Beat Petrol Price Cycles

This simple tip will save you a couple of hundred dollars every year, and it doesn't cost you a cent up front (or in the future).

All you need to do to beat fluctuations in the price of petrol is buy yourself time between refills. It just takes a simple change in re-fuelling behaviour to get this job done, and put a couple of hundred dollars you would otherwise have wasted on petrol back in your wallet every year.

Every ordinary driver can do this. Here's how. 

Transcript

Start by facing facts – you only ever buy fuel because, if you don’t, your car’s gunna stop. Cars without fuel are just furniture. But buying fuel is not a feel-good experience, and that affects your underlying motivation.

Most drivers wait until the fuel light comes on – or near enough – until they stop to re-fill. Understandable, but dumb. When that happens, you need fuel now, and you’re at the mercy of the prevailing price.

So you have to change your purchasing behaviour. Whenever that fuel gauge hits half-full, it’s time to get your fuel price radar up and running. Start checking those prices as you drive by. You can even do it online.

You’ll have several hundred kilometres of remaining mobility in the tank, and (unless you’re on a long trip) several days, to observe the pricing trends.

When you’ve got the price benchmarked, and you see a filling station with relatively cheap fuel, stop and take advantage of the comparatively low price.

If you don’t do that, you’ll have the low-fuel warning light on again in no time, and you’ll find yourself paying top dollar – again – simply because you need fuel right now. And that gets expensive. Don’t do it.

Give it a go – the half-full re-fill is all it takes. This simple trick will save you a few hundred dollars every year if you’re an average driver. It’s so easy, even a politician could do it. (Okay, maybe not a front-bencher…) It won’t cost you a cent, now or in the future.