Monday, May 09, 2016

7 Eleven fuel app saves $8.05 on petrol.

Recently I created the Petrol Prices Melbourne Alert web app. This is a simple app which allows me to let family and friends know when petrol prices in Melbourne are taking a hike. We now see prices jump 20 to 30 cents a litre, which means since I usually fill up 50 litres each time, a potential saving of up to $10-$15. Really it is about getting the timing right. Miss the price hike and if you're near empty you end up wishing you'd just filled up.

On Friday I noticed the price hike so I filled up my car and let others know. Our second car needed filling up but this time I wasn't in such a hurry. I had a trick up my sleeve. The previous week I locked in 99.9 cents using the 7 Eleven Fuel app. So today we filled up the second car. Pump price was 124.9 so we saved 25 cents per litre saving $8.05.

Of course this is a great saving, but what is the 7 Eleven Fuel app really worth in terms of saving money. This answer isn't quite as simple. First the Shell around the corner with a discount voucher had a price of 122.9, so our saving compared to Shell needs to be reduced by around 64 cents.

Secondly the car still had around 30% left, so we could have run the car for another week without too much problem. I've found petrol prices drop around half to one cent per day during the cycle. In a week the price is likely to be 3.5-7 cents cheaper and that means our saving could be less if we simply waited. Around $1-$2 less.

The bottom line however is even if you reduced the saving by $2-$3 by using a shopping voucher and waiting, we still saved at least $5 and on petrol, that's the pretty good saving.

I've found 7 Eleven isn't the cheapest fuel around. However now with the ability to lock in the fuel price, if you get the timing right, the 7 Eleven fuel app gives you the chance to soften the price hike that occurs about once a month.

Since the price hikes occur roughly once a month in Melbourne, this means by being more aware of the price hikes and using the 7 Eleven fuel app and locking in a price, I can probably save  a few hundred dollars a year on petrol. That's not a bad saving.

I've now developed an approach which enables me to better identify the petrol price hike. I use the Petrol Prices Melbourne web app (www.PetrolPricesMelbourne.com.au) to let family and friends know. I also post a public alert on Facebook and Twitter, so if others want to help their family and friends to know about the petrol price hike they can as well.

Kelvin Eldridge

No comments:

Post a Comment