On buying Costco gas....
Tonight we went to Costco and then we bought gas. We only bought it there because Maggie-Car needed gas, and conveniently there were gas pumps there. However, as we were sitting in the gas line up for an insane amount of time I wondered if Costco gas is really a good economical choice.
I rationalize:
An average car holds about 12 gallons.
Costco gas is about 10 cents a gallon cheaper.
Therefore, you save about $1.20 per fill up.
However, if you are in line to fill up for over 15 minutes (like we were), leaving your car idling, I am sure that you have wasted close to what you will save just waiting. Furthermore, I am adamant that my time is worth more $4.80/ hour! So unless I need gas, (like tonight) I won't wait in line at the Costco gas bar to save a little money.
I also wondered about the people who are waiting to buy cheaper gas. If they are like any other Costco shopper they went with a list comprised of frozen chicken breasts and toilet paper, which would come to a grand total of maybe thirty dollars. However they left with the chicken, the toilet paper, a bouquet of sunflowers, a giant watermelon, a package of Costco sized muffins, a movie, a camping stove, a infrared garbage can (we have that one, it's great), a carton of Twix and a carton of Trident. Grand total $200.00, net over spending, $170.00. I can see why saving $1.20 at the pump is so worth it!
Moving on to bigger savings. When we bought Maggie-Car the dealer told us the price (which was in the tens of thousands) and then when we began the haggling process he dropped a couple hundred dollars. To which I replied that a couple hundred on tens of thousands isn't really anything to be proud of. I told him that we needed to talk in terms of thousands, or we would leave. He gave me an utterly blank stare and went to "telephone his manager" to see what he could do. He came back with another offer of a measly couple hundred. I countered again saying that it was an unacceptable offer and that we couldn't even consider it. He went again to speak to this manager and came back, sullen. This time I asked if I could speak to the manager, as I saw this back and forth continuing all day and I didn't have the patience for it. The sales guys was shocked that I would suggest it and had no idea what to say. Apparently no one has ever asked to explain their argument to the manager before. So long story short I got my way. My theory was that it's a waste of time to haggle over a small amount relative to the total amount. Much like a couple cents on a gallon is a small amount, hardly noticeable in the grand scheme of things. Now a couple cents on a litre would be more noticeable, but only barely.
Maybe when our parents were younger and gas was under 40 cents a litre or $1.50 a gallon a couple of cents was a much larger portion of the total. I think that we've picked up budgeting from them and have it ingrained into us that a couple cents really makes a difference, when in reality not buying the carton of Twix, Trident, the flowers etc. is what will make the difference. But now I am getting onto another subject for another day.
Labels: California, finances, I'm a consumer
posted by TweedleDea @ 10:58 PM
3 Comments:
"What is my time worth?" is a question I find myself asking more and more in the past few years.
I think we need to find a balance between the "buy what you want (often confused with need), when you want it, no matter the cost" theory and the "buy what is on special, read the flyers faithfully, cut coupons always" theory. There are good elements to both theories and being aware of what we spend and how we spend it is just plain smart.
I guess, really, I am just arguing in parallel. On one hand, saving money is not a bad thing but in the scheme of things, is it a benefit in our lives. Does it actually save us anything?
Shelley!
I will always think it's a good idea to save money. However I think that we don't really look at the whole picture when we are saving money. We clip coupons to save on a product, but we didn't need it, we only bought it because it was on sale, it was cheaper than if it wasn't on sale, but you didn't need it, so you've needlessly spent the money, sale or not. Ohh I could talk about this for hours, as you know. As we have done. I think I analyze things too much like an athropologist. But the way people spend money facinates me.
This reminds me of a woman I was in line behind at Target a couple of weeks ago. She bought about $450 worth of grocery and household items. Then she made the cashier ring through about 50 coupons. In the end, she knocked about $35 off the total and I was like WTF???? You spent all that time clipping and organizing and saving those coupons (and she had a whole little recipe box full of coupons she didn't use that time in her cart) and you don't even save 10% on your total purchase? What a waste of time.
I am with you on the Costco phenomenon. I can't go in that store anymore because I can't walk out without spending $100.
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