When to buy gas???
 

OK - I admire all of the fuel saving ideas posted, but you (most) still have to buy some gas. --- or alot!
Here's the question - it has been bugging me since the first gas shortage -1970's.
Here goes: Do you fill up your tank when nearly empty or nearly full. It sounds trivial almost a joke but it is a serious problem. Example- since the price is constantly going up you have to pay the new price on the whole tank, even though it was burned weeks ago. effectively you are paying for fuel retroactively at the new price. If you have an empty tank after a few days or weeks the price may change dramatically on the day you buy it and also in between. so you are paying for all gallons used at the higher price.
lets say that you filled up at $2.75. A month later you are empty and you need to fill up at $3.25. So your 20 gallon fill is $65 vs $55. BUT maybe you should have filled up att 1/2 tank at $3.00 x10G= $30 + $3.25x10G=32.5 = $62.5 vs $65. so when the prices are going up you MAY save by filling more often. It's calculator time.

I just wait until the tank is empty.

http://www.gasbuddy.com/

I buy gas when the needle points to "E"

I know people who like to get caught up in the whole "fill up before the price goes up" schtick, but there's no way of predicting future prices.

The law of averages makes sure it all evens out in the end.

ditto

The math may work out ( assuming gas prices do not come back down) but in the long run - it is probably even.

I try to shoot for about 1/4 tank - although i am tempted to run it dry just to see how many miles i could actually go....

Kinda related ( at least WRT Fuel Proces) Depending on where you live - there may be some stores that offer $$ off gas.
I have a Kroger near by - ever $100 in groceries you spend - you get $.10 off per gallon.
with the 2 kids - we easily cross $200 - gives my wife and I at least 1 tank with a discount.
I know BJ's and Costco also have discounted gas - depending on the miles you drive - the gas savings could even cover the membership costs at those places.

Steve

Now a new question. When will oil hit $100/ BBL - LOL

We need a mega Boycott!! not for a day but for a month. Dont buy Exxon for 1 month.The rest of this month and all May stay away. buy all you want elsewhere but not Exxon. Also NEVER BUY CITGO> It comes from Venezuela and they are not friendly.
Next Month (June) stay away from Lukoil and sunoco. Unfortunately you cannot feel sorry for your local retailer. Pressure on him will make it work.

To help with your decision.

Boycotts won't work unless you are using less fuel just shifting around to different stations will not change anything.

Welcome to the site!

Frank -

This is what I do. I fill from 1/4 to 3/4, which is what I used to do prior to being an MPG junkie. I *know* from experience that this is about 5.5 gallons for my gas tank. I never state my single tank fill-ups when talking about MPG. I only go by my 90-day average, which is based on GPS-corrected odometer readings and what the gas station reports in gallons. I am susceptible to pump-error, but I think it evens out over 90 days. The drawback to this is that I can't prove "the little mods" based on my system, :( .

CarloSW2

If you are worried about economy and hedging the price of gas, figure out how many gallons you need for a reasonable period, say 5 or 8 gallons for a weeks driving. Then, when you get below 1/4 or when your "Hey stupid, you need gas!" light comes on, put in those gallons you really need.

If you put in 20+ gallons and gas weighs about 6.5 pounds per gallon, you are totting around an extra 120+ pounds. Somewhere there's a calculation about how much dead weight costs you in economy, something like 1-2% MPG for each 100 pounds you eliminate.

So, not filling up will save you weight and therefore extend your distance between stops at the gas station. You will still dollar cost average expenditures. And you could fudge it a bit more or less when the gas price slightly dips or spikes.

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