Kroger Challenge: Road trip - saving on gas?

Technically, this is supposed to be a grocery challenge, but a crisis came up with my work and I had to high-tail it to our Nashville office to put out some major fires.

So, how does the Kroger challenge fit in to this?

Some Kroger stores also have gas stations, er, fuel centers. By shopping at Kroger, you can earn discounts on fuel. Here's how:

1. Fill 2 prescriptions or more at your local pharmacy and receive $.10 cents off your fuel purchase.
2. Spend $50 or more on gift cards and receive $.10 cents off your fuel purchase.
3. Spend $100 or more on groceries and receive $.10 cents off your fuel purchase.

AND these points will accumulate. If you spend $200, then you get 10 cents off 2 fuel purchases, for example. To get the discount, you have to swipe your Kroger Plus Card.

As I mentioned above, I'm in Nashville for a couple of days. Not a bad drive, but it does require a fuel stop.

Wouldn't you know it, there's a Kroger fuel center almost exactly halfway between - in Cookeville. I decided to take advantage of the savings.

All along the interstate, from Oak Ridge to Nashville, I kept my eye on the gas prices. They were between $2.289 and $2.369. The regular price at Cookeville Kroger, before discount was $2.329. After discount, it was $2.229. That's 6 cents per gallon cheaper than any of the other gas stations I saw along the way, including usually reasonable places like Pilot, Raceway, Love's and Flying J.

I bought 9.422 gallons ($21.00) worth of gas, which saved me 94 cents, or about 4.5% off. Yes, I paid with my gift card.

It was the equivalent of getting a $1 off coupon for gas. When was the last time you saw a gasoline coupon?

Accumulated Kroger savings: $107.23