Do you still shop for the cheapest gas?

[Stinky The Clown]

When you spend upwards of fifty bucks for a fill-up of maybe fifteen gallons, what difference does a few pennies make?

Its not that I enjoy the cost, but why bother? They got us by the shorts.

[onehandle]

1. No. Sad but true. nt

[Double T]

2. Plan ahead to buy the cheapest gas at the same location..........

and don't go out of my way or make a special trip.

[PinkTiger]

3. I've been buying the cleanest gas.

some of that junk will ruin your engine, and it goes through it like crap through a goose.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. I don't have to, I fill up either at base

or near my sister's... it is the cheapest gas in town.

And the difference does make the difference

[Stinky The Clown]

5. How much below market is the gas on base?

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. cheap one is going for 3:35 here in town

outside, my nearby station goping for 3: 70 to 3:80

Now my sister's is the same chain and it is going for 3:37

[ingac70]

6. It costs more to drive around and look for it. n/t

[amerikat]

7. I shop for ethanol free gas

How ironic that only the local Mobil station has ethanol free gas. Sometimes I go to the next town over to get Citco.

I have been using acetone to increase my milage........seems to work.........adds about 15-20%

[nickinSTL]

8. ethanol free? Not remotely an option here...

Being in Illinois, it's pretty much impossible to find non-ethanol. I haven't seen any in years, as far as I know.

As to the OP's question - I do, as much as is reasonable. I don't drive way out of the way, but I do try to pick the lowest station nearby.

[gristy]

9. I always make note which of 3 stations has the cheapest gas on the corner as I wait for the light

to change while I sit on my bicycle! :rofl:

[rucky]

11. Yes. Just out of principle, though.

I'm probably wasting more in getting there than I'm saving.

[murray hill farm]

12. I only by Citgo,

but in Brunswick, GA almost all of the gas stations are Citgo....so one will be the cheapest.

[Adsos Letter]

13. We live a couple of miles from a Costso...

their gas is usually the cheapest in the area.

[orleans]

14. no. i figure by the time i get done pissing around with stations and prices

i will have spent just as much if not more on wear & tear, not to mention my time and going out of my way

plus--i don't want to put gas i don't know in my car. (sounds weird, but it's true)

[NuttyFluffers]

15. no, of course not. i save money by using S&H. let the USPS burn the gas.

other than that i commute roughly 3 miles to and from the Bay Area Rapid Transit closest to me. so for the most part i don't spend much in gas anymore, and any new job or shopping has to be on mass transit lines -- or someone goes with me and we carpool to do major specialty shopping in the ex-urbs. other than that the ex-urban shopping regions are off my charts; i don't think of them existing and it hurts my pocketbook none.

one concept i use to help determine if it cheaper to order online or visit and buy direct (or even commute for a certain job opportunity) is to calculate miles in terms of $0.50. usually the formula for wear and tear, insurance, licensing, gas, et cetera was around $0.37 ~ $0.42 a mile way back in the mid 1990s. since things have exploded in price i just round it up to $0.50 to keep the math easy.

so if it is a 25 mile drive one-way to go browse so specialty electronics or general crap, let alone buy, i tally up the cost of going out there. 25x2 for the round trip = 50 miles. 50/$0.50 (or think of a dollar every 2 miles) = $25 to go window shopping or whatever. that's easily premium grade shipping and handling. so little mindless expenditures are no more for me.

therefore, when you start factoring outrageous commutes of 60+ miles a day, like some people who commute into the bay area from the central valley, we're talking an average of $60+ just to enjoy the luxury of living out in the valley. $60+ x 5 days a week = $300 a week. $300 a week x 4 weeks = $1200 a month.... at some point it becomes cheaper to carpool and rent a few motel rooms while staying the week. in fact, it becomes cheaper to just rent out even a dinky apartment closer to work.

the best ways to fight this gouging is to get yourself off gasoline based commuting as much as humanly possible. besides, it helps your pocketbook, too. other than that, since prices are fungible, you aren't going to be doing anything by buying the cheapest neighborhood gasoline. a pyrrhic victory if there ever was one.