Savvy Aussies share their top tricks for cheap fuel

A young mum has been inundated with tips for securing the best possible petrol price after asking budget-savvy women how they save money at the bowser. 

The mum revealed she plans to travel 40,000 kilometres around Australia with her family in the next 12 months and wants filling up to be ‘less painful’. 

Posting on the popular ‘She’s on the money’ Facebook page she also noted they will be pulling a caravan which inevitably adds to their financial burden at the pump.

And people were more than happy to help, noting their disgust as prices soar well past $2 per litre for the cheapest fuel.

‘I only fill up a quarter of a tank until I see it at a reasonable price, like under $1.90 per litre,’ one woman said.

Another woman said she makes the most of lower prices too, filling her jerry cans for a full stock-up when she sees ‘a good deal’ or before heading to the bush. 

‘Small towns can be easily over $3 for fuel because it’s it’s hard to get it there so jerry cans can definitely help. Most of those places won’t have any form of discount system either and many are unmanned stations,’ she said.

Others said the mum should look at joining supermarket reward programs which offer fuel vouchers as part of the perks.

While another woman said she shops for staples at petrol stations so she can double-dip on the supermarket chain discounts.

‘I’ve always used my Woolies rewards card and tried to find the 4c off per L. I know some Caltex + Woolworths places offer 8c off per L if you spend $5 in store,’ she said.

She added that she also has a ‘short-term hack’ which should take the pressure off for a few weeks.

‘I just download the Ampol (Caltex) app, paired it with my Woolies rewards card and I can get 6c off a L for the first 3 tank fills,’ she said. 

Some people said they use jerry cans to store as much fuel as possible when they spot a good price or prepare to go to more expensive areas

Others said they use the 7/11 app which allows them to ‘lock in a price’ for fuel, so if petrol prices surge they can pay the lower rate.

‘They also show you where the cheapest petrol is,’ one woman said.

And third-party price comparison apps were also popular among the women.

‘Last time I filled up, a small locally owned servo was minimum 20 cents per litre cheaper than everywhere else,’ said one app user.

‘Even with the discounts that Coles or Woolworths offer, I find they’re still usually more expensive than other places, so don’t just fill up there without comparing to other places,’ she added.

The savvy woman added that some banks have reward programs that could help.

‘Not a fuel discount, but Shopback often have cashback on gift cards, so you could buy some for fuel. If you’re a Commonwealth Bank customer, they sometimes have cashback for some service station chains if you pay with debit or credit card, you just have to activate the offer in your rewards section.’

One woman said the mum should ‘drive at the most economical speed’ for her car which would be about 80kms per hour.

‘We couldn’t believe how much that made a difference on the 3000km trip we did last year,’ she said. 

While another woman suggested the family invest in a hybrid car to slash their need for petrol.

She said she gets 1400-1600kms out of each tank of fuel  which is the equivalent to driving from Melbourne to the Gold Coast.

‘Would be certainly a lot less painful to have to worry about jerry cans and refuelling when you’ve got a car you know won’t run out of fuel between long treks between servo’s in the middle of no where,’ she said.

Others revealed they get discounts of up to ten cents per litre from their toll accounts and suggested the mum look at the rules for each state. 

One woman said she asked for fuel cards from family members who wanted to give her a gift before her epic road trip around Australia.