The Cost of Gasoline

I've been thinking about the cost of gasoline for our trip through the Middle States.  In a previous post, I mentioned that we'll be traveling about 5,450 miles, and in our post about developing our budget,  I referred to our method of calculation just for gas expenses.  I figured we will get 30 MPG and gas will cost $3.85/gallon.  So that brings us to about $700.  Of course we don't know what the cost of gas will be next year when we go, but our initial guess of $3.50+10% puts us at $3.85/gallon which is about what the good folks at AAA are reporting as the national average today.  [If you haven't looked at the AAA gas prices trend report before, it's pretty handy and interesting - says this data nerd!]

Ever looking for ways to save money in one area (so I can spend it in another), I wanted to learn more about how to lower our fuel costs.  We have a Costco membership, but when I put our initial route together, there were only a couple of places that had a Costco.  But now that our route is more firm, and as Costco continues to build new warehouses, there are at least five locations:  Omaha, Rochester, Traverse City (MI), Davenport (IA), and St. Louis.  Costco typically offers a lower price than most of the area gas stations.  But if we have to go out of our way to save a few pennies per gallon, we have to calculate the cost of getting there and back on route - sometimes people make the mistake of spending $1 worth of gas to save 60-cents total.

And what about the places in between?  The AAA app shows gas prices in the area as does Gas Buddy (user reported), so we can check what's nearby when we are ready to fill up.  We are members of the Fuel Rewards program which saves us 3-5 cents/gallon.  One of our credit cards gives 5% cash back on gasoline purchases.  And I've been seeing advertisements for Upside but don't know enough about it to know whether it's worth signing up for. [If you use it and want to share your experience (+ or -), leave us a comment.]

So what else?  If you have a tip for us, let us know - and if/when we use it, we'll think of you!

~ Cindy D.