Gas Prices are Falling
Looks like gas prices are headed down again. National average price is down to $2.38 a gallon and headed lower. Sounds like odds are good we’ll get below 2.00 a gallon by the end of the year. Other than this being a nice bonus in general, is there a way to take advantage of the falling prices?
The first is make sure that you buy your gas from somewhere that moves a lot of volume. I’m a big fan of Costco for gas. They generally have very good prices, and are very quick to drop or raise prices as the spot price changes. This is great when prices are falling. What you don’t want to do is to buy your gas from a mom and pop place that may only reset their price when the truck comes in, and in any case they are not going to be nearly as interested in lowering prices to match their dropping costs as they are to raise prices to match their increasing costs. Most people don’t really pay enough attention to what is happening and may not notice.
The other day I paid $2.98 at the local place (for 5 gallons only, I was desperate) and the next day filled up at costco for $2.57. $0.40 per gallon is enough to get my attention. That’s like $5 on a single tank of gas. In an evironment of quickly falling prices you’ll see a big difference between the cheapest and most expensive stations so pay attention, you could save $5 a tank if you keep your eyes open.
September 26th, 2006 at 8:14 am
Great blog. I really hope that people are reading this that need the advice. I am in a position where I learned most of this a few years ago but it is great to see it as both a refresher and to see this type of advice get exposure. Most people don’t learn about money until they make big mistakes.
Anyway, keep it up!
Also, I wanted to post this link, http://autos.msn.com/everyday/gasstations.aspx it has many prices for gas stations in the area, just plug in your local zip code and see what you get! Admittedly they can be inaccurate because of how much the price of gas fluctuates versus how they get their data, but I have noticed a few stations in my area of the country that are typically the lowest prices, and I go there now.
You can save a lot of money on gas when you plan.
Thanks for the blog!
-Joe
September 26th, 2006 at 11:12 am
Thanks for the note Joe. If you would like to share any of the lessons you’ve learned with others feel free to send me mail “money _at_ silverbeach _dot_ com”. I’d love to have other people who are on the right side of the power curve share their experiences on how you got there with my readers.
– Chris