Line Up for Cheaper Gas at Costco or Walmart?

[HarveyS]

As expected, the fuel surcharges have begun. Uber announced they are adding a charge for the ride sharing and food delivery services.

I saw that news article on Uber. Why would a company that uses dynamic pricing need to add a surcharge? Just change the price to reflect the gas prices (or tolls, or whatever other fee).

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I saw that news article on Uber. Why would a company that uses dynamic pricing need to add a surcharge? Just change the price to reflect the gas prices (or tolls, or whatever other fee).

That's a good question. I have heard from a few folks that in some areas it is now cheaper to take a cab vs. Uber. What's old is new again?

 

[Magus]

I've always been amused at the lengths people will go to save a few cents on gas.

1) Drive further to get gas - this has never made sense to me as it both i) eats gas to go further, offsetting the savings but ii) does wear and tear on the vehicle - sometimes costs you more than the savings on gas - and takes up a lot of time.
2) Wait in long lines - even assuming you aren't having to drive further, your car is running longer, which eats gas and puts wear and tear on your vehicle
3) Not as important for retired folks - but usually the savings is like $2-3 averaged out over a week at the cost of 30 to 45 minutes. If you actually invested that time each week into improving your job craft, a single promotion at a $60k/job gives you about $6k/year, forever. I've found people spend very little time outside of work trying to improve their value even though the benefits are huge - its one of the reasons I've averaged a ~20% CAGR in income since I was 20 to now 40 because I spend a bit of time every day expanding my mental power, especially on items that would be helpful to my current or next job.

 

[kgtest]

Costco Gas is always 20c cheaper than any other station in my city. Always. It's an extra 3 to 5 minute drive to get the gas and the lines arent any worse or better than anyother station.

I did the math quick. My DW drives 30,000 miles a year, I drive 12,000. (Pre-COVID).

Her car averages 25 miles/gallon. 30,000/25 = 833 gallons/yr
My truck averages 18 miles/gallon. 12,000/18 = 666 gallons/yr

At .20c/gal * 1,500.00 gal = $300.00 That's a round trip plane ticket to Florida. I'll drive the extra 10 minutes every week or so for that free plane ticket to Florida.

I usually get .50c off a gallon on my truck though when I fill up at a different gas station up the road. So that total is actually $500 a year. Over ten years I save at least $5,000. Seems like a no brainer to me.

 

[jollystomper]

1) Drive further to get gas - this has never made sense to me as it both i) eats gas to go further, offsetting the savings but ii) does wear and tear on the vehicle - sometimes costs you more than the savings on gas - and takes up a lot of time.

This is not a factor if the cheaper gas is around where you need to go for shopping/errands anyway. For example, less than 2miles from me is a station where the gas is $4.49. The Costco is about 10 miles away, in a area where we do the bulk of our shopping/errands, and is $3.99. It is not driving further to get gas in an area we have to go to anyway.

 

[Magus]

Her car averages 25 miles/gallon. 30,000/25 = 833 gallons/yr
My truck averages 18 miles/gallon. 12,000/18 = 666 gallons/yr

At .20c/gal * 1,500.00 gal = $300.00 That's a round trip plane ticket to Florida. I'll drive the extra 10 minutes every week or so for that free plane ticket to Florida.

If you are near a costco and one that has lines that are similar to everyone else (which most of the ones near me have zero wait vs 10-30m for Costco), count yourself lucky!

You do need to adjust though for the extra miles driven to go to Costco - at 5 minutes let's say its 4 miles * 2 r/t * 52 weeks/yr - 416 extra miles. Divided by blended 22 MPG from above is 19 extra gallons used * $4/gallon = $76 offset. Plus you need to put some value for depreciation including basic maintenance on 416 miles - which obviously can vary wildly by age, value and current # miles on the vehicle. At $0.20 per mile, that's another $83 offset. Then put some value on the extra 9 hours a year you spend to do that and you are perhaps marginally better. And thats with apparently similar wait times, which is unusually since most stations I've been to my entire life have no wait times.

For me Costco for gas just doesn't make sense unless I'm already going there since its an extra 13 miles each way vs closest station down the road (which fortunately is a Harris Teeter one where I can use shopping points to take off part of the price per gas). Plus I estimate depreciation on my vehicle at closer to $0.30/mile, and I put a ~$20-$30/hr value on my time at a minimum, more if I'm busy (but I'm still working at this point - 1-3 more years!)

 

[Magus]

This is not a factor if the cheaper gas is around where you need to go for shopping/errands anyway. For example, less than 2miles from me is a station where the gas is $4.49. The Costco is about 10 miles away, in a area where we do the bulk of our shopping/errands, and is $3.99. It is not driving further to get gas in an area we have to go to anyway.

Very true - combining outings in general is something I think that's not as common as probably should be in the US. For me, Costco is way out of the way and the only thing I'd be over in that area of Charlotte (Matthews technically) and Costco is usually closer to $0.15-$.25 cheaper rather than $0.50, although on premium that is more common.

