Gas Prices Got You Down?

As many of you know, I am a very frugal person. I try lots of different ways to save money. That being said, we started an experiment to try to save money at the pumps. Here's our experience (hopefully I'll explain it so that you are not too confused).

When we first started our experiment I was a little scared because in my brain, it didn't seem like it would work. But it actually does.

We started using the high grade gas (93 octane) in our car. This type of gas usually runs 20 cents more per gallon. So in our 11 1/2 gallon tank that's an extra $2.30 per fill up.

Normally we would get 320 miles per tank of gas. Since we started using 93 octane, we now get 360 miles per tank. That's an extra 40 miles per tank of gas!

Or, to put it another way, before our experiment, we got 28/29 miles per gallon. Since we started using 93 octane, we now get 32/33 miles per gallon.

Since we get an extra 40 miles per tank and we get 33 miles per gallon that's over an extra gallon of gas.

Here's where the saving money comes in... We spend an extra $2.30 to put 93 octane into our tank. We get an extra gallon of gas out of our tank (about $3.00). For every time we fill up our tank, we save $.70 - $1.00. It doesn't sound like much, but over a year, that's $52. Over 5 years (the life of our car loan) that's $260 (that's a car payment for us). Not only are we saving money by using high grade gas, we are helping our car too!

Try it for yourselves and you can decide if you save money!