How do you define too expensive?

[westernrvparkow]

A lot of posts involving multiple RVing issues involve people saying this or that is overpriced. How do you make that determination? There are posts where people say they won't stop at a certain fuel station because the fuel is overpriced and they can get it cheaper elsewhere. In my experience, there is seldom more than a $.05 difference in fuel prices between neighboring fuel stops. In my car, that amounts to around seventy five cents. In my truck, about a dollar. My motorhome, maybe four dollars if I have driven it to nearly empty. None of those amounts are enough for me to forego convenience to go elsewhere.
A recent thread concerned KOAs. Several posts said they always avoid KOA because they are "overpriced". But how much more does a KOA charge compared to a similar non KOA branded park nearby? Is it a couple of dollars? Is it more than five bucks? I don't think it is much more than that. I understand completely if you are saying KOAs are more than dry camping and you are equally happy with or without hookups. But will you really gain anything driving around with your rig that gets 7 miles per gallon looking to save three Washingtons?
Finally, what does anyone learn when people post a price they paid and then having that price held out as proof an entire franchise is overpriced? So you paid $60.00 at a KOA. That means nothing without context. Where was the park? Sixty in the middle of Kentucky might be high, while sixty on the coast is pretty dang cheap. What time of year invokes the same matrix. What hookups did you require, the makeup of your rig and the makeup of your group all influence pricing. Without all the information the $60.00 fee is pretty meaningless.

[RVcircus]

Too expensive is relative. For me it's based on my wants, needs, and budget. What's "too expensive" for me may be a bargain or way too expensive for someone else. At this stage of my life I prefer cheaper campgrounds such as state parks that will help us extend our travel budget further.

Campground wise, anything up to about $50 is reasonable for me if it puts us where we want to be, I complain to my wife starting around $60 and anything over $80 is too expensive for me and is reserved for special occasions.

I also tend to look at local fuel prices using GasBuddy and will try to find the best price on our route, but won't go out of the way to save money there . I will pay extra for an easier station to access with a trailer and consider that added value.

[BB_TX]

DallasSteve wrote:

Matt_Colie wrote:

2gypsies wrote:
Trust me....waiting until you're retired is much too late to start saving.

Trust me on this, if you are saving anything that can be taken away, it is a waste of your effort. I lost the effort of scrimping and saving for 28 out of my 50+ working years when the administration abrogated the bankruptcy laws. Now I have to scrimp and save anywhere I can just to enjoy life.

The hell with saving while you are young. Now I wish I had lived like the grasshopper.

Matt

That sounds like the same reasoning as "You might as well eat what you want and not waste your time exercising because we're all going to die anyway." As for me, I'm glad I saved, ate well, and exercised. Life keeps getting better for me.

"Glad I saved" fits me also. Started serious saving a little late (about 43), but saved in my company 401k and in mutual funds, both in well established fund companies (Vanguard and Fidelity) and am now retired and able to live comfortably.

[DallasSteve]

Matt_Colie wrote:

2gypsies wrote:
Trust me....waiting until you're retired is much too late to start saving.

Trust me on this, if you are saving anything that can be taken away, it is a waste of your effort. I lost the effort of scrimping and saving for 28 out of my 50+ working years when the administration abrogated the bankruptcy laws. Now I have to scrimp and save anywhere I can just to enjoy life.

The hell with saving while you are young. Now I wish I had lived like the grasshopper.

Matt

That sounds like the same reasoning as "You might as well eat what you want and not waste your time exercising because we're all going to die anyway." As for me, I'm glad I saved, ate well, and exercised. Life keeps getting better for me.

[travelnutz]

myredracer,

A partial answer to your question as the where non big fuel name brand (shell, Citgo, BP, etc) no national name fuel stations get their fuel from.

Walmart stations usually always comes from Murphy Oil USA corp corporation fuel farms/pipelines or delivered centers and has for years, Meijer fuel stations in the Midwest fuel usually is and comes from Marathon fuel farms/pipelines or delivered centers and has for years. May be delivered by a private fuel carrier but is really Marathon fuel. Obtaining fuel at various lesser known station chains is done by contracts or very long term contracts. Few of the so called non-name brand stations etc even have their own refineries and buy bulk from the major refineries or sub-storage centers under a contract who may also be the delivery to the stations business operation. However, it's usually very the same fuel that goes to the refinery's name brand stations but is sold retail at a little lower price as the no-names generally have much lower overheads and operational costs. The name brand fuel refineries still get the same price per barrel whether the fuel goes to a no-name station or their own brand name station so they end up the winner anyway as they sell more finished product. Selling more simply means more profit for them each year!