 

[Magus]

Warren Buffet has spoken of similar actions. I recall him mentioning that he enjoys his daily McD's breakfast and thinks it's of great value to him.

Buffet is an interesting cat. I heard a similar story about him with a torn glove at golf that he wouldn't buy a new one in the shop for like $15 and just played with the torn glove and some tape. Plus the dude's wealth is enough that i'm guessing 90% of people would have long since retired by 60, much less his age, but he keeps going at work. Obviously part of his values!

 

[jollystomper]

Very true - combining outings in general is something I think that's not as common as probably should be in the US. For me, Costco is way out of the way and the only thing I'd be over in that area of Charlotte (Matthews technically) and Costco is usually closer to $0.15-$.25 cheaper rather than $0.50, although on premium that is more common.

I see. Yes, in your case it would not make sense to drive further to Costco. The closet stations to us are also right off of interstate exits, and those tend to have even more inflated prices (depending on the distance between exits and the number of stations at the exit).

 

[Go-NoGo]

What's interesting to me is the rush to Costco/Sam's only when gas prices are high.

If Costco is consistently $0.20/gal cheaper than the competitor down the road, then the savings are the same if gas is at $2/gal or $4/gal.
For a 10 gallon fill up you are going to save $2 in both scenarios - just buy it from the cheaper place all the time !!

 

[Music Lover]

Buffet is an interesting cat. I heard a similar story about him with a torn glove at golf that he wouldn't buy a new one in the shop for like $15 and just played with the torn glove and some tape. Plus the dude's wealth is enough that i'm guessing 90% of people would have long since retired by 60, much less his age, but he keeps going at work. Obviously part of his values!

There's frugal and then there's silly.

 

[kgtest]

If you are near a costco and one that has lines that are similar to everyone else (which most of the ones near me have zero wait vs 10-30m for Costco), count yourself lucky!

You do need to adjust though for the extra miles driven to go to Costco - at 5 minutes let's say its 4 miles * 2 r/t * 52 weeks/yr - 416 extra miles. Divided by blended 22 MPG from above is 19 extra gallons used * $4/gallon = $76 offset. Plus you need to put some value for depreciation including basic maintenance on 416 miles - which obviously can vary wildly by age, value and current # miles on the vehicle. At $0.20 per mile, that's another $83 offset. Then put some value on the extra 9 hours a year you spend to do that and you are perhaps marginally better. And thats with apparently similar wait times, which is unusually since most stations I've been to my entire life have no wait times.

For me Costco for gas just doesn't make sense unless I'm already going there since its an extra 13 miles each way vs closest station down the road (which fortunately is a Harris Teeter one where I can use shopping points to take off part of the price per gas). Plus I estimate depreciation on my vehicle at closer to $0.30/mile, and I put a ~$20-$30/hr value on my time at a minimum, more if I'm busy (but I'm still working at this point - 1-3 more years!)

We minimize the extra trips. Sometimes we need to buy diapers, wipes and toilet paper from there anyways so we just do the errands when we are low on gas. It's not extra in that regard. Many times we just plan around needing to fill up, knowing it is coming and the fact we are already on that side of town for other reasons doesn't make it "extra" when that is the case.

I totally agree with the idea that time > $$. I would dissect that notion a little bit more and say the time that i am home/available for my kids which on workdays is from 6am to 8am and again from 4:30pm to 8pm I set aside all errands and dedicate that time to our family. We are fortunate in the regard DW can run many errands during our work day. She has a non-traditional job that isn't one where you necessarily clock in and out. She HAS to travel in a car for her work, so she will take the opportunity to fill up or get groceries or run other errands while she is already on her way to or from a client engagement.

The times we go out of our way to fill up for gas, is maybe half a dozen to a dozen times a year. The rest of the time we are by CostCo anyways so we seize the opportunity and fill.

If I had to drive 26 miles round trip to fill, I might recalculate my cost benefit analysis. Our costco is 6miles away, I just googled. The closest gas station to our home is 2.2 miles so the extra is actually only 3.8 miles away. I might go out of my way maybe 6 to 12 times a year. 7.6 miles RT * 12 = 91 extra miles a year. It comes out to an extra $14.60/yr of extra driving at $4/gal. I would say the time is negligible too since usually I will run another errand on that same CostCo trip. I'm really big on clustering/bundling trips for errands.

There are 18 pumps at our CostCo so the times we have to wait is rare. it might happen where we have to wait for a car that is almost done filling up and pulling out. that can happen at any gas station. 9 times out of 10 there is an open pump somewhere, at least on the off-peak times of day that we are there. I would NEVER go to CostCo at 4pm any day of the week, that is like a golden rule. I've found the times they are least busy is around 8pm or Sunday mornings, and many times we plan our trips around those off peak hours. YMMV

 

[kgtest]

There's frugal and then there's silly.

My DF has duct tape on one of his jackets and his shoes. I asked him if someone has ever mistaken him as someone who is "hard up" and like paid if forward to him while he is at the register (I've heard sometimes people will pay it forward based off of the way people look).

