The turmoil in the middle east has the price of crude going up and down. Speculators change the dynamics of supply and demand. Thought it might be interesting to follow this year's gas prices.....
In one week our gas went from just under $3/gallon to $3.20/gallon. Everyone in my county/state is playing the commodities lottery. Each grocery store offers "gas points" with a frequent-buyer program. At this point it's impossible to figure out which items they inflate in price, for the consumer to "earn" discounted gas.
Bread and meat and dairy have risen in price quite a lot, even with a lag in the price of oil/gas or corn.
So anyway, my accumulated "points" got me a one-time-use of $2.699/gallon. SUV drivers chuckle at me in my tiny car.....when their one-time-use means several more gallons at that discounted price. I can drive farther than they can on one tank, but then I also don't fill an SUV with groceries.....
Oh yeah, and some gas stations offer a discount for paying in cash instead of credit. But they won't combine more than one discount in each transaction. Should buying gas really mean doing that much math?