Is driving to the cheapest gas station really worth the savings?
Maybe not as much as you think. The conversation below is one I had with my 11-year-old son recently.
Ryan: “Mom, gas is $3.75 at ABC gas station!”
(alerted by the free GasBuddy app he has on his phone)
Me: “That’s great, but that’s like, 5 miles from here.”
Ryan: “So?”
Ryan: “But it’s five cents cheaper.”
Me: “Yes. But by the time I drive to get it, I’m actually losing money. So I’m good.”
Ryan: “Huh?”
(Disclaimer: Math. Yikes!)
Me: “Let’s say our car gets 25 mpg and holds 20 gallons. 20 gallons x $3.75 = $75.00, compared to 20 gallons x $3.80 = $76.00. I would save $1 by getting gas at the cheaper station. However, in driving the additional 10 miles roundtrip to get to the cheaper station, I am using 4/10 of a gallon of gas. Which would cost me $1.50. So I’m actually spending $0.50 more by driving to the cheaper station. I would also spend about 20 minutes driving there and back, and my time is valuable.” (whew!)
Ryan: “Ooooohhhhhh! I get it! So it SEEMS cheaper, but it really isn’t!”
Me: 🙂
Sometimes, driving around to get a deal on gas isn’t actually a deal at all.
Be sure to take a moment and figure out if it is *really* worth it to drive the extra miles.
Have you done something similar in the past, only to realize that you really weren’t saving money in the end?
--Barbara
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