Gas is getting more and more expensive. Here in California, we are at about $3.75 a gallon depending on where you are. $4.00 looks like an absolute certainty. Despite this lunacy, I think it is even more ridiculous the lengths people will go to to save a buck on gas.If I asked you to just stand still for five minutes for $0.60, would you do it? I'm betting most of my readers would not. However, that is exactly what is going on down the street from me. There is a 76 station down the street that is known for having the least expensive gas in the Pasadena area. Since it is down the street, I drive by it often and regularly see lines extending out to the street to get gas.
I never wait in this line. If there is nobody there, and I need gas, I'll get gas. But if there is the smallest hint of a line, I just go further down the street and get gas somewhere else. The thing is, the gas is about $0.05 cheaper than it is just down the street. On a 12 gallon fill up, that amounts to about $0.60 or a 1.3% savings. Is that really worth waiting in line for? I'm all about saving money when it makes sense, but this doesn't make any sense. Now if you factor in that a lot of these cars will sit and idle while they wait, then then these people are actually spending more money by sitting and waiting then they would be just going down the street.
What do you think? Do you think it is worth it to wait for cheap gas? Why do you think other people think it is worth it?
I used to get excited about how a place was five cents cheaper years and years ago until one day I did the math and I realized that I was saving less than a dollar. Since then, I haven't cared. Some people make the argument that it adds up over time, but I don't bite.
ReplyDeleteMy time is more valuable than the 3 to 6 cents I might save per gallon. If there's no line, I'll go. I wouldn't go out of my way though.
ReplyDeleteyeah. Just do the math, it doesn't add up.
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