The day I paid $1.39/gallon to fill up my car

I own a 2017 Chevrolet Volt Premier hybrid sedan (nicknamed “Lightning’s Girl”). I can operate this car on full electric power (with a maximum of 60 miles on a full charge) or I could operate the car with its gasoline-powered internal combustion engine (garnering up to 400 miles on a full tank of fuel).

There are some caveats to the fuel situation for me. The Volt requires high-octane fuel, preferably 93 or 94 octane, and the tank is small – it only holds less than nine gallons when full. Still, I can garner some incredible fuel mileage out of this chariot.

And yesterday … I pulled off a trick that, for me, I haven’t seen in ages.

Follow along.

Long-time readers of my blog know that I have a love-hate relationship with the local Speedway gas station in my neighborhood. But during the summer, Speedway offered a special promotion – purchase three cold drinks at any time, use your Speedway rewards card, and you could get 10c/gallon off when you fill up.

I like that idea. So I bought lots of cold beverages during the summer, and used my Speedway card every time. When the promotion ended at the beginning of September, my Speedway card had acquired a cumulative discount of $2.80/gallon off my next fill-up, whenever I wanted to use that discount.

Plus, if you use your Speedway rewards card when you fill up, you receive an additional 7c/gallon off your fuel purchase. So … yesterday, I parked Lightning’s Girl near the fuel pump, swiped my Speedway rewards card at the pump, finally said “YES” when the option was offered to take the fuel discount, and my fuel price per gallon plummeted from $4.26/gallon for 93 octane fuel to a brain-scratching $1.39/gallon.

And before any of you say to me, “Hey Chuck, pics or it didn’t happen” …

Dude, I got a pic.

That photo was not manipulated or altered in any way. It was not generated with an artificial intelligence program. What you see is what I paid.

How’s that for proficient use of coupons?

Trust me, I’ll take my victories where I can get them.

And finally, being involved with Speedway actually paid off for me.

Figuratively and literally.