Gas For Groceries: Where's The Real Deal?Shopping Trip Shows Where Grocery Gas Deals Are Most ProfitableGas For Groceries: Where's The Real Deal?Grocery shopping is a chore for many people. It's something we rush through but still hope to get a good deal.Which store will save you the most money, and offer the most bang for the buck at the gas pump? Channel 4 Action News decided to buy some of the groceries a typical consumer might choose and see at which store you might save the most money.Channel 4 Action News' Marcie Cipriani went to three stores: Giant Eagle, Shop 'N Save and Wal-Mart.At each store Channel 4 bought 2 pounds of bananas 3 large tomatoes 1 pound of green beans 3, two-liter bottles of soda The least expensive potato chips Maxwell House Original Roast coffee 4 cans of the cheapest chicken noodle soup Cheerios 1 pound of lean ground beef 2 packs of Ballpark brand hotdogs The least expensive hamburger and hotdog buns The best-priced laundry detergent The cheapest toothpaste The best deal on 12 rolls of two-ply toilet paper Tropicana brand orange juice 16 slices of cheese for the best price 10 containers of the cheapest yogurt 1 dozen of the least expensive large grade A eggsGiant Eagle's bill came to $57.39. The Shop 'N Save bill was exactly $2 more at $59.39. Wal-Mart was the most expensive at $59.68.Giant Eagle and Shop 'N Save both offer discounts on gas based on your bill. Some locations do offer 20 cents off every $50 spent but most offer 10 cents off per $50 spent, so that is the amount used to add up the fuel discounts.Giant Eagle and Shop 'N Save's programs are similar, but not identical. Shop 'N Save is the only store whose representative agreed to explain their pump perks program"We offer ours as a penny on every $5 increment that you spend," said Ron Weismann of Shop 'N Save.That's a big difference from the way Giant Eagle calculates their fuel perks. At Giant Eagle you need to spend $50 before you earn any discount. There it's 10 cents per $50 spent. Giant Eagle does however keep tallying up your earnings.For example, if you spend $52 at Giant Eagle you earn the 10 cents fuel discount, plus that extra $2 goes toward reaching the next $50. At Shop 'N Save, if you spend $52, you earn the 10 cents off, but the extra $2 left over doesn't go toward earning more rewards. You start over each time you shop.At both Giant Eagle and Shop 'N Save, your gas discount points do accumulate. But keep in mind that in both programs the points eventually expire. "Ours will keep a running tab, accumulate and expire after 60 days," Weismann said.Giant Eagle allows you 90 days to use the gas discount. With that in mind, here is what Channel 4 earned:At Giant Eagle, where the bill came to $57.39, Channel 4 saved 10 cents per gallon off our next tank of gas, and still have $7.39 towards our next $50 gas reward.At Shop 'N Save the bill was $59.39. Calculating 1 cent per $5 spent, earns 11 cents off per gallon of gas. That's an extra penny over Giant Eagle, but the $4.39 over the $50 goes toward nothing.The Wal-Mart purchases earned no discounts.Each of the stores where Channel 4 shopped had nearly identical items with about a $2 price difference. It's up to consumers to decide what works best for them.Shop 'N Save would have saved 11 cents per tank of gas, but the money left over wouldn’t' have gone to another discount.Giant Eagle customers would have only saved 10 cents cents per tank of gas, but the $7 left over would have gone towards the next discount.Some shoppers may prefer Wal-Mart. While Wal-Mart doesn't offer fuel discounts, you can shop for more items and perhaps save another shopping trip and therefore save on gas. Related Links:
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