Now, let me preface by saying Credit Cards are like Guns, in the wrong hands they can do tremendous damage, but properly learned and used they are invaluable. 

Why Gas?  Well you have to buy it anyway so you might as well save 5% on the purchase.  Will you really change your driving habits because it’s charged?  If you spend $200/month on gas will you say “oh free money, I can drive anywhere and charge $250″.  If so, STOP DO NOT GET A CC. 

If you are like me and you drive where it’s necessary and actually try to walk/take public transit to save on gas, then consider these credit cards.  Plus right now 5% back on $4/gallon gas is 20 cent/gallon savings. If you can get 20 cent discount for paying cash, do it.  If not consider these cards as alternatives to saving money on something you’d buy anyway.

1.  Discover Open Road - 5% on gas and automotive stuff, and 1% elsewhere.  The rewards are in cash and can be directly redeemed on the credit card charges or turned into gift cards for even better returns.  For example, I sometimes turn my rewards in restaurant gift cards and we enjoy meals out to places (this works great because it’s mostly chain restaurants where we can meet friends, and not places I’d love to go but convienent for going out!)

2. American Express Blue - You earn 5% back on groceries, gas, and drugstore purchases.  And 1.5% on everything else after you’ve spent $6500 on the card.  Not the best, but not the worse deal out there.  The 5% rebate is nice.

3. Chase Perfect Mastercard -6% on gas for 90 days, then down to 3% for lifetime, with 1% back on everything else.  Not a bad card.  There doesn’t appear to be a limit on how much you can earn either.

4. Citibank Professional Card - 3% on gas, 1% back on all other charges.  Sure there is the Citibank Driver’s Edge, but I found redeeming the cash back a pain. This is much easier where they just send you a check after you hit $50 in cash back rewards.  Again no limit on annual rebates.

Yep, CC can be a frugal tip.  Sure I hate the fact I’ve made $1000 in cash back in 3 months from our CC.  But the truth is that I like saving 5% back on DH’s tuition.  It’s a large chunk of money to be shelling out.

And I view gas as an absolute necessity.  Something I have to buy and must have.  I also pay our cable and cell phone bills, which are not necessities but fixed expenses we choose to have.  So I might as well pay them using a credit card and get some discount.

But consider these cards if you are interested in saving money on gas.