[doc_brown]

If I need it it's not expensive, if I want it and I can't afford it then it's too expensive.

[pnichols]

We try to never buy anything based on price. Buying based on value is much wiser.

For any given purchase, that sometimes means spending more money and sometimes that means spending less money.

[myredracer]

BB_TX wrote:

Thanks for the explanation. Could be a regional thing, or a country thing. Shell here runs the same price as other name brands. And the station I typically buy from is usually even a few cents less. And my Kroger rewards card gets 10 cents off that.

Fred Meyer is the same and we try and shop at one if we can on a trip and then get discounted gas. It would be interesting to know where they and the others like them get their gas from.

What's different in Canada is that you can tell what day of the week it is by what just happened to gas prices. It's higher on a weekend because people tend to gas up for the coming work week then it'll drop during the week. Economists and oil companies call it supply and demand theory but it's more like gov't lets them get away with it. Most all stations have the same price in an area or close to it. When the first local station changes their price, bam, all the competitors change to match it, often within minutes. Smart folks gas up mid-week and at our almost $4 USD/gal. can make a big difference.

[BB_TX]

myredracer wrote:

BB_TX wrote:

OK, I'll bite. Why avoid Shell stations??? That is about all I ever use, both gas and diesel. And if not Shell, then a another name brand station. Only problem I have ever had with bad gas was from a no name station.

I don't know if their gas is greatly superior over any others, but for sure it's usually the most expensive. Sometimes you'll have several other brand stations across the street with lower prices but people still pull into Shell even if there is a large price differ...

Thanks for the explanation. Could be a regional thing, or a country thing. Shell here runs the same price as other name brands. And the station I typically buy from is usually even a few cents less. And my Kroger rewards card gets 10 cents off that.

[myredracer]

BB_TX wrote:

OK, I'll bite. Why avoid Shell stations??? That is about all I ever use, both gas and diesel. And if not Shell, then a another name brand station. Only problem I have ever had with bad gas was from a no name station.

I don't know if their gas is greatly superior over any others, but for sure it's usually the most expensive. Sometimes you'll have several other brand stations across the street with lower prices but people still pull into Shell even if there is a large price differential. They def. have a different style of marketing strategy and that I don't want to support. Ferraris, white lab coats & crusty looking valves aren't enough to sway me either.

"Bad" gas can be caused for a number of different reasons from refinery to vehicle owner and can happen with any brand/source. Lots of cases of even Shell and their stations supplying bad gas as in this story. and this story for example. Brand name and no-name stations often buy the same product from the same wholesaler, but regardless of source gas has to meet min. legal standards. For us, I can't see any advantage in paying a premium for Top Tier gas and have never had a problem with gas, ever.

Interestingly, the US has an endless list of independent no-name stations all over while in Canada there are few small time independents.

Anyway, this could be a long topic for another day...

[Matt_Colie]

2gypsies wrote:
Trust me....waiting until you're retired is much too late to start saving.

Trust me on this, if you are saving anything that can be taken away, it is a waste of your effort. I lost the effort of scrimping and saving for 28 out of my 50+ working years when the administration abrogated the bankruptcy laws. Now I have to scrimp and save anywhere I can just to enjoy life.

The hell with saving while you are young. Now I wish I had lived like the grasshopper.

Matt

[TBammer]

Anything the DW buys is too expensive.

[myredracer]

garmp1 wrote:


Pardon my ignorance, but what is CG org?

org. = organization

[BB_TX]

myredracer wrote:
On gas: Rule no.1 - avoid Shell stations. Have never had a problem with no-name gas and will fill up at one if convenient and cheaper........

OK, I'll bite. Why avoid Shell stations??? That is about all I ever use, both gas and diesel. And if not Shell, then a another name brand station. Only problem I have ever had with bad gas was from a no name station.

[bikendan]

garmp1 wrote:
Pardon my ignorance, but what is CG org?

CampGround Organization