GasBuddy: a must-have app for road trips

I don’t generally go out of my way to recommend apps, but when it comes to road travel, there’s one that’s indispensable to saving money: GasBuddy.

When you’re on the road, the app is great for finding the cheapest close gas station. Stations right along the freeway can have a markup of up to 30 cents. In the past, rather than driving around not knowing where I was going, I would just find the nearest Arco or other discount station, and live with it. More often than not, I’d drive for about two miles and pass a significantly cheaper station. In total, this would probably lead to me paying 10-20% more on gas than I needed to.

Those days are over. Now I can find the best gas station along my entire route and plan accordingly. Furthermore, I can try to get one which will allow me to use my credit card (most of the time they’ll state whether price is cash or not) and save me another 3-5% depending on which gas-friendly card I use.

The website is also great because it shows whether prices are falling or rising. During the week, I’ll wait or hurry to get gas based on their local predictions, which are usually pretty accurate.

Road travel ain’t cheap anymore—but this is one simple way to make it more affordable.