Cheap Fuel cheating!

[Isaac Zackary]

So I have a loyalty card with a local supermarket that also offers discounts on fuel. When I buy $100 in groceries I get 10¢ off per gallon. Every time I buy $100 I get another 10¢ off, which can add up for each month. So if I buy $400 of groceries I can get 40¢ off fuel that month.

But there's a catch. You can only use it once that month. So say I buy $100 one week. I get 10¢ off that week. If I buy fuel the discount is used. So then I have to buy another $100 to get another 10¢ off. But what if I hold back buying fuel every two weeks. Then I get 10¢ the first week for buying $100 and then add 10¢ more for another $100 for a total of 20¢ off per gallon.

As you can see, the longer I wait the more I get off per gallon, at least up to a month (it resets every month.) So if I could fuel only once per month I could get a full 40¢ off. (Actually only 30¢ because we only spend about $320 per month in groceries.)

So how do I do that? I drive at least 280 miles each week at around 55mpg. That's a over 20 gallons of diesel per month. The problem is I only have a 15 (or is it 13) gallon tank on my car. So what I do is I got two portable yellow 5 gallon diesel cans for cheap at a yard sale. Now I go once per month and fill up the car and the diesel cans too. Then, as I run out of fuel I put the diesel from the cans into the car's tank. Then do the same next month. That way I get the biggest fuel discount possible from the local supermarket since I only buy fuel once per month.

20 or more gallons multiplied by 30¢ is $6 or more that I'm saving per month. It's like getting two free gallons.

I do see one problem though. Storing fuel in a couple of cans, even though they're rated for fuel, may be a hazard and may not set well with the landlord if she finds out. But so far it's been working well.

[freebeard]

[redpoint5]

For many people, that $6 savings isn't worth the extra hassle.

I've brought fuel cans for lawnmowers to extend the savings benefit before, but I wouldn't monkey around with filling gas cans and later filling the car, especially since it makes calculating MPG more difficult.

I once had the maximum Safeway discount ($1 per gallon) and took maximum advantage by filling my diesel truck. The limit is 25 gallons, and that's what I filled the tank with (35 gallon tank). Then again, this was back when diesel was $5 / gallon, so I still lost $100.

Back in those days, I could put $20 in the tank and that wouldn't be enough to even turn the low fuel light off.

[Isaac Zackary]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

especially since it makes calculating MPG more difficult.

Not as much as a broken odometer and no smartphone or GPS! As in my case.

It seems to be less of a hassle to me than to make a bigger mod on the car like water injection or driving my electric car at 35mph down the highway to make it to the next charging station. Which I actually might do tomorrow.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

For many people, that $6 savings isn't worth the extra hassle off.

Back in the day we always had multiple vehicles, our store really didn’t have a limit on rebates but the per gallon rebate was only for up to 20 gallons.

We would just fill multiple cars off the same pump.

[samwichse]

Maybe you should just use the method Shaq uses to save so much on gas:

https://deadspin.com/shaq-appears-to...ney-1825602390

[gone-ot]

"Pay the man now, or pay him later." Either way you're paying him.

[Xist]

The last time that I filled up both of my cars were on empty, so I had my Mom fill up my Accord and (eventually) drive off (and leave the engine running) and then I filled up my Accord. I saved about $25.

Regarding Shaq's hack tip, someone commented:

My dad was going cross-country with a roommate back in the Sixties, and woke up in the passenger seat to find the guy absolutely floorboarding it through the emptiest part of the Nevada desert in the middle of the night. That was dude’s exact explanation: “we’re almost out of gas, so I’m going as fast as possible to get to a station before we run out.”

Bonus! The faster you are going when you run out of gas, the further you can coast!

[Isaac Zackary]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

We would just fill multiple cars off the same pump.

Well, I can't do that. That's what I get for owing one gasoline car, one diesel car and one electric car.