High Gas Prices -- Trying to Get at least a Little Break...

High gas prices are tough. There's no way around them but I take at least a little bit of the edge off with their branded credit cards. I have a couple of them, one with Hess and one with Sunoco. They each offer rebates back on purchases at their company gas stations -- my Sunoco card has a 4% rebate, and the Hess card is 5% back. With gas currently at about $3.00/gallon, that would save 12 cents a gallon at Sunoco or 15 cents at Hess. So the prices are still high but at least there's a bit of a break. And while I'm filling up, psychologically I can focus a bit on some savings.

They also offered special introductory deals when I applied, with Sunoco offering a $20 rebate credit, and Hess offering to double the rebate to 10% for the first 90 days (so while I'm at Hess right now, I can look at the 30 cents a gallon I save -- a fill-up of $40.00 doesn't feel quite as bad if I know it will be a net of $36.00).

Other companies also offer the cards but I don't get them all because I wouldn't just want to stuff my wallet with too many different ones. I use these two because they are the stations closest to the areas I frequently pass by in my regular driving. You may want to check with your own most-frequented gas stations and see which offer the best deals.

Every little bit helps.