89 cents was what one consumer paid, while $1.09 was what another paid for a gallon of gas. You can find out how buyers have cut their price of gas to crazy levels. They used the same strategy used when they purchased non gas items. This explains how.
In Ohio, Marion paid $1.09 per gallon when she bought gas. She was able to fill her Jetta for $12.45. The same week Kellie paid 89 cents per gallon when she filled up. You may be asking yourself how that is possible? Marion and Kellie paid those remarkable prices because they looked at gasoline prices like smart consumers look at other items.
The reason that Kellie and Marion were able to purchase gas at such a low price is that they treated gas like it was any other item that they would go to a store to buy. They shopped around and they found a way to purchase their gas at the store that they found had the absolute lowest cost. They found a frequent shopper program that allowed them to lower their gas cost. They found it at a grocery chain called Giant Eagle.
This grocery chain has stores in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia. A new addition to the frequent shopping program at Giant Eagle is called Fuelperks. It provides the consumers discounts on gas at Giant Eagle's own gas stations, the Get-Go chain.
For every $50.00 of purchases using the frequent shopper card the consumer will get a 10 cent reduction in the price of gas for one tank fill up. Purchase $100.00 worth; get 20 cents off a gallon. Purchase $500.00 worth and get $1.00 off a gallon. Buy enough groceries and you can get gasoline for free.
A large family that may buy great amounts of food every week could find itself with big discounts in just a few weeks. The price of gas for them will be much lower because of the discount they earned. Giant Eagle grocery prices are competitive as are their gas prices so the savings are real.
What if you don't have a Giant Eagle store where you live? You can still apply the same principle to the way you approach buying gas and still find yourself with significant savings. You need to be a price conscious buyer. You need to do your research.
Treat gas like anything else that you buy. Look for the best deals. Look for frequent shopper programs in your neighborhood that allow you to build up discounts you can use towards gas. Look for gas discounts and incentives anywhere you see a gas pump. Look for stores that may be branching out into the frequent shopper area or stores that now sell gas that didn't before.
In order to compete with the new grocery gas stations many gas convenience stores are beginning to implement frequent shopper programs that will result in lower gas costs. But more and more traditional stores that never sold gas before are realizing that discount gas is a big incentive to get shoppers. Giant Eagle is one example of a traditional grocery store branching out to sell gas at a discount.
Last year, more than 60% of new stores included gas pumps. That is in contrast to only 18% the previous year based on information from the Food Marketing Institute. As they start offering gas to you as a loss leader to get you into their stores, you can get lower prices on gas.
The mega stores like Wal-Mart / Sam's Club are getting into the gas business in a big way. Putting gas pumps at every Sam's Club is what the VP in charge of fuel for Wal-Mart is looking to do. That means lower gas costs for all of us.
So how can you lower your gas costs? Treat gas like any other item you purchase. Look for deals, discounts and low prices. Comparison shop. Find the retailers that offer the best program for you. Look for gas bargains at some of the non traditional outlets like grocery stores or mega stores. Then maybe you will be able to buy that tank of gas for 89 cents a gallon like Kellie Courtney did.
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