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Pumped-Up Comparison Shopping
Silke Fleming fills her vehicle's tank at a service station in New York last month. Consumer prices jumped 0.6 percent in April.
(By Mark Lennihan -- Associated Press)
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Who's Blogging  |
Bloggers are getting a lot of mileage out of the topic, as well, using social networking techniques to seek out cheaper gas.
"I just [paid] $47 to fill up my little Hyundai. This is nuts," a MySpace.com blogger in Massachusetts, who called himself Troy aka Cockroach, wrote earlier this week. "So, I managed to find it for $2.99 . . . up at the Hess. Anyone know any cheaper spots around [here]? I heard S. Main st. Hess is even cheaper."
Some are aiming higher than fellow Web surfers for help. On Wednesday, online worship center Praylive.com hosted a 3,295-participant group prayer for lower gas prices.
"It affects all of us, we all need gas," said Wenda Royster, founder of Baltimore-based Pray Live, who said one woman she spoke to is selling her own blood to buy gas. Royster wants to bring people together to carpool and to affirm the power of prayers, she said. "When we prayed in DC [on April 27], gas prices came down four or five cents."
Renee, a MySpace blogger from Delaware, Ohio, offered up MSN's gas-tracking Web site address on her site. "Be a good neighbor and pass this along," she wrote.
Verizon hopes to cut through such informal efforts with FuelFinder, the cellphone service, which allows users to type in a Zip code or town name to pull up a map and a short list of nearby stations, starting with the cheapest. The site comes with links for turn-by-turn directions to each station.
FuelFinder's database has 1,397 stations in the Washington area. A search yesterday for the cheapest location in downtown Washington showed a Hess Station on 1739 New Jersey Ave. NW selling at a reported $3.06 per gallon of unleaded gas. According to FuelFinder, that is 16 cents more than the national average of $2.90, but 15 cents less than the Amoco Station at 45 Florida Ave. NE, about two-thirds of a mile away.
FuelFinder's overall database is compiled by MobileGates Corp., and includes prices from more than 110,000 service stations, but does not include discount shopping clubs, such as Costco or Sam's Club.
In rare cases, savings on gas can total 30 cents to 40 cents per gallon in some cities, but the bulk of stations run at around the same price, which means you can win the hunt for cheap gas, but lose money overall by paying for finder services or driving out of your way, said consumer-behavior expert Terry Childers, a professor at the University of Kentucky. "But sometimes the emphasis is on rewards, and you forget about the cost."
