Saving on Gasoline - Get a Discount
After yesterday’s post you probably started coming up with ideas on how to use less gasoline, but may have had to stop to fill up on the way home. After paying over $3 per gallon you wish I had come up with some ways to reduce the pain at the pump. Well that is what the second part of this topic is all about. There are ways to reduce the actual amount you pay at the pump. For the most part they are not convenient, but they will save you small amounts each time you go to the gas station.
Before we start talking about discounts you need to be aware that some gas stations charge less when you use cash than when you use a credit card. If you are a person who always pays for gas with cash you should seek these stations out and use them. If not then avoid them like the plague. The saving methods you are about to see will be eaten away by the more expensive credit option. With that being said here are the ways I have run across:
Gift Cards/Bonus Cards - Many stations will give you a per gallon discount for using one of their gift cards or using their bonus card (little card that goes on your key chain so you can take advantage of the sales). The most notable is the three cents off per gallon discount at Wal-Mart. This is the best option for people who are paying off debt or are not disciplined enough to pay a credit card off every month. The options below this one should only be used if you NEVER CARRY A BALANCE ON YOUR CREDIT CARD. The savings will be useless if you have to pay interest on the balance.
Gas Station Credit Cards - If you do almost all of your gasoline purchases at the same station you should see if that chain of gas stations has a rewards credit card. The two best that I know of are BP Rewards and Marathon Rewards. Each gives you 5% back on all gas purchases at their stations and 1% back everywhere else. These work great if you shop only at their stations.
General Rewards Cards - If you stop at different stations all the time you should look at a general rewards card. There are three cards to consider here and you have to base which card is best by the amount you put on the card each month.
< $200 in gas and < $1700 total you should use the Discover Open Road Card. This card gives you 5% back on all gas purchases up to $100 per month and 1% on everything else (including gasoline purchases past the $100 mark)
> $200 in gas and < $1700 total you should use the Chase Freedom Card. This card gives you 3% back on your three most used categories (out of 15) and 1% back on everything else.
> $1700 total you should use the Blue Cash from American Express. This card gives you 5% back on gas, groceries, and drug stores once you have spent $65oo on the year and 1% on everything else. To get to that total in enough time to over come the no limit on the Chase Freedom you have to be putting $1700 per month on the card. There is a much more extensive explanation for this over at Free Money Finance. The article is well worth the read.
$$Hybrid Aproach$$ - You all know I love to double dip when it comes to saving money. With the Chase Freedom or the Blue Cash cards you can get the same cash back at grocery stores as you do at gas stations. Now there are many grocery stores that allow you to purchase gift cards for other retailers at no extra charge. If we apply this to say a Wal-Mart gift card you will still get your 3% or 5% by purchasing the card at a grocery store AND you will get 3 cents off per gallon by using a gift card at the pump (Wal-Mart does not qualify as a grocery store for either of these cards). At curent rates that is about 1% in extra savings over the rewards cards alone. Of all the options this is the best if you drive by a station that you can use this strategy. My wife and I just switched to the Chase Freedom Card and there is a bonus $50 in rewards with your first purchase. Also with that card if you don’t cash out until $200 you get an extra $50. This may be the case with other rewards cards so always remember to read the fine print.
