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This is an amusing post. For me, buying gas is just as similar to stocks. The trick is to decide whether to fill 'er up full or not. Almost always, a full tank

This is an amusing post. For me, buying gas is just as similar to stocks. The trick is to decide whether to fill 'er up full or not. Almost always, a full tank is a bad bet unless if you know from experience that it's the cheapest station in the area. I say stocks because the gas in your tank is the value you bought it for that you could've gotten cheaply. I mean if you know the gas price is going to increase for sure (such as during a long weekend), then yes I will fill my tank please.

sokoloff 17y ago
I almost always (like 97 times in 100) just fill up. Too much time wasted to buy gas a few gallons at a time for a small savings, IMO. (Incidentally, one of our cars is a turbodiesel sedan and gets almost 500 miles to the tank, 600 on a roadtrip. It's amazingly pleasant to only have to fill up about once a month in normal usage.)
rflrob 17y ago
On long trips, especially coming home from long trips, I'm usually in at least a little bit of a hurry to get there and be done driving. It's therefore worth $1.50 (assuming I pay $.10 per gallon more than is necessary for my 15 gallon tank) to me to only have to fill up once. In practice, I've found the price aren't usually even that much, so the time saved is that much better of a deal.
- samratjp 17y ago
  Well I agree with the time saved part, but in the long run the $1.50s add up to something of significance. But, my point is that when gas is expensive and you're in dire need of it, fill it up as much as is necessary until the next favorable stop.
  - reitzensteinm 17y ago
    But the time saved adds up at the same pace, as well. If spending $1.50 to save 10 minutes is worth it in each invidual case, in aggregate it's worth it as well.
nfnaaron 17y ago
In my part of around here, stations near the freeway are more expensive than stations farther from, and stations closer to the center of Big Town are more expensive than stations farther from. So you let those two forces push you to cheaper stations.
dhume 17y ago
Almost always, a full tank is a bad bet unless if you know from experience that it's the cheapest station in the area. A few years ago, I started playing the time-domain analogue of this game (which you sort of allude to later). When gas prices are low, I keep my tank close to full. I'll stop at the gas station (which is not out of the way of my normal travels) to refill even if it's only a couple gallons. When prices are higher, I can use that reserve to ride it out and wait for prices to fall again. I don't use any more or less gas this way, but I do get a marginally better price on it.

sokoloff 17y ago

I almost always (like 97 times in 100) just fill up. Too much time wasted to buy gas a few gallons at a time for a small savings, IMO. (Incidentally, one of our cars is a turbodiesel sedan and gets almost 500 miles to the tank, 600 on a roadtrip. It's amazingly pleasant to only have to fill up about once a month in normal usage.)

rflrob 17y ago

On long trips, especially coming home from long trips, I'm usually in at least a little bit of a hurry to get there and be done driving. It's therefore worth $1.50 (assuming I pay $.10 per gallon more than is necessary for my 15 gallon tank) to me to only have to fill up once. In practice, I've found the price aren't usually even that much, so the time saved is that much better of a deal.

samratjp 17y ago
Well I agree with the time saved part, but in the long run the $1.50s add up to something of significance. But, my point is that when gas is expensive and you're in dire need of it, fill it up as much as is necessary until the next favorable stop.
- reitzensteinm 17y ago
  But the time saved adds up at the same pace, as well. If spending $1.50 to save 10 minutes is worth it in each invidual case, in aggregate it's worth it as well.

nfnaaron 17y ago

In my part of around here, stations near the freeway are more expensive than stations farther from, and stations closer to the center of Big Town are more expensive than stations farther from. So you let those two forces push you to cheaper stations.

dhume 17y ago

Almost always, a full tank is a bad bet unless if you know from experience that it's the cheapest station in the area. A few years ago, I started playing the time-domain analogue of this game (which you sort of allude to later). When gas prices are low, I keep my tank close to full. I'll stop at the gas station (which is not out of the way of my normal travels) to refill even if it's only a couple gallons. When prices are higher, I can use that reserve to ride it out and wait for prices to fall again. I don't use any more or less gas this way, but I do get a marginally better price on it.