Yesterday I found myself doing the mental math: “Is the cheaper station 7 miles away worth the savings?”
Truck gets 11mpg in town, cheaper station is 7 miles away, gas nearby is $3.49, gas at distant station is $3.33, gas tank needs about 45 gallons to fill up. Price (in gallons) to drive there and back is 14 miles/11 mpg = 1.6 gallons. At $3.33, that’s $5.40 for the round trip to the cheaper station.
Round trip to cheaper station costs $5.40.
Fill up at nearby expensive station will cost: $157.05 (45 X 3.49)
Fill up at distant cheaper station will cost: $151.50 (45.5 X 3.33)
Difference is $5.55.
It’s never worth it, and I have to remind myself to just fill up wherever I’m at. The only reason to drive further is to get Top Tier.
Here in Chicagoland, they’re flirting with $4 a gallon for regular. I saw diesel for $4.69, and that’s obviously going to have a ripple effect for consumers.
Very variable here in NNJ. Yesterday I saw a $3.31 at Delta and a $3.65 at a Shell. Somehow the line at Shell was longer.
ETA- when I say “line”, it was like 4 cars vs 2 cars. Don’t want to suggest a panic. Although I’m bracing for my annual drive to Miami next week. That just got much more expensive
I drive a lot of dog rescue transports, and this is probably going to curtail some of it. Harder to give away a tank of gas most weeks. Right now gas at Costco (Middle TN) is $2.96.
Last week I filled up at the cheapest place in my area (a Delta in NNJ) for $2.75. This morning I got a half tank at the Delta that is isolated and always .10-.15 higher for $3.49. I’m thinking my strategy for the next few weeks at least is to get $20 worth more often instead of fill the tank when it’s empty.
Possibly. In February I drove 7 transports. This month I will probably do 3. Although, TBH, some of the requests were just stretches - drive 2 bloodhounds to Knoxville? That’s 6 hours and about 350 miles. No. I’ll do part of it, but don’t ask me to do it all.
March 4 - $3.179
March 7 - $3.479
March 12 - $3.679
We’re up 50 cents in about a week.
That said, Gas Buddy claims there’s a gas station (well, a cluster of three) just about a mile and half northeast of me that has it for $3.349, as of three hours ago.
Per liter, they were £1.29 down south and 1.34 in North Dorset in the before times. I got a decent amount of both, now around £1.42 from a high of $1.49.
I wouldn’t bet on it-during times of wildly changing prices Gasbuddy’s prices are notoriously unreliable and very laggy, as their software has a feature which inhibits quick and large price changes unless a whole lot of people (accurately) report the new price. This goes triple if your vehicle needs something other than regular octane.
I drove by there today about a half hour ago and it actually was correct. Price is stable today. The also had E15 at 3.249 and diesel was something crazy like 4.799
I actually paid $2.99 in New Hampshire today. The non-member retail price was $3.29, i got a 20 cent loyalty member discount, plus a 10 cent loyalty coupon.
I was at my closer Costco to pick up a prescription for my wife. Current prices (members only of course) was “Regular” (meaning 85 octane in Colorado Springs) was $3.499, and Premium (91 Octane) was $4.159. And it’s pretty much the cheapest gas in town. That means it’s gone up roughly 80 cents to a full dollar between the crisis and the seasonal switch over.
I tanked up my PHEV back when the SNAFU started, when it had barely started to go up at $2.699 out of an abundance of caution. And given my planned trips to Denver for a friend flying in to visit are on hold due to MAGA sacrificing the TSA as a ploy to keep ICE as his private army… well, I’m in a comparatively luxurious position.
As a sub-note, I’ve NEVER seen the line to sign up for memberships this long, or, rather, at least not around the various food/booze holidays like Thanksgiving through New Years. And in passing I heard at least two of the people in line mentioning it was specifically for the cheaper gas. While there were noticeable lines at the pump, it certainly wasn’t the worst I’ve seen for crowding, but… unusual for a Saturday.
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