Wednesday, February 27, 2013

What do you pay for Gasoline?

Snow covered mountains above snow-less Comox

Frugal in Florida did a blog post today talking about the price of gas.  Right now regular gas is $3.99 per gallon.  In Canada we are on the metric system so I did the math.

One Gallon of Gas = 3.78531 litres

I bought gas yesterday for $1.24 per litre = $4.73 per gallon

A few weeks ago it was as low as $1.09 per litre = $4.12 per gallon.  That is a huge difference on the pocketbook.  We have always paid more in Canada than the U.S.  due to taxes so there was no big surprise that we are much higher(within a cent or two Canadian and US dollars are almost at par).

I go to a Co-op gas station that is only two blocks from my house - primarily because they lower the price of gas the fastest in the neighborhood and generally always have the lowest price.  I am now going to purchase a lifetime Co-operative membership for $10 and believe over the course of a few months it will easily pay itself back as now rather than being at the mercy of the oil giants, I too can benefit from their profits and receive a cheque to prove it.    It makes money, is owned by it's shareholders, and gives back to our local community.  Every member qualifies for 5% cash back at the end of the year.  The more you use them the more equity you build up to qualify for higher percentages of cash back up to 7%.  I estimate using $60 per month (we work from home so use less gas than others) for a total of $720 per year. This would qualify me for $36 refund.  I prefer to get cash back over other perks like points as financially it makes more sense.

We keep our vehicles well maintained, got rid of our gas guzzling truck, combine trips and generally drive less to keep costs down.

What is the price of gas where you live and what are you doing to combat it?


35 comments:

  1. That works out to $2.17 Canadian a litre!

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  2. We're paying $1.03 here in Alberta. That is .5 cents less than the average gas station as we've been buying our gas at Safeway. Good to know about the Co-op membership as we'll be using them when we move to Salt Spring. Gas was under .90 cents a liter not too long ago. One day, we filled up at .84 cents! But it didn't last. Back to normal prices. Sigh .....

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    1. Generally on Vancouver Island prices are 10-20 cents higher than Alberta - but we drive way less so it evens out (hubby commuted 45 minutes each way to work and I commuted 20 minutes each way in our previous Alberta jobs). It is likely Salt Spring Island has a different co-op than ours as each town seems to have their own - but definitely worth checking out!

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    2. We'll be back there in June so I'll ask them when we're there. Commute definitely makes a difference!

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  3. I can't work why 44 miles from home petrol is 7p a litre cheaper at £1.32. The only problem is that everyone has found the same petrol station and it regularly runs out.

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    1. If they can afford to be cheaper why can't the other guys? It makes you wonder.

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  4. Here in Pennsylvania it's about $3.79 a gallon. I get points at my supermarket and usually get 30 cents off per gallon up to 20 gallons. I only work 1/2 mile from work so I don't have to fill up very often. I would walk in the warmer weather but there are no sidewalks and traffic is too heavy. Hubby drives a 2 seater Honda hybrid and it's really good on gas.

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    1. Smaller commutes definitely help - we drive way less than we used to.

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  5. U.S. here in my area was 3.83/gallon yesterday...and it just keeps going up :(

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    1. yes, definitely time to plan on how everyone will cope with higher prices.

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  6. Here in PEI it's 1.27 per litre. I have some coupons from the Superstore to save .06/litre. Now can we talk about the price of milk? Eek, it's 3.45 for 2 litres.

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    1. Sounds like you guys have similar prices to us on Vancouver Island. Milk is crazy too!

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  7. In Bonners Ferry Idaho for regular gas I think it $3.49 a gallon. Which is about 30 miles from the British Columbia border.

    Coffee is on.

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    1. And many Canadians fill up in your town I am sure!

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    2. I know they like to buy milk when the come down...It runs about $2.50 a galloon.

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  8. US. Here in my area about $3.89/gal yesterday. Gas prices are crazy everywhere I see.

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  9. I bought gas today, in the greater Seattle area, for $3.59/gallon. That was with a 3 cent store loyalty discount, and equal to what Costco just down the street is charging. Some parts of the Seattle area have gas for about 20 cents less per gallon than our area.

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    Replies
    1. I don't understand the 20 cent difference. They do that here too.

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  10. I'm in NE Ontario, gas here is 1.36, way too high!! We just came back from Florida on the weekend, we saw it as high as $4.09

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    1. Holy Toledo - I think you have the highest in Canada!

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  11. We've done some traveling between Memphis and New Orleans in the past few weeks. I've seen as high as $3.99 and as low as $3.49.

    Just a reminder-- planting season is coming up. You think it costs a lot to fill up your car? Think about what it costs to fill up the tractor!

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    Replies
    1. And that is why our food prices keep going up up up!

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  12. $4.35 a gallon here in Southern California. We're making more of an effort to consolidate errands to save on gas.

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  13. Ugh I think my BF pays like $1.35 per liter or something crazy. And that's why I take the bus!

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    1. Hopefully transit passes don't rise too much, as I think a lot of people are going to use it more and drive less.

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  14. I filled up today for $3.50 in Colorado, my husband works in Wyoming and says gas there is about $3.30 a gallon

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  15. Again, 20 cents difference - the prices in USA and Canada really seem all over the place!

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  16. I paid $3.99 a gallon today but earned 10 cents off per gallon because I earned "points" for that grocery shopping (the store has a gas station too). I always have to remember to make sure my tank is full before heading over the border. Where we are, the prices are higher than in any other part of the state. No one is sure why, but we are stuck with it.

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    1. I think it is likely due to all those Canadians crossing the border and filling up!

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  17. We are a one-car family, which hels us keep the gas costs down. It keeps us home, which is fine.

    I had a discussion with someone the other day and though I tried hard to explain it to her, she still wasn't understanding the need to factor in the cost of gas when going somewhere. We combine trips and shop less often (when we need to shop) so that our gas needs are low.

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