Pay at the Pump

In this day and age, you have to do what you can to save a little cash. When the economy’s tight, folks can use their creativity to stretch a dollar.

I have heard stories about people ‘driving around’ to find a lower price on gasoline but, over the weekend, we were able drive all four vehicles and save some money and we never left Farragut to do it!

These days, many grocery stores offer ‘fuel points’ – a discount, of sorts, to entice shoppers and to reinforce brand loyalty. At the Kroger store where we shop, we get this same kind of deal. Kroger teams up with Shell to allow you to enjoy those savings when you fill up.

Recently, with the holiday season in full swing, we heard that you could get 4x on fuel points if you bought gift cards at Kroger. That promotion lasted through Dec. 9, I believe.

We’re not big fans of buying gift cards as Christmas gifts. In a way, it seems kind of like you’re just shuffling around cash. “Here, I’ll wrap up a $20 bill for you and you do the same for me!” But, in some cases it’s necessary – especially if you have someone on your shopping list for whom shopping is a challenge.

As Lisa was finalizing her Christmas shopping list for 2012, she came up with a few folks for whom a gift card made sense. And, when we learned of the Kroger promotion, it made sense to pick up the gift cards there.

So, at the end of our purchase, we found out that we had 50 fuel points. That equates to a savings on a gas fill-up of 50 cents per gallon. To maximize our savings, we decided we’d take all four vehicles to our local Shell station on Saturday afternoon.

Just after lunch, there we were – all four of us – driving down Campbell Station Road in our version of a Christmas Parade: A Ford, A Honda, A Jeep, A Chevy. Holly led the way; Paul brought up the rear. Lisa and I were in between. If you happened to see us and wonder what was going on, please be assured that we weren’t in a single file procession out of town.

Our’s was a Campbell Station Caravan with simply one goal in mind – cost savings.

In a way, it might seem a bit extreme to coordinate our fill-ups. But, think about it: That’s 4x the savings. Fifty cents off for four vehicles for four fill-ups. I think it was worth the coordination.

My old friend Steve Martin (not the comedian) used to hold the hose up to make sure every last drop went into his tank. He'dve been duly impressed by this operation. To quote him, “What a deal!”

As for our outing, fortunately, the Shell Station wasn’t busy. So, we were able to position our cars in such a way that we could fill one up and then bring another in when it was done. Four fill-ups; four savings –one at a time.

I was rather proud of our efforts. At the end of the day, I think we saved about $20. In an era of coupon clipping and bargain shopping, I think our filler-up effort was worth the trouble.

JG

Originally posted 12/17/2012