$4.39 is ten cents cheaper than our bargain gas station in Santa Clarita. Most stations are $4.59-4.79 for regular.

Ohio and Indiana truck stops are always cheaper than in Michigan.
Getting a few miles over the border and off the highway is sometimes even better.

(8) - Gas Huffer

^^^ At least they're not smoking.

This would be my guess.

Day before payday.

...and they couldn't afford a whole gallon so they bought a lotto ticket instead... and WON bigly :D.

I remember the late 70s as a teen.... 2-3 bucks went into my CJ5 on a regular basis ;)

Same as when I worked at a Shell station back in the day. Not uncommon at all for people to get one or two dollars worth of gas. Fill-ups were pretty rare.

Around the same time, I had a '62 VW as a DD, and $3.00 would pretty much fill the tank. Yesterday I pumped 10X that amount of regular into my '63 Beetle :(

Sometimes if I'm in a real pi$$y mood, I've done the same thing when the pumps are ridiculously slow, or I realize how expensive the gas is but didn't really need any, or when I'm trying to top off a rental vehicle, or the pump is causing the gas to shut off, OR I'm in a really foul mood and "gas station tv" doesn't let me turn the sound off!

My first car was a 1960 Bug. I remember many times stopping at Sarge's Service station just off base, and a man came out, filled the tank, washed the windows, checked the tire pressure, checked the oil level, asked about my family, and gave me some green stamps for my mom. The first time I had to pay THREE WHOLE dollars for a full tank of gas I was outraged. Usually $2.75 or so was enough. 36 MPG and 9 gallons without reserve was well over 300 miles and that was a month of driving for me until I got my first job.

My buddies and I would all go dig in our respective family couches and look for change. Pool the finding and have enough to cruise around on Friday night until curfew, and I usually had a lot of extra gas after that.

My bug had no gas gauge, that was for fancy deluxe models. I just drove until it ran out of gas, flip the lever to reserve, and go find a gas station. Then be 100% sure the lever was returned to normal position or I was screwed when I ran out of gas on reserve.

I appreciate your original post and the sentiment behind it. It makes me a bit sad. Thankfully I make enough money and have made enough money in the past to weather this storm but had this hit when I was just starting out this could have been me scraping change together to get a gallon. I’m just going to try to think it was someone on a dual sport bike topping of their 2.5 gallon tank.

The cheapest gas that I can remember purchasing was 25 cents/gal.
Cigarettes were almost exactly the same price/pack.

I have bought exactly one pack of cigarettes. From a vending machine, and they cost me $25 cents. The vending machine had a big sign that no one under 16 was to buy cigarettes, and getting a pack and riding off the river to smoke was the only fun part. Three of those nasty things cured me forever of the want to smoke.

I remember getting gas during a gas war for 15 cents a gallon. 25 cents was about normal, and 30 cents was outrageous.

upsscott........ EXACTLY EXACTLY EXACTLY......... dead on what i was thinking......... sometimes i feel a bit guilty. then i think of the chances ive taken and good ol fashion hard work and just plain doggedness........ then i dont feel bad...... ive paid my dues with the grey hairs to prove it.

i also remember that pesky gas pump and how many miles i can get out of a gallon...

dunno.... maybe that $5.00 visual struck a nerve in my sub-conscience.

i feel better thinking someone was just topping off, motorcycle, etc etc......

^^^ GH
Those cig vending machines were everywhere in the 60's.
Insert a quarter and pull the rod out and a pack would fall in the tray. I can still remember the sound of it.

I'm so glad that smoking is the one habit that didn't "take" with me. God knows I tried.

Funny how they always put the machine right by the front door of an establishment where any underage kid could buy a pack without any adult ever seeing the crime being committed. Now that I write it, I wonder if that was part of a sinister plot by big tobacco to make it easy for kids to get a pack of bones.

Of course it was. Back in the 60s mom and dad would send me off on my bike to buy them some smokes. I got to buy some candy or gum with the change. It was no big deal to buy a couple packs of cigarettes for my parents, and candy for me. By going inside and talking to the clerk it was just a bit cheaper than vending machine prices.

I used to buy a box of 22 shorts or 22 longs as a grade school kid as well. No one thought anything about it.

Just to make sure I can get to the cheaper juice...

Save a nickle and drive 5 miles outa my way..

Butt the point has been made...not all of those $5 1 gallon purchases are for expedience...it is something that the rich people on this Board do not want to be reminded of..

^^^ makes sense.
A penny saved is a penny earned...X5

I had to fight my brother to get to use the lawn mower. We both mowed yards for extra money year around in Hawaii, on base of Hickam AFB.

We would drain all the gas out of the mower after use and we each had our own can of gas. I remember walking to the gas station on base and getting a gallon of gas, and a Coke for 25 cents.