One of the best ways to save money is to shop at stores that give customers gas points for buying certain items.
Gas points are points assigned to a certain number of items that translates into free gas at the store’s gas pumps.
Calculating gas points is easy once you get the hang of it. It’s important to know your store policy though, but I’ll give you the rundown for the store I frequent the most.
The store will have a blocked in section that’ll have a list of items eligible for points and the sale amount of each item. It will also tell you the amount of gas points assigned to the items. Usually you need to purchase 5, 6, 8, or 10 items for each set of points earned. There is also a limit of 10 sets of items per household. A point system is assigned to the section. With my local store, it’ll say something like “400 points toward gas if you purchase ____ items. For every 100 points assigned, customers earn $.10 per gallon off their purchase of gas at that store. So 400 points translates into $.40 per gallon free.
Most stores allow you to mix and match the items within the blocked section, but it’s easier to just get one type of item for each set, at least when you’re first learning the ropes.
How to calculate:
EX. :
- Item: Juice 2/$4.00
- Must purchase 6 to equal a set
- 400 gas points for each set
- 400 equates to $.40/gallon of gas to be free
- Your car holds 20 gallons of gas
- You have a coupon worth saving $1.00 on any 2 juices
The Math:
- $2.00 for each Juice Bottle x 6 items= $12.00
- $.40 x 20 gallons = $8.00 saved
- $12.00 – $8.00 = $4.00
- You need 3 coupons = $3.00 savings
- $4.00 – $3.00 = $1.00
- $1.00/6 items = $.17 for each bottle of juice
That’s huge savings!
The average original price of one juice was $2.79, but you just paid $.17. That’s 94% savings.
What’s the best deal you’ve gotten with gas points. Have you ever made money back?
Where I live we tend to only get a certain amount off based on how much we spend overall. Either way, I’m game for all the savings I can get!
Gas points here also come from overall spending, so it’s an added bonus.
When we lived in the states I loved shopping at Fred Meyer (Kroger in some areas), one of the reasons was the gas points, it was based on the total amount of your purchases though. So I never calculated it this way, it was just “awesome, I saved $5 on gas” type of thoughts. Great post on how to save some $$$! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks. Living in Northern Virginia doesn’t afford all the great deals I’ve heard of in other parts of the states, but we must have it better than I thought after hearing everyone’s comments.
Since Costco is my closest store that also has gas, that’s where I pump. There are savings directly by being a member (averaging ten to 15 cents a gallon) but there are also savings from using the Costco American Express, which gives 2% back on any purchases made with it at Costco. If you add that in with an Executive membership, which also gives 2% back, plus the savings on car insurance etc., it works out to incredible savings for our family.
You just have to resist impulse purchasing at Costco.
I didn’t realize there were so many savings at Costco other than the membership discount. Thanks for sharing this information.