Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: It's Take Control Tuesday and I have Mansa Moussa on the phone with me and Mansa, we're on a little series. But today is something that everybody has to do right now and we don't like it. So how can we maximize the gasoline spending that we have to do anyway?
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Yeah, listen, I've got a five step system for how to turn your gasoline purchases into a small subsidy for your household. So let's talk about what we going to do now. Most families buy gasoline every week. It's spending that is already happening. The opportunity is becoming more intentional about those purchases.
So let's walk through a simple five step system. So step one is find a fair price. Now you gotta find one or two stations that are consistently competitive in your area.
Might be a warehouse club, a grocer retailer, a local station, a regional chain. But the foundation of this strategy is paying a fair price for your fuel.
Step two, build reward system around it. Once you've identified those stations join their loyalty program, the next thing you want to do is consider a rewards credit card that earns cash back on gasoline purchases. Some cards are tied to a specific retailer or warehouse club.
Others earn rewards at any station. So find a card that's going to work for you. The key is earning rewards on purchases you were already going to make. And remember, pay the statement balance in full every month.
[00:01:51] Speaker A: Right?
[00:01:51] Speaker B: We're talking about rewards, not debt. If you're carrying balances on a credit card that you're buying gas with at 20 and 24% interest rate, then this strategy does not work.
So you got to be able to pay the credit card off in full every month. The goal is simple. Find a fair price first and then stack loyalty benefits and rewards on top of the spending. Step three, concentrate your spending. Now this is where a lot of households can improve.
And instead of everyone buying gas wherever it's convenient, consider using the same reward system across the entire household. The more fuel purchases flowing through run loyalty program or rewards card, the faster the rewards accumulate. Okay. For example, if you've got two drivers and you're spending $75 a week per vehicle on fuel, which is not outrageous in today's market, right? That's about $150 a week combined, that's 600amonth, 7200 per year. Now if you earn cash back rewards of just 3%, that's about $18 a month or $216 a year.
If you can get 5% cash back, that's $30 a month or $360 a year. Now, those amounts aren't going to make anybody rich, but they can help reduce monthly cash flow pressure or increase your disposable income. Extra $30 right now will help everybody I know.
[00:03:37] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:03:38] Speaker B: Once again, small things can add up if done consistently.
Step four, Track the results.
Take five minutes once a week and look at your fuel purchases, your rewards earned and your discounts received.
Attention changes behavior and behavior changes outcome. Step five, Direct the savings toward a goal. If the rewards reduce a part of your fuel cost that frees up money in your household budget, direct those dollars intentionally.
They can help you pay down debt. Build an emergency fund, reduce monthly cash flow pressure. That's where the strategy becomes valuable. The savings seem small individually, but over time they can support larger financial goals.
So today we talked about turning gasoline into a household subsidy. We found a fair price. We built a reward system around spending that was already happening. We concentrated purchases across the household.
We tracked the results and we directed the savings toward a financial goal. Because I'm telling you Randy, at hard times, small savings consistently can make a meaningful difference. So just ask yourself, look at how your household buys gasoline and have we built a system that helps us get the money back or rewards us for buying gas and if not, put one in place?
[00:05:17] Speaker A: Absolutely. Well, I'm going to improve what I've been doing for sure. And thank you so much for this information.
We're going to put this up on the website. Take controltuesday.com and as always you can like and share the information so that others can save that money as well. Mansa, thank you.
[00:05:38] Speaker B: Yeah, let me tease. The next episode will be how to do the same thing but we're going to do it with groceries.
[00:05:45] Speaker A: Excellent.
