cleaning on Tuesday and your information shows one of the lowest priced gas stations is near the cleaners, you should plan in advance to purchase your gas at that station in conjunction with picking up your cleaning. That way you are taking advantage of the low price without any extra driving.
The internet can be a great resource in helping you to lower your fuel costs. If you make sure you utilize the online information along with some smart planning of when and where you fill up, you will start to see a reduction in your fuel costs.
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