Boost Your Savings at the Pump

Wall Street Journal

If physicians still made house calls, thecost of gas would be a close second to malpracticeinsurance on the "biggest thorns ina physician's side" list. Although house callsare rare these days, the typical doctor stillneeds to get from point A to point B via automotivetransportation, and the cost of gastoday can be aggravating and financially taxing.Driving fewer miles or trading in yourSUV are the most obvious answers, but arealso impractical for many people. A recentarticle in the offers thefollowing tips for those whose pain at thepump cannot be alleviated easily:

•Invest in energy stocks (eg, DevonEnergy, Whiting Petroleum, El Paso, orEnergy Partners). Sometimes gains willmore than make up for the extra fuel costs.

•Compare local pump prices on Websites such as gasbuddy.com and gaspricewatch.com. A difference of a few cents cango a long way.

•Get a credit card that refunds 5% ofall gas purchases (eg, Chase, Citi Cards,American Express, or Discover). If a cardcaps your annual refund, hit the limit,retire the card, and start over with a competitor'scard.