How To Save Money on Every Gallon of Gas You Pump

I drive a lot - over 42,000 miles per year. So the amount of money I spend on gas for my car is something that's always on my mind and with gas prices soaring this summer, I needed to find a way to save money.

We've all read the articles about getting better gas mileage with our car by properly inflating the tires, getting a tune up or cleaning the air filter. I've already done all those things but I still needed to find a way to save some cold hard cash.

Let me give you some background. I drive a 1999 Chevrolet Tracker and get a solid 25 miles per gallon. Sometimes more and sometimes less - but overall I average 25 mpg. I am approaching the 260,000 mark and my engine still runs like a charm.

The car is paid off and I plan to drive it for as long as it'll last and squirrel away those would-be car payments for now. I drive 150 miles per day for my commute to/from work and my current gas budget is about $450/month (with gas prices hovering at $3.50 per gallon here in Michigan).

About a month ago I discovered a way to save money on my gas budget. The secret: Speedway Gas Station. http://www.speedway.com/

In the past I've always avoided Speedway because it seems like they are the first station in my area to raise their prices when gas increases. And I never seem to catch them at the right time. But after watching them for several weeks I've discovered that if I gas up first thing in the morning then I catch them before their increase takes effect.

Now for the secret. I purchase a Speedway Cash Card from the cashier every payday. I put my entire budgeted gas allocation onto a Cash Card so I only have to deal with a cashier every two weeks on payday. And the Cash Card can be used on any purchase in the store - including gas as the pump. The great thing about the Cash Card is that for every $25 you spend, it actually only costs you $24. So $225 worth of "cash" only costs me $216.