A Big Gas Pump Blunder

I had a shocking revelation right before we went away for vacation but didn't have time to post about it yet, so here goes.

I was getting gas at my usual gas station - which was carefully selected long ago for offering one of the lowest prices in town even though they offer full service, which is key when you have young children. I pulled in, rolled down my window, and said my usual "fill it with regular" with a smile.

Then, as I was watching the total go up and up and up, as it always does, something caught my eye. A little red light was lit up next to the octane grade that was being used. To my surprise, it was not the lowest grade that I thought I had selected when I chose "regular".

The sign at this gas station shows three prices for three grades of gas. Regular, plus, and premium - or so I thought.

Turns out that this gas station offers FIVE grades of gas! I thought I was getting the lowest price by ordering "regular" when in fact they call their lowest grade of gas "economy"! And there is a $ .15 difference in price!

Now if I had only made this mistake a couple of times it wouldn't be such a big deal, but I have been going to this gas station for 7 years!!!

So, I fill up about once a week, about 15 gallons each time. So, 15 gallons x $ .15 = $2.25. And $2.25 per week x 52 weeks each year = $117 a year. And $117 a year x 7 years = $819!!!

So, this was a very costly mistake that cost me $819 over the last 7 years!

I guess I learned the hard way to make sure you order carefully!