What the Tech? Can GasBuddy Save You Money at the Pump?
With gas prices soaring again, we’re all looking for stations with the lowest price. Unfortunately, finding low prices can actually cost you more than what you’re saving.
If you drive across town to save 2-cents on a fill-up, you may only be saving $2. Yet, you use over a gallon to save the 2-cents.
GasBuddy is a very popular app people use to find those cheap gas prices. It is one of the oldest apps in the app stores, dating back nearly 22 years. Long before the iPhone.
It claims to save you time and money by showing prices at the pump as reported by other GasBuddy users.
Trying it out, GasBuddy says prices range near me from 3.44 to 3.99 a gallon. That 55-cent difference can add up to big savings if you’re filling up a big tank.
But how accurate is GasBuddy? One of the lowest prices near me is at a station on a side street, showing $3.39 a gallon. When I got there, it was 40 cents higher at $3.79. The reason is that no one had updated the price in nearly a week.
If the price hasn’t been updated in a few days, the app isn’t going to be accurate. Especially in times like this when prices go up about 10-cents a day.
I found stations along main streets with lots of traffic are updated frequently.
Like other crowdsourcing apps, the more people who use GasBuddy, the more accurate it will be.
GasBuddy can also help you save by using one of its gas cards, which you have to apply for and use it to pay.
Users also leave reviews to help you find low prices, food, and clean stations. You can set filters to display prices for regular, mid-grade, and premium.
Yes, GasBuddy can save you money, but only if other people in the area are using it too.
