Line Up for Cheaper Gas at Costco or Walmart?

[audreyh1]

Yeah, I hate how most regular gas stations when busy you get stuck behind someone that has to go inside to pay first - it can take a long time. Then a bunch of them don’t print receipt at the pump.

 

[still_working]

A friend who's 64, has dropped hints that they are worth well into 8 figures. Yet she told of turning around from a $5.00 gallon of milk, in order to drive to a store where it would be cheaper.

I think you've hit on the secret. Makes him feel clever and useful. Also is probably how he was raised.

...or how each of those individuals achieved their seven- and eight-figure net worth. Stories of Sam Walton come to mind - frugality despite his company reaching 1B net worth in the late eighties.


For my part, we're not drinking Starbucks every day but like many others on this thread we're not spending an hour to save $0.10 on a 20 gallon tank.

 

[kgtest]

I don't complain about the price of gas. Never have, never will. The line at CostCo is never too bad, and I usually fill at off peak times anyways. We get accumulating 10c off for every $100 of groceries at a local station, so I have $.50c off waiting for me when my truck tank needs a refill. I fill up easily 1/2 as often since I began working remote fulltime.

My wife fills up a lot and she has complained a little about the price of gas but also earns 1/4 the income I do so it makes sense. She never complains about the CostCo line so it must not be too bad and that is the only place she fills up.

When I was living on Maui the price of gas was never below $4/gallon at CostCo and the lines were always verry long. I still never complained, afterall, I was living and driving where others vacation in paradise. What's to complain about.

 

[pb4uski]

+2

+1

It's not cutting in, it's the best way to keep both pumps in use as much as possible, which gets all the customers through the queue quicker.

Let's say you were in line at a supermarket checkout, and there were 2 separate cashier stations for that line, would you really not go to whichever one freed up first?

 

[audreyh1]

We see the truck versus car mismatch a lot in TX. A truck will often stay at the Costco pump filling up twice as long as a car. So the drive around is fairly common - whether driving around the truck in front of you when you are done, or driving around the truck to get to the front pump. There is barely enough space to do it, so you have to be careful!

I really do appreciate a card only no cash gas station. Membership only. And generally far cleaner than regular stations! And the single direction solves the driving around in both directions figuring out which pump to squeeze in to.

 

[jollystomper]

So when a small car in front is done quick with 10 gallons and a big truck behind getting 30 gallons, the person waiting should let the front spot stay open that whole time after the front small car leaves? That is inefficient. Costco has plenty of room to maneuver around in my experience. I don't see your "double pumping" making it more efficient.

I agree. I do try to use discernment. If I am waiting behind the two cars that are filling up, I track when they started the process. If the front one pulls out first, I will wait based on my estimate of how soon the second one may be finished. I will pull ahead if they are way behind - for example, they have put the hose in their tank for a few seconds or less when the other driver is pulling out. I also factor in the size of the cars, if the front one is a Mini Cooper and the rear one a Ford F150, then I might also pull up of the Mini Cooper pulls out.

I find it easy to back in, particularly when using the SUV with the rear view camera. As someone who is used to backing into parking spaces in parking lots, it is easy for me to do.

Especially if slot 2 on the other side is someone who is standing in the middle, having pulled on the "wrong" side and is stretching the line to pump (why do ppl do that?)

Often the line with the pumps on the passenger side, which is where the "wrong side" tends to occur, are the shortest, so I will use them. At our Costco there is plenty of room too pass through when pumping on the "wrong" side, and most folks stand behind their car and not where they can block the drive through lane.

People in this area tend to be polite . I have been waved to go to the front pump by folks in trucks who tell me "I have a while to go, you should go ahead of me", and then when they are done, will patiently wait if I am not done. The Costco gas attendants will also waive car forwards and help direct them in backing up to the pump. And if someone is standing in the middle, once they see a car wants to go through, they move out of the way. I cannot remember the last time I heard someone deliberately honk their horn at someone else.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

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

 

[zinger1457]

Yep, my trash pickup company said they would be raising their rates for the first time in 5 years due to the increase in fuel prices.

 

[Timeisprecious]

$3.15 here and 3% CB.

Wow - nice! Gas is always cheaper in TX. I wouldn't want to go back and live there, though.

 

[Timeisprecious]

Yep, my trash pickup company said they would be raising their rates for the first time in 5 years due to the increase in fuel prices.

Lucky you! I already saw a 13% raise this year on trash pickup.

 

[imnontrad]

I would occasionally fuel up at Costco. But I got the feeling that my MPG was lower. in addition, many times the lines were so long, I got the feeling that the gas I burned up waiting ate up all the money I was saving.

 

[Chuckanut]

Wow - nice! Gas is always cheaper in TX. I wouldn't want to go back and live there, though.

Gas. Yes. But, check out the property taxes. WOW! It's no wonder the Space Center was setup there. To the Moon!!!

 

[kingkarmann]

I have one gas card that I put 98% of my fuel purchases on. I never see any significant changes to my monthly gas bill that makes me want to chase cheap petrol.
DW is all about membership club prices and using her grocery fuel perks. We don’t see any substantial differences that would make either one of us change our habits. To me it’s just a mind game.
Never ever understood the psychology of saving $4-$5 on a tank.
It all equals out in the end IMO.

 

[FIREarly]

Drove to Costco today with the intent to fuel up. Took one look at the long line around the block and kept on driving. Would have liked to save some $ on gas but just didn't have the patience to wait half an hour or more to save a few bucks.

