How To Find The Cheapest Gas In Your Area

If you've been watching the news lately, you know that gas prices have been on the rise, and that we could soon be seeing $4 (or even higher) per gallon gasoline. With unrest in the middle east, government collapse in Libya, and our government not allowing us to drill, who knows how high the gas prices could go before we're done.

So while you probably can't stop using gas and just stay at home every day, you can do what you can to minimize how much you're paying for your gas when you do fill up. To help in that goal, today I thought I'd throw out a few of my favorite gas prices websites that will help you to find the cheapest gas near where you live.

Find The Lowest Price On Gas Near You

While it's probably not a good idea to drive 20 miles out of your way to find gas for 5 cents cheaper, it probably IS a good idea to find the cheapest gas in your immediate area.  Prices can often vary from 5-20 cents per gallon!   To help in that aim here are some useful sites that I've found.

Gas Price Websites

• GasBuddy.com: GasBuddy.com is probably my favorite gas prices tool.  Gas prices are submitted by users in the local area along with the time/date they saw the price. I’ve found it to be pretty accurate, and they have a variety of other tools available as well like a gas price heat map, fuel logbook.
  
• Automotive.com Gas Price Tool:  To use the tool just type in your zip code and it will come back with the local gas prices in your area. Easy as pie! The site also has an assortment of gas prices widgets that you can place on your desktop, website, blog, facebook account or google homepage. Very cool!
  
• MSN Autos Gas Prices: MSN Autos has a gas prices tool as well. Similar to the ones above, but not always as up to date.
  
• Mapquest Gas Prices: Yet another gas price tool, this time from Mapquest.
  

There are sites to find your gas prices, but those are the ones I found most helpful.  Have your own?  Leave a comment below!

Gas Price Apps

• Local Gas Prices: App that shows a list of the gas stations nearby, and allows you to sort the list according to price or location. Tap on one of the gas stations, and it opens Maps, showing you that station and your current location.
• Cheap Gas:  Gives you a list of stations, sorted in order of the lowest price. Tap on a station listing, and it opens Google Maps.
• Gas Buddy: My favorite app, from the same folks as the website above, gives you a choice of a list or a map of gas stations. You can configure it to list the stations in order of how close they are to you, or by price, and you can sort the stations by fuel grade, including diesel. This app is also available for Android and Windows 7 smartphones.

Other Ways To Save On Gas

While you're trying to save on how much you pay for gas, here are a few  other ways you can save.

• Buy gas at a warehouse club: Another easy way for some people to save gas is by buying their gas at their local warehouse club (Sam’s Club, Costco, etc). Many of these membership shopping clubs have gas as well, usually 4-5 cents cheaper than everywhere else. Granted, you usually have to be a member to take advantage of their prices, but if you are, buy your gas there. When searching for cheap gas at the websites above, the cheapest gas was consistently at the Sam’s club right down the road from us.
• Use a connected GPS with local gas prices: Many GPS systems that you can buy nowadays can connect and download local gas prices. TomTom Go 740 for example has the ability to connect automatically to access traffic feeds, updated fuel prices, Local Search powered by Google and weather – so you always know what's going on. Of course some of these connected GPS do have an extra subscription cost, so beware.
• Use a gas rebate credit card to pay for gas: Depending upon the credit card you can save anywhere from 1-3% or more using your gas rebate credit card. Make sure to research to find the best card available.
• Practice fuel economic driving:  Do your best to drive in a way that conserves fuel, instead of wasting it.  In other words, don't speed away from a green light, or speed up to stop at a red.  Don't drive too fast on the highway, and do your best to drive at an even speed – without speeding up or slowing down too much.   Also make sure to keep your tires properly inflated and remove any unnecessary weight from your vehicle.

What are some tips you’d like to share to save gas? Let us know in the comments!