Gas-Saving Moment of the Day: Wholesale Membership

Wholesale retailer Costco can save you money on countless items, including gas. Because it buys its gas in bulk, it can usually save you 10 to 15 cents per gallon—so long as you fork over $50 for a one-year membership.

Some simple math will tell us if this is worth it: Let's say you save at the higher end of 15 cents per gallon. To make the $50 fee worth it, you would need to buy just over 333 gallons of gas. At 10 cents per gallon, the amount becomes 500 gallons. One more money saving tip, there are reports that if you have an American Express card, you don't need a Costco membership to fill up.

The only catch is you have to fill up at Costco stations, and if the location isn’t convenient you could burn more gas driving to it than you save.

Related:
More Gas-Saving Moments of the Day (KickingTires)

Comments

The math is wrong. The # of dollars you need to spend will depend entirely on the specific price of the gas, so you can't compute it that way without knowing actual prices. It should say that, at a $0.15/gallon savings you need to buy 333 *gallons* of gas to break even, and at $0.10/gallon savings you need to buy 500 *gallons* (not dollars) to break even.

Aaron,
good catch. thanks

I buy gas through Sams Club and it is usually about 10 cents per gallon lower than most gas stations. Since we go through about 130 gallons a month we save about $150 a year. It's worth the $35 membership fee.

C'mon! Nobody will exclusively go to Costco just for the gas. Its not that many anyway. If anybody forks over $50 for a membership at Costco it won't be just for the gas. Once you shop "inside" the store, you will make that membership fee back after the 3rd visit.

I don't think that Costco is any cheaper than regular fuel stations. My best friend insists on Costco, but I notice that he typically pays 5 cents more gallon than I do at Arco. Plus their fuel stations always seem packed and there's a long wait, which burns more petrol. The membership cost doesn't seem to make up for any difference in the cost of fuel