Wonder if anyone here has the patience to wait in line at Costco or Sam's Club to save on gas?

Edit: Not sure if this thread belongs to FIRE & Money. Mods: please move it elsewhere as you see fit.

If it's within your budget, buy a used Tesla and save more time by never going to a gas station again!

 

[aja8888]

Gas. Yes. But, check out the property taxes. WOW! It's no wonder the Space Center was setup there. To the Moon!!!

Everyone rants about the property taxes in Texas. But they fail to mention we have NO STATE INCOME TAX and NO CITY INCOME TAX like some other places. We also have pretty cheap energy and gasoline prices and pretty cheap food prices since we have a LOT of farms and also get produce from Mexico.

When I lived in California, and had the same size house, I paid the same property tax within a few dollars. When I lived in Connecticut, I paid higher prtoperty tax for the same size house.

I really don't get this thing about property tax in Texas.

 

[Car-Guy]

I really don't get this thing about property tax in Texas.

Nor do I... Mine is less than 1k per yr. Guess it depends a lot on where you live in Texas.

 

[travelover]

Our local Costco today was $4.39 with long, long lines. My local independent Fleet station was $4.48 and I was the only one there. Since I bought 10 gallons, it only cost me 90 cents to be able to zip in and out.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

Everyone rants about the property taxes in Texas. But they fail to mention we have NO STATE INCOME TAX and NO CITY INCOME TAX like some other places. We also have pretty cheap energy and gasoline prices and pretty cheap food prices since we have a LOT of farms and also get produce from Mexico.

When I lived in California, and had the same size house, I paid the same property tax within a few dollars. When I lived in Connecticut, I paid higher prtoperty tax for the same size house.

I really don't get this thing about property tax in Texas.

It's not hard to understand. Texas has the 7th highest property tax rate in the US. California is less than half the rate of Texas.

Thanks to Prop 13, I pay 12K in annual property taxes. If my real estate was in Texas, I'd be paying 63K.

Hope this clears it up.

 

[tfudtuckerpucker]

It's not hard to understand. Texas has the 7th highest property tax rate in the US. California is less than half the rate of Texas.

Thanks to Prop 13, I pay 12K in annual property taxes. If my real estate was in Texas, I'd be paying 63K.

Hope this clears it up.

I just moved from Texas to Washington State. Neither has income tax, both have sales tax. Property tax in Texas (near Austin) was ~2%. Here in Washington state its ~1%. From a red state to a blue state. Go figure. (sorry for threadjacking!)

 

[swabby01]

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

 

[FIREarly]

Our local Costco today was $4.39 with long, long lines. My local independent Fleet station was $4.48 and I was the only one there. Since I bought 10 gallons, it only cost me 90 cents to be able to zip in and out.

+1

 

[habelsgtb]

With all the talk about gas prices going up, people expecting someone else to do something about it, I wish people would instead do what they can to save gas/oil. Eg: stop using the remote starter to preheat/cool the car for 10 minutes, turn home thermostats down/up to conserve energy, stop sitting in cars with the engine running while parked - in most areas of the country it’s hot or cold enough outside to leave the car off. Etc etc.
I do appreciate people taking the time to find the lowest local gas station and not waiting in line.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Everyone rants about the property taxes in Texas. But they fail to mention we have NO STATE INCOME TAX and NO CITY INCOME TAX like some other places. We also have pretty cheap energy and gasoline prices and pretty cheap food prices since we have a LOT of farms and also get produce from Mexico.

When I lived in California, and had the same size house, I paid the same property tax within a few dollars. When I lived in Connecticut, I paid higher prtoperty tax for the same size house.

I really don't get this thing about property tax in Texas.

Like so many other things in life, it really depends on a person's situation in life. For us, the Texas property taxes would be a significant increase in our OVERALL tax liability, but that's because our state taxes are not too bad and my pension is exempt. Food costs and fuel costs are similar to Texas, so that is a wash. What isn't discussed too much is the steady increase in sales taxes and this seems to be common in most states (that have a sales tax).

I just moved from Texas to Washington State. Neither has income tax, both have sales tax. Property tax in Texas (near Austin) was ~2%. Here in Washington state its ~1%. From a red state to a blue state. Go figure. (sorry for threadjacking!)

And in Seattle, sales tax is 10.25% whereas Austin is 8.25%. Oh, and home values? Median in Seattle is $850K and Austin is $550K. Cost of living index? Austin 129.4 and Seattle 167.8. I used Seattle because you didn't state a city. Just saying.

 

[Venturer]

We went to Costco yesterday for a few items and to cash our Citicheck. Gas was $3.89 local store was $4.39 so a good savings. When we pulled up there waer 2 filling up and 1 waiting so we were really next in line 15 min and on our way at 8 pm.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

With all the talk about gas prices going up, people expecting someone else to do something about it, I wish people would instead do what they can to save gas/oil. Eg: stop using the remote starter to preheat/cool the car for 10 minutes, turn home thermostats down/up to conserve energy, stop sitting in cars with the engine running while parked - in most areas of the country it’s hot or cold enough outside to leave the car off. Etc etc.
I do appreciate people taking the time to find the lowest local gas station and not waiting in line.

Our neighbor is notorious for doing this. Even if it's 65 degrees out, he pre-warms his BRAND NEW truck. There isn't really much point in that these days and 1/2 the time, it shuts down (time out safety feature) before he's ready to leave. His wife is just as wasteful since she seems to leave the house no less than 8x a day. I thought maybe some of it was school related activities, but kiddos are out of school this week, but she's still driving like she works for Uber.