Personal Financial Tips

Archive for the ‘Prepaid Gas Cards’ Category

In these times when gas prices continue to increase, everybody is keen on saving every penny they can on gas money. One of the practical and easy ways to do this is by using gas cards. There are two types of gas card according to cash pay out: prepaid and credit.

Prepaid gas cards have limited balances which you determine and pay for upfront when you receive the card. Basically, you use prepaid gas cards to pay for gas purchases and earn rebates on them. Current percentage rebates are from 2% to 5%, depending on the card company. Some may have introductory periods and offer 10% rebates. It will be good to avail of introductory periods but make sure that the rebate that you earn in the long run is the average too.

Compared to the credit type, using prepaid gas cards means no hassles of paying your bills. Your payment is upfront and you do not have to keep track of any due dates. However, you do have a limit to the amount you can use your card for and some cards expire in such short periods. Some may find this a disadvantage but there is a bright side to this. You can easily switch card companies especially if there are other higher percentage rebate offerings.

Moreover, some prepaid cards are sold on a discount so you really do stretch your gas money far. This way, you earn two types of discounts: one from buying the card and the other on gas purchases. Another way to get a discount from prepaid gas card purchases is to buy them using your card as well. Most companies offer rebates on gasoline store (prepaid gas cards can be bought at these stores) purchases, usually 2% to 4%.

There are simply a lot of ways that you can get the best savings from prepaid gas cards. Explore and use your options so you do not miss out on stretching your gas money as far as possible.

Do you have bad credit and you’re just having a hard time finding a credit card anywhere? Well, I wouldn’t worry because there are cards out there that can help you with your savings at the pump. Most people believe that when you have bad credit, you’re not going to get any rewards from any cards. While this can be true in a way, there are ways to benefit from a credit card, especially one that focuses on gas rewards. Here are some tips you can use.

Read the fine print – A lot of companies today are self explanatory when it comes to applicants. They will tell you right off the bat what kind of credit you’re going to need. If it says you need great credit, you may want to steer clear if your credit is subpar.

You can always apply – Yes, you can always apply for a credit card, no one is stopping you and there’s no law against it. If you see that the card doesn’t tell you what kind of credit score you need, then by all means, apply for it. What’s the worst thing that’s going to happen? You’ll most likely get a denial letter. With so many cards on the market and so many companies out there, there may be one that accepts you.

Read forums online – You can always do your research when you go on the internet. Start by visiting specialized forums when it comes to bad credit. See if anyone has been in the situation you have been in. If they have, read the topic. If you can’t find anything, never be afraid to ask questions.

There are tons of opportunities out there. If you find that no one will approve you, start rebuilding your credit and hopefully, sooner or later you can get that card you want.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Discounted Prepaid Gas Cards

Introduction

The energy crisis has hit the world by storm and now many people are finding that the same amount of money is starting to buy them a whole lot less. Indeed, nobody can blame you for being angry about higher prices of energy, simply because the economy has really been built on the idea that oil would always be plentiful and cheap. Without that concept in place, not only is gas going up with the basic necessities of life that are transported using gas are rising in price as well, really placing the average person between a rock and a hard place.

For that reason, many companies have now offered their customers discounted prepaid gas cards. As the name suggests, these cards can be used at gas stations in order to gain a discount on gas, with the catch that you need to load them with money before you make the actual purchase. Depending on the card, you can either reload it when it runs out or alternatively you might need to get a completely new one from the gas station and throw the old one out. Many people are intrigued by these types of offers, but would like to know what the advantages and disadvantages are of such an arrangement. The best way to determine this would be to look at several factors and determine if those factors are advantages or disadvantages to the overall idea.

Price

The most important factor involved with discounted prepaid gas cards is of course price. They would not exist without price, so it is definitely the determining factor in many cases. And if you look at it from the point of view of the actual amount of money that you pay for gas, you will find that price is decidedly one of the big advantages of these discounted prepaid gas cards. They do allow you to get a discount in the gas price and for that reason are definitely useful things to have.

At the same time however, it is important to consider the other factors that might limit how much of an advantage price is. For example, if you look at price from a monthly budget point of view and then consider that you have to load money onto the card before you actually buy the gas, you might end up with a situation where the change in your cash flow is more than the card is worth. Additionally, a particular card might only work for a particular company’s gas stations, which is another thing that you might need to consider. What use is having a discounted prepaid gas card if you have to drive further to get to a gas station where you can use it?

Overall, price is still an advantage, but for people that live close to gas stations where they can get the discount and are good at managing their cash flow, the advantage involved is far greater.

Convenience

Convenience is another interesting factor and one that is definitely worth further consideration. The convenience involved with a gas card is that quite frequently you can use the gas card to pay at your pump rather than walking into the station and paying where the actual gas station attendant is seated. This is something that can be very advantageous if you are in a hurry and for that reason is definitely something that increases the level of convenience that you might feel.

On the other hand, most of the gas stations in the country already do have some sort of plastic card payment slot. In other words, you can already pay for gas at the pump in most cases through the use of credit cards and debit cards. This means that the advantage that you gain from gas cards is negligible and since many gas cards actually need to be validated at the counter, this might actually be something that is somewhat disadvantageous.

If you are tied down to using your gas card as opposed to a credit or debit card when you are at the gas station, then you might get yourself into a situation where paying at the pump is impossible because the attendants need to validate your discount. While such situations are rare, they have been known to happen.

For this reason, the convenience factor involved is actually a disadvantage, since being tied down to using discount prepaid gas cards can actually make things less convenient for you.

Hassle

The last factor worth considering is hassle, which is something that is similar to convenience but not exactly the same. Where convenience deals with your interactions with the gas station using the gas card, hassle rather deals with what happens when all of your purchasing is tied directly to the card. For the most part, there is really nothing to gain from having this, aside from the price considerations that have already been discussed in previous sections.

