Funny how TV works. Saw the gentleman who runs gaspricewatch.com on MSNBC this weekend past and figured that a worthwhile consumer advocacy site would be important to pass on to you, dear reader. Based out of (why-oh-why) Ohio, the site monitors gas prices across the U.S. and its territories through "partners" that log in and quote the prices at their nearest gas stations.

The website then sorts the data for cheapest-gas-near-you-searches and also displays the info date. As an example, the cheapest gas to be found in San Juan, Puerto Rico is the Shell Station on Avenue Franklin Delano Roosevelt - $2.98 per gallon of regular unleaded. But that info was last updated more than three days ago.

To test the accuracy of this free service for my own area, I typed in my own zip code and found prices to be woefully out of date - off by as much as 40¢ a gallon. So, it ain't perfect by a long shot. But it can be a useful service, nevertheless.

Also included is a section that gives advice on how to save fuel in your day-to-day driving. Some obvious tips are in there such as monitoring your tyre pressure, but the following I didn't know:

How to Buy Gasoline

1. Buy gasoline during coolest time of day - early morning or late evening is best. During these times gasoline is densest. Keep in mind - gas pumps measure volumes of gasoline, not densities of fuel concentration. You are charged according to "volume of measurement".

2. Normally the best time to buy gasoline from a pricing point is Wednesday morning. The prices are usually moved up for weekend by the oil companies and by Wednesday you have had three days of competition setting in among the stations to help drive the price down a few cents.

3. Most stations generally raise or lower their prices in the morning - around 10 AM. Expect a rise to occur on Thursday morning.

And there's more. So, all in all it's worth a look for any American motorist.

[Source: GasPriceWatch.com]