Tag: Gas Stations

What Credit Cards Are In Our Wallets (September 2019)

Every once in a while, I like to go over which cards Sharon and I are carrying in our wallets. Doing so gives you a look behind the scenes of how to put a plan of earning points and miles in practice. We each have a different approach to earning miles and points. I try to earn the maximum points for each transaction without too much effort, and her desire to exert the least amount of thought into the process (Note from Sharon: Hell yeah! LOLOL!), the cards we carry are different.

There’s a method to my madness, as I manage to balance the two approaches and come to a plan where we maximize earning while minimizing effort (and still keep our marriage together). (Note from Sharon: Again. Hell yeah!)

Writing this post also forces me to evaluate if I’m actually doing what I say I’m going to do or seeing that I’ve gotten a little lazy (which I had). After some shuffling, here are the cards that now reside in our wallets.

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How To Easily Know What Side A Rental Car’s Gas Cap Is On

Has this ever happened to you? You’re in a rental car and you need to buy gasoline for it. You get to the gas station and…wait, what side is the gas cap on? It’s on the driver’s side on your car at home, and was on the passenger’s side on the car you had before that one, but what about on this car?

Of course, unless you have a Plymouth Pacer (Joe’s family had one when he was growing up), an AMC Gremlin (my family had one when I was growing up) or a few other cars where the gas cap was on the BACK of the car, your chances are 50/50 for left or right, and if you get it wrong, it’s not really a huge deal – many gas pumps have extra long nozzles so they’ll reach to the other side. Or at worst, you’ll have to pull out and pull back in so the “other side” is facing the pump.

But wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way to just “know” what side the gas cap was on?

Turns out, there is.

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What Should You Do If You Put The Wrong Kind Of Gas In Your Rental Car?

Every car has a recommended type (octane) of gasoline, commonly known in the U.S. as Regular, Mid-Grade (or Plus) and Premium. Well, there’s diesel too but fortunately, diesel pumps don’t fit into non-diesel gas tank openings in the U.S. Most rental cars work best on regular gas (87 octane), which is good because regular gas is always cheaper than mid-grade and premium ;-).

However, there are a few rental cars that require Premium or, on rare occasion, diesel (either way, the car rental company should tell you when you pick up the car). And if you rent a car outside the U.S., all bets are off in terms of color coding their pumps the same way they do in the U.S., or even if the diesel pump will or will not fit in your rental car’s regular gas tank opening. So it may be easier than you think to put diesel into a car that needs regular, or regular/mid-grade into a car that needs premium or diesel.

But here’s what to do if it happens to you:

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Save Money On Every Fill Up With Fuel Rewards

Fuel Rewards is a program that provides discounts at Shell gas stations. It’s free to sign up and everyone who joins automatically gets some type of savings. You can save more by taking certain actions (i.e. using a shopping portal or dining program) or by having a card belonging to one of their partners.

Let’s first talk about signing up for Fuel Rewards.

If you’re not already a member, you can get 25 cents off per gallon on your first fill up after joining. We have a referral link where we’ll also get a credit for for new signups. You want to support YMMV, don’t you?

Once a member, you have automatic gold status for 6 months. The ongoing membership process is a little more difficult to follow:

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