$HAMELESS $AVINGS - There's An App For That

It's time for another addition for Shameless Savings. This week, we're going to talk about gas prices. And before you whiners start in with idiot statements like "You lose the savings you would have gained by driving around to find the good deals" and "If you're only saving a few cents per gallon, it's not really worth it", pause for a moment and allow me to school you on the subject. Yeah go ahead and laugh... we all know that choosing the easy and convenient way is always the cheapest and smartest way... NOT. Oh yeah and I mean, who wouldn't be perfectly happy to turn over more profits to the oil companies that are taking over the world? So yeah, your way sounds awesome.
Allow me to introduce GasBuddy... One of the best apps EVER in the history of the universe. 

That's what the app looks like if you want to go download it. Sorry for the fuzzy picture.



It's idiot proof to use too! All you have to do is type if your zip and all the stations with the prices of fuel come up.

This morning I was low on gas and needed to fuel up. The problem is I was already running late. In the past, I may have stopped at the Valero near my neighborhood, not knowing there were better deals down the road. But lucky for me, I had GasBuddy. This morning, I used it to find a better deal further down the highway (yet still on my way to my final destination). 
And I'm sure you want to know how much I saved this morning. Gas at the Valero close to home was $3.59/gallon. I ended up finding it for $3.42 about 2 miles away. Yeah I'll take the 17 cents/gallon difference thankyouverymuch.
So now for the nerd calculations. Here we go. My tank was pretty low. The light came on yesterday on my way home from work, and I ended up refueling after driving about 3 miles away from home, so I probably had about 1/2 gallon left over in my tank. According to the VW manual, I have a 14.5 gallon tank. So, let's say I put in about 14 gallons into my tank.
17 cents/gallon over 14 gallons is $2.38.
When you have to fill up 2 to 3 times per month, that's $57-$85 per year and that's no small savings people.
Has anyone out there figured out a way to save on the fuel bill each month? Any crazy methods like those special gas station credit cards?

Penny pinching and smiles, Engineeringirl