Bought 2 small gas tanks last night at Walmart...
Call me crazy but I was walking around the local Walmart last night after work and decided to purchase (2) gas tanks for $3.12 apiece + tax. The adjacent gas station still had gas posted at $2.59 a gallon which was suprisingly low for the area.
So headed over to the gas station and filled them with 4.276 gallons of gas for $11.11. Crazy? Maybe. Bad decision from a personal finance perspective? Lets see.
So my net cost for the gas tanks was 2 x ($3.12 + $0.22 [sales tax]) = $6.68 and my net cost for the gas was 4.276 gallons x $2.59/gallon = $11.11.
I use about a tank of gas (about 11 gallons) every 5-7 days which means even if gas prices spike for 2 weeks after the hurricane I will need to refill during this period.
Lets run 3 quick scenarios assuming everything else is equal:
| Scenario | Value of Gas | Savings on Gas | Result |
| $5/gallon for ~2 weeks | $21.38 | $10.27 | $3.59 |
| up $1/gallon to $3.59 for ~2 weeks | $15.35 | $4.24 | ($2.44) |
| gas prices stays the same | $11.11 | $0.00 | ($6.68) |
Well the results are mixed on simply saving money by buying the tanks and filling them up. However, I think there are some big benefits not highlighted in these scenarios:
1) I can save the tanks till the next hurricane type event and they won't cost me a thing.
2) The hurricane completely disrupts our gas supply chain making gas unaccessible for weeks thereby making it one of the most precious commodities available and I have 4.276 gallons more than most people.
I figure a sunk cost of $6.68 is maybe along the lines of the "Be Prepared" scout motto more than anything. Its worth it to me to reduce my exposure to the unknown event that maybe coming.
I will follow up when I use this gas and see what the end result is. Hopefully I'll be able to report that it was a complete lost of $6.68.
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