I “Dollar Cost Average” my gasoline, which means I tank up on the same day each week, no matter what the level of gasoline is in my tank.
That way, I’m paying an “averaged” price each month and it doesn’t break the budget.
I do the same with investing. Each month I invest x-amount of dollars, but over the course of time, I’m paying an averaged cost on those stocks. Some months it’s higher, bust most months it’s lower or a wash, so I get more shares for my dollar over the long haul.
‘Tain’t Rocket Science. Don’t buy into the “we’re running out of gas” pap from fear-mongers. We aren’t.
Don’t buy gas with ethanol in it, if you can get pure gasoline. Gas mileage will be better, it’s cleaner emissions than gas+ethanol, and your engine will be better off.
When the price of gas is falling, run your tank empty. Buy at the lowest price.
When the price of gas is rising, top off every time you see a good price.
Because of the stupid Wisconsin minimum markup laws, when the price goes up, it always jumps 12 - 15 cents, then settles back to a market price. Usually, the price jump is on Tuesday or Wednesday, so it makes sense to buy early or late in the week after the price trends back down.