Am I Saving Money – Or Just Wasting My Time?

Following the theme of time-management in previous posts about paying myself first with my time, saving 10 hours a week by outsourcing my cooking, and my experiment outsourcing via virtual assistants, I’ve been wondering whether some of the things I do to save money are really just wasting my time.  Specifically, I wondered about waiting in long lines for cheaper gas.

Why? I count all time spent pumping gas as wasted. Because of this, just like I optimize reading RSS feeds by reading as much at one sitting as possible,  I pump gas as infrequently as possible.  I like saving money as well, so I try to find the cheapest gas that fits in my schedule – there’s no point spending an hour driving across town to save 3 bucks.

I wondered though – if the lines are longer, is it worth it for how much I’m saving, or am I just wasting my time?  For the past couple months I have been noting how much longer it takes to fill up my tank at a cheaper gas station, and I decided to run the numbers and show you my results.

Before we get to that, here is my normal heuristic for filling up.

Sid’s Gas Fill Up Heuristic – in Pseudocode**

  1. If (Tank is Empty OR Tank is Almost Empty) then: Fill Tank
    1. If (I Need to Shop at Costco) then: Fill Tank at Costco When I Go
      • // Costco is always 10-20% cheaper, but out of the way
      • Otherwise: on my next trip, Fill Tank at Chevron Nearby
        • // The Chevron always has empty pumps – no time wasted waiting
        • // It is on the way to the freeway so I don’t lose time nor distance traveling
        • // There are very small differences in price for other nearby stations
        • // They have free air for your tires – a nice bonus.

      ** Pseudocode: An English-like representation of the logical steps it takes to solve a problem.  // denotes a comment, a piece of text that is not executed, and is there to explain a step.

      Rising Gas Prices + Slower Economy = Longer Lines for Discounted Gas

      I filled up at Costco recently and noticed the lines have been getting longer. When I came up with my heuristic, the line at Costco was empty or one car deep. There was hardly any wait and cheaper gas prices made it a sure winner if I was already there.

      As times have gotten harder in Hawaii and the price of gas has skyrocketed, though, more people are going to Costco to take advantage of their lower gas prices to save some money.  Is it still worth the extra time?  Further, Costco prices have risen about 5 cents over the past month, and the Chevron by my place has dropped about 12 cents (how is that?).  It was time to reconsider my decision.

      Gas Prices Versus Extra Time

      Experiment Background:

      • For the past couple months, I have been tracking how long it has been taking me to get gas at Costco.
      • It has never taken me any extra time at Chevron, so there is no data to report there.
      • I have used a modal/median approach to calculate averages, so that the outlier case of waiting 30 minutes at the pump doesn’t throw off my math.

      Here is what I found. Gas prices are based on current prices, and the gallons filled reflects my most recent trip to the pump.

      Data and Calculations:

      • Costco Price: $3.849 per gallon = $3.73353 after Amex 3% off
      • Chevron price: $4.079 per gallon = $3.95663 after Amex 3% off
      • 12.72 gallons filled
      • At Costco: 15 Minutes of waiting to use the pump.  Best case: 12 minutes. Worst case: 30 minutes.
      • At Costco, Usually 0 Additional minutes spent waiting to exit, (3 out of 4 times no wait.  Worst case: 5 minutes)
      • $0.2231 difference in price per gallon
      • Total Savings at Costco:  $2.84 (12.72 gallons * $0.2231 per gallon)

      Is It Worth The Time To Get Costco Gas?

      Let’s assume that the only extra time is the time spent waiting in line.  Since I am paying with post-tax dollars, I will consider the amount of pre-tax dollars I need to earn for the difference in price as well. I’ll go with a marginal tax rate of about 30%.  For $2.84 saved per trip:

      Average, Worst and Best Case Comparisons

      • In the average/expected case:
        • I spend an extra 15 minutes
        • I save about $11.35 per hour.
        • This is the equivalent of earning about $16 per hour.
      • In the worst case:
        • I spend an extra 35 minutes
        • I save about $4.86 an hour
        • This is the equivalent of earning about $7 an hour
      • In the best case I had:
        • I spent an extra 12 minutes.
        • I save about $14.20 an hour
        • This is the equivalent of earning about $20 an hour.

      How about those with SUVs and Minivans?

      SUVs and Minivans:

      • About 21 gallon tanks
      • They are likely saving as much as $4.69 per  fillup
      • This works out to saving about $18.74 per hour
      • This is the equivalent of earning about $25 an hour.

