Nov
20Save Money With Prepaid Gas Cards
Tagged Under : gas prices, prepaid gas card, savings
I received several messages in my inbox from people who didn’t know you could buy prepaid gas cards. My last post I really was just randomly posting about my own thoughts on how prices have gone down so drastically that I am now paying over $50 less at the pump than I was about 3 months ago. I really should have taken more time to do some research on the subject so that I could have supplied more information about this topic. Let me just say, when my husband and I sat down and did the math about the savings we were surprised, but not at the same time…if that makes ANY sense. I knew there would be a ginormous savings…but when you actually see the numbers for your own eyes it’s kinda crazy and unsettling that we as hard working consumers, get subjected to astronomical prices that make the owners of oil companies filthy rich while we suffer for it.
OK. I’m stepping off my soap box now!!! Sooooooo, I did a little research and I hope this answers the questions some of you had.
The main thing many people said was “If you buy a gas card at today’s prices, later you are only using a gas card and paying those current prices.” That would be true if you were just buying THAT kind of card. Those kinds of cards are similar to gift cards. Those are not the cards I’m talking about. That’s not what THESE prepaid cards are. The ones I am talking about allow you to purchase GALLONS. There are several companies out there that you can sign up with, pay a membership fee and purchase gallons of gas at whatever the current rate in your area is. Then when gas prices go up you can use your card to pay for the gallons. The company that you are signed up with will actually pay the gas station for your purchase and will deduct the GALLONS from your account.
Let me give you an example to better explain. Let’s say you bought a gas card and paid for 25 gallons at $2.50. Four months later you go to purchase gas and you see that it is at the rate of $3.00. You could use your prepaid gas card to purchase 25 gallons worth of gas and you will have saved $.50 per gallon that you purchased, because the company you are signed up with will pay the difference in the gas price to the gas station. You just saved $12.50. If the price was $3.50 you would have saved $25.00 on those 25 gallons and so on. If you fill up once a week like I do, multiply that savings by 52 weeks and see how much money you could potentially save. A LOT!
The card itself works like a debit card. You are given a 4-digit pin for security. You can also have others connected to your account if you want to give them access to purchasing like a husband and wife would or an employer who pays for gas for his/her employees. Most of the sites claim that the cars are already being accepted at major chains and smaller ones all over the country.
This is pretty similar to being a member of the price clubs Sam’s, Costco’s and BJ’s. There is an annual membership fee for signing up. Most I’ve seen are between $20-$40. Do your research because some of them charge a couple cents on top of what the current gas price is in your area per gallon. Even still, this is money you will get back once the price of gas soars again and let’s face it, we all know it will. Pirates right now have hijacked tankers fully loaded with crude oil and petroleum. If you’ve read anything in the news about them then you know this directly affects our economy. Just as fast as the prices have dropped they could go right back up due to the ever growing piracy. Who knew pirates still existed like that anyway? Atleast they don’t dress the same. <– I couldn’t help myself.
Anyways, here are a few links if you want to check them out for yourself. Some of them go in more depth some of them not so much because they want you to become members. Also you can do a google search for locked in fuel prices, and you’ll get a lot of results. I just think it’s very interesting. My husband and I are considering doing this. Just some food for thought and hopefully I cleared up some of the confusion.
Info Links:
That is awesome!! I never knew about that - I’ll have to tell Emil all about it b/c he travels all over the state for his job.