On the other hand, there is a lot that you can lose. For the average person that pays for gas with a credit card and then drives away within a few seconds of having pumped the gas, the potential problems that could arise with a discount prepaid gas card could delay them by quite a large margin. In addition to this, the discount prepaid gas card is yet another card that must be carried around and that in turn means that it is just one more card that you can potentially forget. Driving back to get it would likely negate the discount that you get.

Overall, discount prepaid gas cards are disadvantageous because of the potential for hassle that exists in their use.

Conclusion

Overall, discount prepaid gas cards provide you with cheaper gas, but they are less convenient and less hassle-free than their credit and debit card counterparts. However, for most people, the discounted gas is worth the potential for extra hassle and for that reason they are still overall more advantageous than disadvantageous to have.

Prepaid gas cards are quickly gaining in popularity because of recent astronomical increase in the price of oil which has resulted in high than anticipated gas prices. As economists grapple with the reasons why gas prices are going through the roof, people are reeling from the effects of what the media has come to call “pain at the pump”. One doesn’t need to be a financial analyst to know that the high cost of gasoline is causing a lot of hue and cry among many working class people. It is no wonder therefore that people are becoming more and more innovative when it comes to ways to save money at the pump and one of the ways they are doing this is by enrolling with prepaid gas cards. Prepaid gas cards have the following benefits:

1. Cheap

It is not unusual for discounted gas cards to charge $0.60 cents to the dollar for gas which translates to a 40% discount. This has made gas cards wildly popular among motorists especially those who have daily commutes. Prepaid cards such as the Genesis 225 LLC have a 40% discount on gas.

2. Convenient

Discount prepaid cards are extremely convenient because they accommodate any amount a customer wants to spend. Prepaid cards come in denominations of $20, $50 and even $100 dollars and some work like secure credit cards where the customer has the ability to add funds periodically. This results in maximum flexibility and savings

3. Can be easily purchased online

Discount prepaid cards are now widely available online but you must know where to access the best cards. While there are many sites that offer these cards, only a few offer cards that can be considered reputable.

We have seen how advantageous it is to use prepaid gas cards as opposed to purchasing gasoline directly from the pump. With some cards offering gas discounts of almost 40% less than what you would ordinarily pay at the gas pump. Gas cards are also convenient and offer great flexibility because you can browse from a list of many available prepaid gas cards available instead of being limited to convenient store prepaid cards which only carry the store brand name such as Texaco or Chevron.

There are actually three credit card and two personal use gas cards. The Conoco gas card is the card that consumers use every day to fill up their tanks and conveniently pay at the pump. The cards make it easier to keep track of your gas expenses. For those who do a lot of driving, these cards make it easy to see just how much they are actually spending in a month’s time on fuel. This is important when the gas prices jump around so much. You need an accurate account of your monthly fuel expenses so you can track your mileage per gallon. Whether you have a personal or a business gas card, you will have a monthly statement detailing your spending.

Personal Gas Cards

With the Conoco gas card, you can pay at the pump and avoid the wait inside at the checkout. The Phillips 66, Conoco and 76 personal credit card is the gas card everyone keeps handy at the pump. The 76 Personal Card is good at all 76 branded locations and at the Conoco and the Phillips 66 locations. With the personal gas cards, you can pay the monthly balance or you can pay the minimum payment. Either way, you will have a detailed monthly statement showing where the purchases were made and for how much.

Conoco Credit Cards

Although these credit cards are idea for businesses, they can be used for many things. The Phillip 66, Conoco and 76 Commercial credit cards offer an easy way to track the purchases by the number on each card. The MasterCard for Phillips 66, Conoco and 76 earns you rebates and is accepted everywhere with no annual fees. The rebates are up to four percent for every purchase made with the card at any 76, Conoco or Phillips 66 locations. The Philips 66, Conoco and 76 Fleet card is for those businesses that need to track and maintain expenses for more than one vehicle. This card is good at all the gas stations and at over forty thousand repair, service and parts centers throughout the country.

With the Conoco gas cards, one can use it at any participating stations around the country. Some gas cards have different requirements. Some gas cards can be used to purchase other merchandise, but you will have some limitations. As with many credit cards and gas cards, lottery tickets are forbidden to be purchased on the cards.

If you need a Conoco gas card, you can fill out an application at the station or online for more convenience. After the application process and a credit check, you will be told if your application is approved or not. Once your application is approved, you receive your card in the mail and you can start using it right away at any participating gas stations. The card is all you need to fill up at the pump and pay right there. You never have to enter the station again unless you have other things to buy.

The Speedway gas card is not just for purchasing gas. You can use your cards for any of the items in the mart. You can choose the Speedway SuperAmerica credit card, SuperFleet card, Speedway SuperAmerica MasterCard or even the Speedy Cash Prepaid cards. If you use gas cards from Speedway, you can easily track all of your purchases and keep receipts for tax time. Because there are different types of gas cards, you can choose the one that will offer you the best return. After all, if you spend money it is nice to receive some rewards either at the pump or in the store mart.

MasterCard – Speedway SuperAmerica Card

You can use this card to pay for purchases, and when you can combine this card with your Speedy Rewards card, you gain an extra forty reward points for every dollar you spend. These points are in addition to the base points that you earn just for using your gas card. Then if you use your card anywhere MasterCard is accepted, you earn ten points for every dollar you spend. This makes this particular Speedway gas card exceptional for earning points every time you use it. You will see your reward points add up monthly.

Credit Card – Speedway SuperAmerica Card

This credit card has no annual fees and an online payment page. You can sue this card at over sixteen hundred locations. The Speedway gas cards