For most of us, fuel is the primary expense when truck camping. Unless you stay for long periods at a given destination, your fuel budget is probably higher than your campground, food, or LP record collecting expenses.
This being the case, it’s worth examining ways to save on fuel costs. After all, a dollar saved on fuel can be used for a mint condition Beatles White album.
This topic has been covered many times in Truck Camper Magazine, but it’s worth going over the basic methods to save fuel.
First, there are smartphone apps like GasBuddy and GasGuru that locate the cheapest fuel near you. There are map apps that find shorter and/or less congested routes like Waze. We use GasBuddy and will be trying Waze in the near future.
Second, you can slow down. It’s not sexy, and it’s certainly not exciting, but we save a boat load of fuel by sticking around 62 miles per hour on highways. If we need to pass a semi, we hit the accelerator, but otherwise it’s 62 and cruise.
It’s In the Cards
Finally, there’s the cards. Good Sam Club offers a discount at Pilot and Flying J fuel stations. We belong to Good Sam Club and have used their fuel discount many times.
For local camping, your local grocery story gas rewards card can save a bundle. We enjoyed this discount until our grocery store cancelled the program.
Some credit cards also offer discounts on all fuel purchases. Club savings and credit card savings can sometimes be combined for deeper savings.
Long time reader and card shark, Charlie Coushaine, has suggested we dig further into the card and discount game to see if there’s more opportunity for savings.
“We spend a lot of money on fuel each year traveling around the country. What have your readers found to be the best ways to get discounts on fuel purchases? We just joined Sam’s Club (like Costco, not Good Sam’s) and their Mastercard gives you a 5% discount on gas prices anywhere! Is there anything better?” – Charlie Coushaine
This week’s Question of the Week is, “What credit card programs, membership card discounts, or discount cards in general do you use to save on fuel while truck camping?”
This Question of the Week is now closed. Click here to read the reader responses on how to save money on fuel.
