Gas and the silly things we do to save a penny

So as I just get back from gassing up on my lunch break I realized something. My trip odometer read 1.0 miles from the Sunoco station where I get my gas. This morning I drove by a Shell station priced at 4.059 for regular unleaded which I decided to pass on by opting to instead make a separate trip on my lunch break to the local Sunoco to fuel up at 4.029

So I filled my tank with about 7 gallons of unleaded which will last me for about 4-5 days on the road average at an average of around 32-34mpg depending on various factors. I started to think about this and realized that my cost per mile isn't all that much, all things considered, at around 12 and a half cents per mile. That means my little trip to Sunoco cost me a quarter. Had I bought the gas at Shell on my way home I would have paid about 21 cents more (3 cents per gallon for 7 gallons) meaning a net savings of $0.03!

Granted, this is all anecdotal of course but it does remind me of how my grandmother used to say that people spend dimes to save pennies or something like that. It's still a wash as even if I bought gas 100 times a year it would still be less than a case of soda or a coffee at Starbucks but it is something to make you think.