      Depending on who you are, it may or may not be worth it.  In my case, I’ve decided with my car it isn’t a large enough savings (especially in the worst case!) for amount of time spent.

      Other Areas I Wasn’t Saving Money – Just Wasting My Time

      • Sunday “Deals”
        • I used to love reading the Sunday newspaper and looking for deals on electronics. One day I realized I hadn’t bought anything from them in about 4 months, but I was still wasting 30-45 minutes on the weekend perusing the ads.  I’d been fooling myself: telling myself I was trying to save money, when really I was just enjoying looking at gadgets.  I cut it out completely, and put that extra saved time directly into my weekend workout.
        • Additional Bonus: Ignorance is bliss – not knowing what is on sale means I am no longer tempted to buy things that I don’t really need.
      • Bargain Bin Book Shopping
        • I admit it – I love a good nonfiction book: The World Is Flat, The Tipping Point, Collapse - esoteric to some, but my kryptonite.  The only problem is, I buy 2 or 3 books for every book I read.  Whenever I used to stop by Borders, the bargain books called my name – and I answered.  No more. 3 months ago I decided I wouldn’t buy any book in a store, unless I absolutely needed it instantly (guess how many times that’s happened?).  So many of these books are on sale used (or even new!) at Amazon from 3rd party sellers for about the same price anyway.
        • Not more impulse buying. Since I’m in Hawaii, I won’t get books from Amazon for a week.
        • No more guilt over “missed opportunities” – I used to think to myself,- “I really want that book. If I don’t buy it now, I’ll forget!”  I no longer have that misplaced urgency and guilt. If I see a book I like, I just throw it on my Amazon Wishlist. Every few months I look at my list, and often I don’t even care about half the books on there anymore. So not only do I not feel guilty about “missing out” by not buying it, I feel vindicated for saving a few bucks avoiding a purchase I didn’t really need, and that may have sat on my bookshelf gathering dust.
        • I save time by not physically going to the store anymore, and I also save money by not buying things I don’t need.

      Thoughts, comments?  Disagreements?  Related item for discussion: Is coupon clipping worth it?

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      Please review the Comment Policy.
      • Joey
        Wow, I definitely know how you feel on books. I spend so much time on money on perusing and buying non-fiction books I hardly read, and even if they are read aren't even applied to my life.
      • Thanks for your comments Joey. Glad to see you found my blog =)

        Regarding reading non-fiction books and not applying it to your life, you may also enjoy my post about metawork: http://sidsavara.com/personal-productivity/are-... . In it, I discuss exactly that: constantly thinking we're building a foundation for something, but never actually doing any work on that "something."
      • I personally abide by the ignorance is bliss in the area of buying gas. When I'm running on empty, I tend to buy gas at the same locations. By not price comparing, I don't know if I'm being ripped off. As for the time aspect, I like to go to gas stations where they play great music that I can rock to while the gas is pumping. But most importantly, I try to enjoy myself because I know after the tank is full, I'm on my way in for a soda.
      • Hah! Nice philosophy Bryan =)

        Unfortunately, nobody here plays great music - or any music for that matter. Unless you mean in the store, I haven't noticed.
      • Interesting post and I have included it in my blog carnival.

        I am lucky, I never get gas, my partner does that. The lines here in France are much shorter than the US, he never has more than one car in front of him and he always has a book in the car. This is something that can change your calculation. If you have a 15 minute way and spend the time reading a book, then it is not wasted time. The trick it to get into the habit of taking a book with you anywhere you go.

        Living in France, we are paying about $7.15 for a gallon of gas.
        about $1.90 for a liter of gas
        3.79 liters to the gallon

        Stumbled the post.
      • I never thought of keeping a book in my car - I always have 2 or 3 different books I am read or rereading at once. That’s a really good idea - I'll probably toss "Think and Grow Rich" in my glove compartment later today and leave it there.

        I typically try to use the time somewhat productively by responding to email on my blackberry - but it's not ideal as I can't concentrate as heavily and it's much slower than if I'm at my desk.

        I have heard many times that we are lucky in the US to have such cheap gas relative to Europe. Even though Hawaii is more expensive than most places, it could be higher!
      • Candice
        I feel that getting things at a good price add years to my life because of all the happy chemicals it releases...
      • Hehe.

