For over a year, the Government has discounted the price of fuel for Kiwis to help them during a cost of living crisis. However, that discount is set to end at the end of this month, meaning it’ll cost more to fill up the petrol tank.
We called up a spokesperson for AA, Terry Collins, and asked what Kiwis can do to mitigate the damage to their wallets.
First things first, expect fuel to increase by around 29 cents per litre. However, different petrol stations price their gas differently, as such, Terry encourages you to search your local area for the best petrol prices.
“Auckland is getting 60-cent differences in the price of fuel just within the area,” he said. “So that 29 cents is only half of what you've got as a variation within a city already. Obviously, shop around and get the best deal.”
Another way to ‘shop around’ as Terry puts it, is to make use of gas stations’ apps, which often have special discounts on fuel.
“There’s a certain company that allows you to buy up to a thousand litres at the price and use it any time. So if you can find that cheap price prior to the tax going back on, you can buy the petrol at that price after the taxes go back on.”
“There was a ten-cent day for Gull. BP was ten cents cheaper one day on their one and there'll be a whole lot of these offerings all coming out trying to attract people in that last week.”
He also shared another hack which could have you saving loads of money.
“BP and a whole bunch of other companies do it. Say on Wednesday you get a 10c discount and you can store their discounts or you can cash them up at the time. If you've bought the minimum purchase, which is $40 at $2.50 a litre, you would get 16 litres.”
“So if you cashed it up every time, you'd save $1.60. Ten fills over two months, you would have saved yourself $16. However, if you don't cash them up at the time and you save them and you wait until your last fuel, you would have a dollar's worth of discounts and you could buy 50 litres”.
“So you would get $50 worth the petrol instead of $16. And it's exactly the same scheme. It's just how you use it.”
Finally, Terry also encouraged drivers not to wait until the last day of the subsidy to fill the petrol tank up, as “we would have a whole series of cars all rolling out the station onto the road, which creates a bit of a traffic problem and can also cause the fuel stations to run dry.”
There you have it, hopefully these tips help keep you going just that little longer!
