Petrol prices are the highest they have been for eight years according to AA and it's sparked a personal finance blogger to look into how much we spend and if we can save money.
Most drivers know that the price can vary slightly depending on where you choose to fill up you but Andy Webb from BeCelverWithYourCash.com wanted to know if our money saving efforts were worth it.
The difference can sometimes only be between 1p and 5p but that cheaper petrol station could be further away so is it worth the drive?
Andy found out whether or not this is necessary, how much we should be spending and how we can find the cheapest places to top up fuel.
He chose to look at his own car, a Ford Fiesta and found that with a fuel tank capacity of 42 litres it would cost £55.86 to fill up, according to current average prices costings.
He said: "Every penny difference in the price of a litre adds up to 42p per full tank.
So a difference of 5p per litre on a full take would be £2.10. It’s not a huge amount, but do this every week and it’s more than £109 saved in a year."
If there is only a 1p difference he would save £21.94 if he topped it up every week for a year.
Andy also did the maths to find out if it would be worth it travel a few more miles for the cheaper fuel.
He has assumed that the nearest pump is 2.5 miles away and not on your normal route and found that a journey there and back would cost 64p, there and back, in petrol.
He said: "Well that cost would mean if we’re only saving 1p per litre, travelling those 5 miles would actually cost more money (and that’s not taking into account the time it takes). More than 2p saved and it does bring savings on this particular example."
So, in short, the more petrol you use the more you'll save and those savings are likley to add up over the year.
He also makes these suggestions for those looking for better value fuel:
- Motorway service stations are expensive so only top up what you need.
- Supermarkets have the cheapest options.
- Look on both sides of the road for prices because sometimes there is a massive difference.
- Confused.com have a free price comparison tool for cheap petrol choices.
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