Where To Find Cheapest Gas This Weekend

Patch published a Belleville-Nutley roundup on May 23 directing drivers to local gas stations with some of the lowest reported prices ahead of Memorial Day weekend. The post appeared on the Belleville-Nutley Patch homepage as holiday traffic began building and fuel costs remained elevated nationally. AAA said on May 21 that the national average for regular gasoline had reached $4.56 a gallon, the highest Memorial Day weekend level in four years. GasBuddy said on May 18 that its nationwide average stood at $4.47 a gallon, based on more than 12 million individual price reports. ### Where were Belleville and Nutley drivers told to look? Patch’s Belleville-Nutley site listed “Find Cheapest Gas In Belleville-Nutley For Memorial Day Weekend” among its latest local headlines on May 24. The item pointed readers to station-by-station price checks in Belleville and Nutley rather than a single townwide average. Patch’s local gas-price items in the area have relied on GasBuddy’s crowd-sourced station reports, which let users compare prices by address and payment type. GasBuddy’s consumer site says drivers can search by city or ZIP code, filter by regular fuel, and compare cash and credit prices. That matters in North Jersey, where advertised prices can vary depending on payment method and the timing of the latest user update. ### How much did the broader market matter this weekend? AAA said on May 21 that holiday travelers were heading out as gas prices hit a four-year Memorial Day weekend high. The group put the national average for regular at $4.56 a gallon, up 3 cents from a week earlier and $1.38 from a year earlier. AAA said gasoline demand rose last week to 8.76 million barrels a day, while domestic gasoline supply fell to 214.2 million barrels. GasBuddy’s May 18 market update showed a slightly lower national average of $4.47 a gallon. Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis, said gasoline and diesel prices were likely to remain volatile as oil markets reacted to geopolitical developments and supply concerns. ### Why can one Belleville station be cheaper than another nearby? GasBuddy says its listings reflect user-reported prices from individual stations, and those reports can differ by time of day, fuel grade and payment method. A station offering a lower cash price can appear meaningfully cheaper than a nearby competitor that posts a higher credit price. A listing can also move quickly if a station updates its board after a tanker delivery or in response to nearby competition. AAA’s national data and GasBuddy’s national tracker show the wider backdrop, but neither replaces a live station check for a specific neighborhood. That is why Patch’s local holiday item focused on reported prices at named stations in Belleville and Nutley rather than promising one fixed price across both towns. ### How should drivers check before filling up? GasBuddy says users can search current prices near them and sort by cheapest station. The company also allows filters for fuel type, brand and payment method, which can change the final out-of-pocket cost. AAA said drivers can also use its TripTik travel planner to find current gas and electric charging prices along a route. Belleville and Nutley motorists making short holiday trips may see only modest total savings from chasing a few cents per gallon. But a larger fill-up before leaving Essex County can still produce a noticeable difference if one station is pricing well below another a few blocks away. ### What comes next after the holiday rush? Memorial Day travel continues through Monday, May 25, and station prices can change over the course of the weekend as new reports come in. GasBuddy updates its station listings continuously from user submissions, and AAA updates state and national averages daily. Drivers in Belleville and Nutley looking for the latest local numbers can keep checking those live tools through the end of the holiday weekend.