By Yaneth Hoil |Staff Writer|
Free phone gas applications are a smart and easy approach to the high gas prices and could save you major dollars this upcoming summer.
Whether you earn $8 or $20 per hour, gas prices continue to rise which affects were we drive and how often.
It doesn’t matter what kind of phone you own there are now gas applications for most phone such as the Droid, iPhone, Nokia and Blackberry.
These free applications allow drivers to preview the gas prices for gas stations nearby. They can help make a better more informed decision when the time comes to fill up the tank.
According to the article “6 smartphone apps to battle rising gas prices” by Candice Choi from USA Today, some of the applications that are available now for the iPhone are AAA Trip Tik, GasBuddy, Gas Cubby, MapQuest and Route4Me. The MapQuest and GasBuddy applications are also available for the Droid.
It’s no surprise that CSUSB is a commuter school, however even for those who live near the campus. Driving to work and taking care of the daily life responsibilities has become a major headache when factoring in the cost of gas.
Even with this bad economy the gas industry seems to be prospering just fine since Exxon Mobil ranked second on the 2011 Fortune 500 annual list of America’s largest corporations and Chevron ranked third. Exxon profits were over $30 million and Chevron had a profit of about $19 million.
“It’s irritating that oil companies keep making ridiculous profits year after year, while I need to plan one trip for all my errands, or incorporate them into my drive from work to home in order to save,” said Sergio Reyes.
The GasBuddy app relies on its users to keep the gas prices up-to-date for most major cities. The price listings show the time it was posted in order to let users know how current it is and as a reward a $250 prepaid gas card is raffled each week.
Evading bumper-to-bumper traffic is another way to save on gas.
The MapQuest app allows you to see the traffic conditions for your regular routes and alternative roads in case you decide to go a different route. According to MapQuest the information is updated every five minutes and the app can recalculate new routes by shortest distance and shortest time.
The Trip Tik app allows you to search for local gas prices by distance. The app tracks the prices of more than 130,000 gas stations and you don’t need to be an AAA member to use it.
Reyes has the GasBuddy app on his iphone and said that it helps him find the cheapest gas in his area, and it’s beneficial because when you are on a budget you need to find savings anywhere you can.
Don’t let the high gas prices keep you trapped at home this summer, even if you are afraid of spending too much money there are various free and creative ways of saving money.
Gas apps won’t save you hundreds but they can make a difference on whether you get gas at the first station you come across or getting the best price available to you.
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