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FUEL prices are rising rapidly, with drivers spending £5 more on average to fill up their cars today than they would have in January.
The RAC’s Fuel Watch shows that average petrol prices at the pumps have increased by almost 9p a litre since the start of the year.
In March, diesel prices rose by more than a penny from 154.68p to 155.99p, making for three consecutive months of rises.
RAC fuel price spokesperson Simon Williams said: “Both petrol and diesel are now the most expensive they’ve been since November
last year which is bad for households, businesses and the economy.”
Unsurprisingly, drivers are looking for ways to economise and fill up their cars more cheaply.
The good news is, that Tesco Clubcard members can use a clever trick to slash the costs of running their cars.
Any points you get through the Tesco Clubcard scheme can be converted to vouchers.
These can be used to pay for fuel at Tesco forecourts, or at Esso branded service stations with a Tesco Express shop.
You can find eligible Esso service stations buy using the Find a Station tool and using the filter for Clubcard.
You can find Tesco forecourts by using the store locator tool and filtering for a petrol filling station.
Even better, the RAC Fuel Watch shows that Tesco is the cheapest supermarket for buying petrol on average, charging 146.5p a litre.
It is the second cheapest supermarket for diesel charging 154.4p a litre.
Sainsbury’s is slightly less expensive, charging 153.7p a litre.
It also says that Tesco has the smallest difference between its prices, meaning you’re likely to get a good deal wherever you go.
You can use either digital or paper vouchers, and all you need to do is show them to the cashier when you pay.
Signing up for a Tesco Clubcard is free and easy, you just need to fill in a few details on the website.
Once you have your card, make sure you use it whenever you do a Tesco shop to start collecting points.
In Tesco stores you will get one point for every pound you spend.
You can also boost your points with Tesco partners, for instance if you use Evri to send parcels you will get a point for every pound you spend there too.
You can even collect points when you pay for your petrol at Tesco petrol stations or in Esso services that have a Tesco Express in them.
Usually, you’ll get one point for every two litres you buy, but a deal running until June 5 means you can get triple points with Esso if you’re buying Supreme+ 99.
For every 250 Clubcard points you collect, you will get £2.50 in vouchers.
These can either be spent directly on things such as fuel or food shops, or you can boost their value with Tesco’s reward partners.
For instance, Disney+. Pizza Express, Thorpe Park, and Hotels.com will all double the value of your vouchers.
If you never shop at Tesco, there are other schemes that can help.
For instance, if you have a Nectar card, you can use your Nectar points to get 5p off every litre of fuel bought at Esso when you swap 300 points.
You can also spend Nectar points at Sainsbury’s to buy fuel.
However, you cannot use Pay at Pump to redeem the points, instead you need to swipe your card at the kiosk.
If you regularly fill up at Shell garages, consider becoming a Shell Go+ member.
Every 10th visit you will get a fuel reward worth between £1 and £50 off.
The discount you get depends on your average spend over the last nine visits, so someone who spent £100 every time would get a bigger reward than someone who spent just a tenner.
BP also has a BPme scheme, where you earn points for money spent on fuel or in service station shops.
You get 1 point for each £1 spent in-store, 1 point for every
litre of regular fuel, or 2 points for every litre of Ultimate fuel.
Every 100 points you earn can be redeemed for £1 off your fuel or shop spend.
It’s worth checking the RAC Fuel Watch average price to understand how prices are moving.
You should try to make sure you never pay more than this when you fill up.
It changes monthly so keep a regular eye on it.
Check out the prices at forecourts you pass often, and see which ones tend to be cheaper, aim to fill up at these when you can, as even small savings can mount up.
The Fuel Finder feature on the free myRAC mobile app can help you find the cheapest forecourts near you.
Alternatively, if you sign up at PetrolPrices.com, it will tell you where the cheapest fuel is – and you can set limits in terms of how far you’re willing to travel.
If you have a cashback credit card, you can use it to get money back on your fuel spend, which is a great way to cut costs.
However, you should make sure you set a direct debit up to pay off the card in full each month, otherwise you may pay more in
interest than you get in rewards.
HERE are some tips on how you can slash the cost of fuel.
The RAC also suggests you follow these rules carefully to cut costs down.
1. Maintain your vehicle: regular services improve efficiency, which means less fuel consumption overall.
2. Cut down on speed: Going at top speeds means burning more fuel, typically cars are most efficient at 45-50mph. Using the highest gear possible also increases your miles per gallon, bringing down costs.
3. Drive as smoothly as possible: Lots of accelerating and braking will increase your consumption.
4. Decrease drag: things like roof racks and boxes increase wind resistance, which will mean you use more fuel. According to the Energy Saving Trust an empty roof rack adds 16% drag when driving at 75mph.
5. Ease up on air conditioning: Using the heater or the air conditioner uses up fuel, so only have them on when you really need them.
6. Reduce weight: The heavier a car is, the more fuel it will use. Make sure you declutter regularly and don’t keep unnecessary things in the boot.