He is a multi-millionaire with 3 pensions, DW and him healthy Social Security checks and rent checks getting deposited on the 1st of every month for his 3 investment properties he owns.

SO it is true you just cannot judge a book by it's cover. I recently read Elon Musk would not replace a worn mattress that had a hole in it...it was on Grimes side of the bed, so why bother!

DF has his "good shoes and coat" but rarely do I catch him in it. He still wears his "work shirts" and he retired over 6 years ago. They were "free" so in that regard they are his favorites. He is absolutely one of the cheapest people I have found in some regards, but in others he isn't. For instance the water heater went out on his rental and he is paying $1200 for someone to replace it, but at his own home the carpet installers wanted $370 to remove and haul away his old carpet and he told them stand down he will do it himself. He doesn't need to be that way, but its either a game to him, or perhaps a product of being a depression era child who grew up with next to nothing. He WILL pay the tax on those roth conversions though. So he really chooses when he wants to be cheap. The kind of re-using and repurposing, to a fault.

 

[jazz4cash]

Went to Sam’s Club this morning at 7:30 which is the cheapest gas by $.48/gal of any local station and is $.10 less than other Sams Clubs. Drove right up to the pump and filled up- no wait. In general I would pay more than waste my time in a long line but this Sams appears to be the best of both worlds

Its astounding to here how much cheaper the wholesale Club prices are in other locations. How does everybody even know what all these prices are? I use gas buddy and right now the range for regular is $3.99-$4.67. Only one station is selling regular for $3.99 and they are cash only. Costco, BJs, and Sam’s Club are all $4.09. That compares to $4.19 for the Shell station closest to my home. DC suburbs.

 

[kgtest]

Its astounding to here how much cheaper the wholesale Club prices are in other locations. How does everybody even know what all these prices are? I use gas buddy and right now the range for regular is $3.99-$4.67. Only one station is selling regular for $3.99 and they are cash only. Costco, BJs, and Sam’s Club are all $4.09. That compares to $4.19 for the Shell station closest to my home. DC suburbs.

I kinda just watch them around town and use GasBuddy on occasion or just google "CostCo CityX Gas Price" and google tells me.

There is a mom and pop station that is always 10c cheaper than the BPs, Shell/Holidays and other corporate chains, but then CostCO is ALWAYS 20c cheaper, if not more. It's never less than 20c cheaper. After a while when you start to pay attention to the price at the pump you get accustomed to who charges what.

I remember a while back there was a gas war across town and gas was down to like 10c a gallon, but the line was backed up for miles. I never knew how that could go down like that, with state gas tax being a certain portion of it, they were essentially paying people to fill up.

 

[athena53]

There is a mom and pop station that is always 10c cheaper than the BPs, Shell/Holidays and other corporate chains, but then CostCO is ALWAYS 20c cheaper, if not more. It's never less than 20c cheaper. After a while when you start to pay attention to the price at the pump you get accustomed to who charges what.

I got lucky yesterday and stopped at a Costco on my way home from another errand- I don't usually go to that one. No line for gas so I filled up although I have only a 10-gallon tank, so not much savings. I remembered to check one gas station on the drive home and yes, their price was 20 cents/gallon higher than Costco.

 

[Kat07]

I did the same thing the other day. Took one look at the line and drove away. I sure don’t have the patience! Would rather pay a a little more at a regular gas station than waste fuel waiting in a long line!

 

[audreyh1]

No longer!

P.S. My new EV with a Costco gas station in the far background.

 

[Midpack]

Costco always used to be 10-20 cents/gal cheaper than other stations in the area. Today they’re only 8 cents/gal cheaper. I assume Costco is maintaining margins, so other stations must be holding back a little? Could it be?

 

[audreyh1]

Our last Costco fill-up was $3.95* when others around had started to increase to $4.48, but that was a bit over two weeks ago (5/26).

Last Wednesday 6/8 we topped off the old Jeep at an Exxon buying our last bit of gasoline at $4.65 and the first time since CA in 2008 where we paid over $4 a gallon.

*I see at that same Costco regular is $4.37 today!!

 

[easysurfer]

No longer!

P.S. My new EV with a Costco gas station in the far background.

Nice! Chevy Bolt?

 

[Time2]

My wife filled our two cars and my sons car yesterday at Sam's, she saw they had a $0.50 cents off per gallon deal. Plus 5% more with here CC.

 

[audreyh1]

Nice! Chevy Bolt?

Tesla Model X.

 

[aja8888]

Tesla Model X.

Were the black wheels an option or did you replace the ones that came with the X?

I really like the red! Looks l]just like my old Mustang:

 

[audreyh1]

Were the black wheels an option or did you replace the ones that came with the X?

I really like the red! Looks l]just like my old Mustang:

View attachment 42660

The “Refresh” 2021/2022 Models S and X all switched to black trim. No chrome at all except for the “T” on front.

Nice Mustang! Our neighbors down the street have a dark red Mustang Mach-E.

Ha ha, DH had to explain to me what those cables going to the top of the hood were for!