7. Paying With Plastic
Unless your credit card is giving you amazing incentives or big time cash back each time you swipe at the pump, use cash. Often, the gas prices on the marquis reflect the cash price. Many times, we pay with a credit card expecting to get the advertised price but we wind up paying more. Do you check the final gallon tally against the price per gallon to verify what you’re actually paying? If you do, welcome to the club. It’s a small club. You’re now the president, treasurer and secretary. Most of us finish pumping and drive away to continue our day, unaware of what we actually paid. Try this: next time you pump your own gas, stop at the one gallon mark and see if the price of one gallon is the same as on the marquis. If you insist on using a card to pay, make sure you’re getting worthwhile rewards for each dollar spent.
8. Driving In Circles
This is a simple mistake people make when pulling into the station. They forget which side of the car houses the gas tank. While this is not a big mistake, it can be challenging, frustrating and embarrassing to correct. Either you’ll have to reposition your car or drive around to a different pump—no fun if the gas station is busy and full of cars. Or you’ll have to pull the hose over the car and hope it reaches, also alerting everybody of your faux-pas. Here’s a trick. Many cars have an arrow at the gas gauge pointing to the side that has the gas tank filling port. Take a peek before you pull up to a pump. While you’re at it, determine where the gas cap release lever is before you spend minutes at a busy station searching for it.