More tips for saving money at the pump

Yesterday, I mentioned a few different ways in which you could save money each time you buy gas.  Today, I will examine another which I have discussed in the past, Giant Food Store's Gas Rewards, and build upon it with yesterday's post.

For some time now, Giant grocery store (which is basically East Coast) has had a deal with Shell Oil called Gas Rewards.  The premise is very simple:  register with the program, shop at Giant, and earn points when you shop.  Points are earned at a rate of 1 point/$1 spent.  Once you hit a threshold of 100 points, that's good for $.10 off a gallon.  Shop a lot?  Rack up enough points and you can save up to $2.20/gallon in one visit!  Their website has a very helpful tutorial in case you need more explanation, but once you visit the gas station, pop in your Giant Bonus card and the price per gallon will go down as you redeem points. 

Here is the fun part.  Just as you can double dip using the Exxon/Mobil's Speedpass promotion using a gas rewards credit card, you can do the same with Giant's program.  Again, let's look at another example.  Using the national average of $3.85/gallon, and, assuming you have earned enough points in Giant's program, coupled with 5% cash back, your cost could be as little as $2.09/gallon!  You will feel like you entered a timewarp. 

There are some restrictions, of course.  Points are only good for 30 days, and since it takes 100 points for $.10/gallon savings, and with each point costing $1 in purchases, it would take about $2200 in grocery shopping a month to take full advantage of the program.  A bit challenging even for the largest of families.  Even without realizing the full savings ability, there is still a potential to shave money off each gallon--and, you would be buying the groceries anyway!  You might as well get something for them.

If you read this far, don't get discouraged if you don't have a Giant in your neighborhood.  There are other stores that have similar programs as well.  Just look for them and feel free to report back what you find.  I will list them in a future post.