Take Advantage of Gas Rewards, but be Smart About it

The rising price of gas does not excite me. Gas rewards do. I got a pleasant surprise at the pump this morning. When I scanned my reward card and swiped my debit card, I learned that I had a fuel discount of $1 per gallon. If I opted to use that today, I would be spending only $2.59 per gallon and would save $16 on my gas bill. That’s huge.

What I liked even better was the choice I had to use it today or save if for another time. I chose to save it, because we are heading out of town in my husband’s truck this weekend. By using the fuel discount then, we will save even more, because he has a bigger tank than I do.

How did I get these rewards? I scan my reward card whenever I shop at Tom Thumb. I shop there for two primary reasons – prescriptions and sale items. I rarely buy anything full price there, but my rewards have added up quickly.

Right now, Tom Thumb is offering triple gas rewards. Instead of giving a $.10 cent per gallon fuel discount for each $100 spent, they are giving three fuel discounts, or $.30 cents per gallon. Prescriptions are included, and so are gift cards. That makes $100 pretty easy to reach while buying things you would normally buy anyway. Honestly, I’m even tempted to buy a Tom Thumb gift card at this point. I’ll use it there, anyway, on sale items and prescriptions, and that will give me even more fuel discounts. Even better, I can pay for gas however I want to.

Kroger has a similar fuel reward program. The benefits are not as good as Tom Thumb’s right now, but it’s still a fuel discount. If you shop at Kroger anyway, you will still save money on gas eventually. If you want an immediate fuel discount, you can save $.25 cents a gallon by paying for your gas with a special Kroger Visa credit card.

That’s a nice incentive to use their credit card, but be very careful. If you don’t pay your bill in full every month, you will be charged interest on the credit card, which will cost you a whole lot more than that fuel discount they gave you. This is why I don’t like reward programs tied to credit cards. It’s too easy for people to get caught up in the reward part and forget about how much they are really spending to get those rewards. The lowest interest rate on that card is 13.99% APR. The highest is $23.99%APR. If you keep buying gas with the card, but don’t pay the bill in full each month, you won’t be watching your rewards add up. You’ll be watching your debt pile up.

Take advantage of fuel rewards, but be smart about it. The last thing you need is a mountain of debt when you’re only trying to save money on gas.