Discover how consumers have lowered their cost of gas to unheard of levels. One consumer paid 89 cents, another paid $1.09. They used a method that everyone uses all the time. they just applied it to gas.

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.

Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia is where Giant Eagle currently has stores. Giant Eagle has created a new addition to their frequent buyer program. Fuelperks is the name of the program. It offers discounts on gas at Get- Go gas stations that are owned and operated by Giant Eagle.

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.

A large family that may buy great amounts of food every week could find itself with big discounts in just a few weeks. The price of gas for them will be much lower because of the discount they earned. Giant Eagle grocery prices are competitive as are their gas prices so the savings are real.

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.

Gas is the same as anything else that you buy. Find the best prices like you would shop for the lowest prices like you would for other items. Find frequent buyer deals in your area that provide you with discounts on gas. Be on the look out for gasoline discounts and special programs where ever you see a pump. Many gas outlets now have frequent shopper programs that they didn't have before. Look for stores in your region that didn't used to sell gas but now does.

In order to remain competitive a lot of stores that had not done so in the past have started selling fuel. This new competition has forced many convenience stores that sell fuel to start offering frequent buyer programs of their own. Those programs can help drop your gas costs. In addition, numbers of stores that never sold fuel before are now offering gasoline. As in the case of Giant Eagle they understand that lower gas costs is a way to increase traffic in their stores. As a result you have more ways to lower your gas costs.

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 retailers are another place you should look for bargains. As in many areas Wal-Mart / Sam's Club are jumping into the gas business big time. The VP in charge of fuel for Wal-Mart says he is looking to extend Sam Walton's marketing strategy to gasoline by building gas stations at every Sam's Club throughout the country. In his view, putting in pumps should be "standard practice. It just fits our business model: we want to bring everything [to consumers] at the lowest price."

So how can you lower your gas costs? Treat gas like any other item you purchase. Look for deals, discounts and low prices. Comparison shop. Find the retailers that offer the best program for you. Look for gas bargains at some of the non traditional outlets like grocery stores or mega stores. Then maybe you will be able to buy that tank of gas for 89 cents a gallon like Kellie Courtney did.