You are standing at the pump. Type the price on the sign and see how it compares with this week’s official average for your part of the country.
No app, no login, nothing to install. Ten seconds.
Pick the nearest area, type the price, and see the gap.
The comparison figure is the US Energy Information Administration’s weekly survey average for the area you pick, not the price at any particular station. Individual stations sit well above and below it, and the survey is taken once a week, so treat this as a sense of whether you are in the right range rather than a live local price. EIA does not publish a weekly average for every state — if yours is missing, the regional row covering it is the closest official figure.
Two things that actually return money, and one page with the full numbers.
Upside pays cashback on fuel and some restaurants after you upload the receipt or link a card. It is the one referral link on this page that earns StashGrid anything, and it is here because it pays at the pump rather than in points.
Every state, metro and region the federal survey covers, with the change since last week and since last year, plus diesel. This is where the number above comes from.
Many stations price cash five to ten cents below credit and show the cash price on the sign. Stations right beside a highway junction charge more than the same brand a mile into town. Neither costs anything to act on.
Kept to one so it stays a recommendation rather than a catalogue.
Deal links help at the margins. The larger savings come from how the car is driven and maintained, and the figures behind that are well established — the US Department of Energy publishes most of them. Here is what is worth doing, roughly in order of how much it returns.
Aggressive driving — hard acceleration, late braking, speeding — can cut fuel economy by something like 10–40% in stop-and-go traffic and up to about 30% at highway speeds. No other single change on this page comes close. Smooth acceleration, reading the traffic far enough ahead to coast rather than brake, and using cruise control on level highway are the whole technique.
Speed compounds it. Fuel economy typically peaks somewhere around 50 mph and falls away steadily above that as aerodynamic drag rises. At common fuel prices, each 5 mph over 50 works out roughly like paying an extra twenty-odd cents a gallon — so a long trip driven at 80 rather than 70 costs noticeably more fuel to save a fairly small amount of time.
Underinflated tires lower fuel economy by roughly 0.2% for every 1 psi below spec, averaged across all four. Keeping them at the pressure on the driver's door jamb sticker — not the number moulded into the tire sidewall, which is a maximum rather than a recommendation — is worth up to about 3% on a car that has drifted low, and tires lose pressure naturally over time and with cold weather.
It is free, takes five minutes, and also makes the tires last longer. Check when cold, before driving.
A large roof-mounted cargo box is expensive in fuel: on the order of 2–8% worse in town and 6–17% on the highway, because drag dominates at speed. A rear-mounted carrier costs far less, typically 1–5%. If a roof box only comes off twice a year, taking it off for the rest of the year is real money.
Weight matters less but is not nothing — roughly 1% of fuel economy per extra 100 lb, and proportionally more on a small car. The sports gear that has lived in the trunk since spring is worth a look.
An idling engine burns somewhere around a quarter to half a gallon an hour and moves you nowhere. Modern engines do not need warming up by idling — they warm faster under gentle driving — and restarting uses less fuel than idling for more than about ten seconds. If you are waiting more than a minute, switch off.
If your car is designed for regular fuel, higher-octane gas delivers no extra power, no better economy and no engine benefit. It is simply a more expensive way to buy the same energy. Check the owner's manual: if it says premium is "recommended" rather than "required", regular is generally safe, though the manual is the authority for your specific engine.
Some links on this page are affiliate or referral links, which means StashGrid may earn a commission if you sign up or buy through them, at no additional cost to you. That is how a free page stays free. It does not change what is recommended here — the fuel-economy figures above come from published research, not from anybody's affiliate program, and the largest savings described on this page (driving style, tire pressure, cooking at home) earn nothing at all.
Change how you drive. Aggressive acceleration and braking can cost 10–40% of your fuel economy in traffic and up to about 30% at highway speeds — more than any app, card or loyalty program will return. Smooth acceleration, anticipating traffic, and easing off the highway speed are the whole method.
Yes. Fuel economy drops by roughly 0.2% for each 1 psi below the recommended pressure, averaged across all four tires, so a car that has drifted several psi low is losing a few percent. Use the figure on the driver's door jamb sticker, not the maximum moulded into the tire sidewall, and check when the tires are cold.
Not if your car is designed for regular. Higher octane gives no extra power, no better economy and no engine benefit in an engine that does not require it — you are paying more for the same energy. Check the owner's manual; "required" means use it, "recommended" usually means regular is fine.
If you are not using it, yes. A large roof-mounted box costs on the order of 2–8% of fuel economy in town and 6–17% on the highway, because aerodynamic drag dominates at speed. A rear-mounted carrier is far cheaper at around 1–5%.
Switch off if you will be stationary more than about ten seconds — restarting uses less fuel than idling beyond that. An idling engine burns roughly a quarter to half a gallon an hour. Modern engines also do not need to be warmed up by idling; they warm faster under gentle driving.
Usually not. Six miles out of your way to save five cents a gallon on a twelve-gallon fill saves sixty cents and spends more than that in fuel and time. Cheap fuel is worth seeking out on a route you were taking anyway, not as a separate errand.
Many stations quote the cash price on the sign and charge more for card, commonly five to ten cents a gallon. It is legal and widespread; the card price is usually shown in smaller print.
No. Check the unit price in the small print on the shelf label — price per ounce or per unit — because multi-buys and "value" sizes are frequently more expensive per unit than the standard size. The label does the comparison for you.
Because there are two markups. Restaurants often list higher prices on delivery platforms than in store, and service and delivery fees plus a tip are added on top of that. Ordering for collection removes both layers.
Some of them, yes — they are affiliate or referral links, and StashGrid may earn a commission if you sign up or buy through them, at no extra cost to you. The fuel-economy figures here come from published research rather than any advertiser, and the biggest savings described on this page earn nothing.