Are 4 in 5 Australians really overpaying for petrol?
Key takeaways
- Finder research shows 1 in 5 of Australians ranked petrol among their top three most stressful household expenses in June.
- Neighbouring stations can be 20-40c apart, but many Aussies don't pay attention to the price at the pump.
- Paying 20c/L more than necessary on a weekly 50-litre fill-up could cost around $500 over a year.
I drove past 2 petrol stations on Wednesday morning, less than 500 metres apart.
One was charging 169.9 cents a litre for premium unleaded.
The other was 198.9 cents.
That's a difference of 29 cents a litre. For a 50-litre tank, you're paying almost $15 more for exactly the same amount of fuel.
>> 6 ways to pay less at the pump right now
Do that many Aussies really fill up without checking the price?
Finder research found 22% of Australians ranked petrol among their 3 most stressful household expenses in June.
It got me thinking: are the remaining 4 in 5 Aussie drivers unfazed? Do they truly pull up to the petrol pump without checking the price?
A friend of mine confessed that, yep, this was her, guilty as charged.
"I don't usually pay attention; the guy at the counter asked me if I was a member and said I could scan to save 20c a litre," she shared. "But I just wanted to pay and get on with my day, I don't want to sign up to something new. I'll never remember to use it!"
When I shared my observation about different prices at different stations on my insta, someone else commented some insights:
"We have an intersection locally where one of the servos is consistently 20-40 cents more expensive, yet there's always people there getting fuel.
"It's not difficult to access either of them from any direction. Some people just really don't give a sh*t about money lmao."
With fuel prices climbing again as oil markets react to renewed tensions in the Middle East, I reckon every cent matters.
And this is an easy win: if you stop at the first servo you see rather than scanning for a cheaper price, it could cost hundreds of dollars over a year.
If you're paying 20 cents a litre more than necessary and fill a 50-litre tank once a week, that's around $520 extra every year. What could you do with an extra $500?
Scan your suburb's local petrol stations for the cheapest prices with Finder's Fuel Stations Map
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