In Ohio, Marion paid $1.09 per gallon when she bought gas. She was able to fill her Jetta for $12.45. The same week Kellie paid 89 cents per gallon when she filled up. You may be asking yourself how that is possible? Marion and Kellie paid those remarkable prices because they looked at gasoline prices like smart consumers look at other items.

Marion and Kellie bought gas like they would buy any other item. They found a frequent shopper plan that allowed them to discount their gas price. They found a way to buy gas at a store that had the lowest price by shopping around for the best deal. Giant Eagle markets a supermarket chain is where they found it.

Giant Eagle does business in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia. Recently Giant Eagle added a new component to their frequent shopper program. It is called Fuelperks. It is a program that offers discounts on gas at Giant Eagle's own stations for shopping at Giant Eagle using their frequent shopper card.

Whenever a consumer at Giant Eagle purchases Fifty dollars of merchandise they get a 10 cent price reduction for a gallon of gas for one fill up. If a consumer purchases $100.00 worth of products at Giant Eagle it equates to a 20 cent reduction. That means that if a family spends $500.00 at Giant Eagle it would produce a discount of $1.00 per gallon. Spend enough at Giant Eagle and you could get gasoline for free.

The prices in Giant Eagle stores are the same as other groceries in the area so they are not making up the discounts by gouging on grocery prices. Likewise the Get-Go price on fuel is in line with competitors. That means that this program produces real world savings, not artificial savings. A big family that buys a lot of food every week will earn big discounts very quickly.

What if you don't have a Giant Eagle store where you live? You can still apply the same principle to the way you approach buying gas and still find yourself with significant savings. You need to be a price conscious buyer. You need to do your research.

If you approach your buying gas the same as other items that you buy you can save. Look for the lowest prices for gas as you would look for the lowest prices on other items you buy. Look for frequent shopper deals in your area that might include savings on gas. Where ever you see a pump be sure to look for gas discounts and frequent buyer programs . Many gas stations now have frequent buyer programs that are new. Other places to look for bargains are places in your locale that are new to selling gas.

Many stores have started selling gas that never sold gas before. They need to do that in order to compete. Because of this new competition convenience stores that sell gas are beginning to use frequent buyer programs. Like Giant Eagle they realize that discounts on gasoline is an incentive to the consumer to shop in their stores. This helps you buy gas at a discount.

According to the Food Marketing Institute, just 18% of grocery stores built in 2003 had gas pumps; last year, more than 60% of new stores were built with gas stations. They have seen the value of offering gas to their customers as a loss leader.

The mega stores like Wal-Mart / Sam's Club are getting into the gas business in a big way. Putting gas pumps at every Sam's Club is what the VP in charge of fuel for Wal-Mart is looking to do. That means lower gas costs for all of us.

Treat gas like anything else you buy. Comparison shop all the time. Be on the look out for deals, and low prices. Find the stores that have the best program for you. Look for low gas prices at non traditional places like grocery stores or big box retailers. If you do your homework you might be able to buy that tank of gas for 89 cents.