        There is definitely something to be said for endorphins being released ;)
      • If everyone can be as detail as you and is more aware of the useless time they are spending, the World will definitely be a much better place. Great post.
      • Thanks Damien! I hope that my articles do inspire people to take a look at ways they may be sacrificing their time for little gain - and hopfully, use that information to make their own lives better.
      • For books, I use the library. You can even reserve books via their website, and they mail you when it's ready to pick up! You can tell them where to ship the book (to the library closest to your home OR work) and you can drop it off at any time.

        Buying books is for suckers.
      • I'm surprised that a best-selling published author would leave such comments
        on my blog ;)

        You're right though. I try really hard not to buy books unless it's one I'll
        really reference often (like say, Spring MVC and Web Flow...) but I am
        pretty impatient when it comes to new nonfiction bestsellers.

        Funny coincidence, Amazon just shipped my new Seth Godin book (Tribes) that
        I had preorded I think in the summer. Excited about receiving it, it will
        probably derail my current book I'm reading (Steve Pavlina's - review
        copy!).

        I bet it's shorter and concise, just like their blogs.
      • katague
        impulse buying, that could be additive. Buying gas in Costco also saves me money. Not buying the sunday paper also saves me money. I read all my news in the internet-CNN, Comcast and Philippine Inquirer
      • Good call on reading news online - it does look like more and more people are going that route.

        Impulse buying is the worst. I hardly buy anything impulsively (no candy at the cash register, etc), but bargain non-fiction books, especially former Best Sellers, those are tough for me to pass up.
      • Nice post there Sid. I believe in the 80/20 rule which and sometimes when we think that we are saving money, actually we are not. If we earn 50 bucks per hour and we actually spend that hour driving around looking for cheap gas to save the additional few bucks, we are wasting money instead.

        Cheers
        Vincent
        Personal Development Blogger
      • Thanks for your comment Vincent! You're right - it's all about making the best use of our time, and being aware that our time is never "free"
      • Ben
        Hi there,

        In my country, Australia,and state, Victoria, there is a distinct pertrol pricing cycle. The peak price is usually Thursday morning/afternoon with the lowest price point being Wednesday morning. The closet petrol stations that I use usually have the same exact price. The only price differential is that two of the petrol stations accept discount vouchers, that give $0.04 off per litre. The vouchers are obtained by making a total grocery purchase of $30.00 or more. The most intersting fact about this pricing cycle is that the lowest day of the cycle, Wednesday has the lowest percentage of petrol purchases over a week and Thursday has the highest percentage. Thursday is the traditional payday in Australia. I generally get my petrol on a Wednesday morning on the way to work and have never had to deal with a large line of waiting cars.

        Cheers,

        Ben

        I'm not sure whether there is the same price flucuation throughout the week in the States, but it may be noting the price each day, provided it doesn't affect your usual driving routes, to see if there is a distinct pricing cycle.

        I'll finish by saying that I tracked my petrol purchases for six months and found that buying at the bottom of the pricing cycle in combination with the discount vouchers was 9.0 to 14.5 % cheaper than if I had bought petrol at the peak price.
      • Wow Ben! Thanks for your comments and analysis.

        That is very interesting, I never knew that about Austraila. Over here (Hawaii, USA), I haven't seen that kind of price fluctuations up and down by week. Right now all gas prices are trending downwards, as the dollar gains strength and oil prices fall. I haven't seen it change based on day of the week at all, except that prices don't tend to change on the weekends, typically only on weekdays: most likely tied to trading in the oil markets.

        Thanks for your comment, I appreciate it!
      • Ben
        Hi Sid,

        I'm glad you found my comment interesting. The other petrol price factor is that the petrol retailers in my country use a price benchmark from Singapore - the name of which escapes me - and this benchmark is priced in $US. The current problem in my country is that even though the price of crude oil has dropped, so has the Australian Dollar against the US dollar. A few months one Australian dollar was worth $US 0.96, now it's $US 0.66.

        Still at least my country is cheaper than most of Europe.

        Cheers,

        Ben
      • Thanks for coming back to continue the discussion Ben. I didn't know the
        Australian dollar was so low! That is unfortunate for you, but maybe it's
        time for some of us in the US to come visit - considering how bad the US$
        has been doing against European currency (though perhaps it has improved
        recently - I don't keep up with it), I don't think I'll be visiting Europe
        anytime soon like I had planned!