How A Woman In Cleveland Paid 89 Cents For A Gallon Of Gas An How You Can Too

In August of 2005 the price listed as the price for a

gallon of regular unleaded gas was $2.29. That same day

Kellie Courtney of Cleveland paid only 89 cents a gallon.

Marion Charvat paid $1.09 a gallon. Marion filled her

Volkswagen Jetta for only $12.45. How could they buy gas

so cheap? They did it because they are smart consumers.

Here's how they did it.

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.

Giant Eagle does business in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland

and West Virginia. Recently Giant Eagle added a new

component to their frequent shopper program. It is called

Fuelperks. It is a program that offers discounts on gas at

Giant Eagle's own stations for shopping at Giant Eagle

using their frequent shopper card.

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 has to buy a lot of groceries every

week will very quickly earn large discounts at the gas

pump. The prices at Giant Eagle are in line with most of

the other groceries in the area and their regular price on

gas is in line with other gas stations so you really are

getting a legitimate discount on gas.

You have to buy groceries somewhere; you might as well buy

it a store that gives you a substantial discount on gas

while you are at it. That is one way to beat the gas

pump.

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.

According to the Food Marketing Institute, just 18% of

grocery stores built in 2003 had gas pumps; last year, more

than 60% of new stores were built with gas stations. They

have seen the value of offering gas to their customers as a

loss leader.

The mega retailers are another place you should look for

bargains. As in many areas Wal-Mart / Sam's Club are

jumping into the gas business big time. The VP in charge

of fuel for Wal-Mart says he is looking to extend Sam

Walton's marketing strategy to gasoline by building gas

stations at every Sam's Club throughout the country. In his

view, putting in pumps should be "standard practice. It

just fits our business model: we want to bring everything

[to consumers] at the lowest price."

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.

By Scott Siegel