If you do not live in California, you should count yourself as fortunate. If you do live in California, then I feel your pain. With unemployment in California being one of the worst states in the nation. Then you add the outrageous gas prices, one can see why more jobs are not being created. The nations average gas prices is $3.65 a gallon. California average gas price is 4.26 a gallon. In fact I think California set a record for highest gas prices during a Memorial day weekend ever, except for Hawaii. The Circle K by my house is $4.51 a gallon, almost a full dollar above the national average. The highest price in the state if from a Mobil in West Covina that is a whopping $5.25 a gallon. Lets take a look at why gas prices in California are so high, and what you can do to avoid getting ripped off.

The main reason California has the 2nd highest gas prices in the country is to keep their air clean. They have the strictest laws on emissions. Even stricter than the federal Government. We pay and extra 5 to 15 cents extra a gallon on a special blend fuel that keeps the pollution down. It is suppose to bring up how much peoples house's is worth, because you can see the mountains. The problem is houses are not as valuable as they use to be, due to the housing collapse. So it is not doing us much good right now. At least we can breathe the air now, without your lungs hurting.

The next reason is gas taxes. Californians pay nearly 70 cents in taxes. The average for the rest of the nation is a little below 50 cents. Over Half of these taxes go to the state government. Believe it or not, most gas stations do not profit much off of selling gas. They average is 5 to 10 cents a gallon profit off of selling gas. Some place less. That is of course if it is a honest gas station. I am sure that one in West Covina is ripping people off.

What can we do to get the most bang for your buck, or should I say bucks. Try not to use your credit card. The stores get a charged a fee every time someone swipes their card. Then they include those fees in the gas prices. I really do not know if that will help much considering someone is always going to use their card, but maybe if everyone would quit using there credit cards at the pump, prices would drop 20 cents or so. Of course banks would not be to happy about that. Just another thing banks and Wall Street do, that makes things harder for us.

Only buy gas where there is many other other gas stations. Usually real nice areas, where people have money, gas is more expensive. Usually these areas do not have many gas stations, so there is no competition for them, and they price gauge. So if you buy gas at places with a gas station right across the street from one another. Then these places will be competing against one an other, and are forced to keep their prices low.

The best way I have found to find the cheapest gas is on the internet. Just type in gas buddy, and find your state. Then enter your zip code. It will give you a list of the cheapest gas in town. It will also give you a list of the highest gas in town. So you know which places to stay away from. Of course most places are out of your way, but there is some places that are reasonably close, and might only take you a mile out of your way. You then just need to do the math on how many gallons you are buying and the extra mileage it takes to get their. To see if it is worth the trip.

That concludes this post I hope it helps people stay informed on how to get the best deals on gas. This article was fun to do because I did not know Hawaii has higher gas prices than California now. They do have to work a bit harder to get their gas. I just find it funny, they live on a island, and their is no way people drive as much in Hawaii as they do in the lower 48. I know many people in California who have to drive 40 to 50 miles just to get to work. That is because there is no jobs in their area. Plus the cost of living where the employment is better is higher, and people cannot afford to move their.