Summertime and the livin’ is easy. Fish are jumpin’ and the gas prices are high. Gas prices this month have averaged roughly 60 cents per gallon higher than gas prices were in April. And though they are nearing the $3 mark, prices aren’t even expected to peak until July.

If you plan on driving anywhere this summer, you’d better have a money-saving strategy. Sure, you can use a credit card tied to a gas rewards program, but is there really anything rewarding about using a credit card these days? Better to realize your savings up-front with cents-off-per- gallon promotions. Here are a few:

At Tops, shoppers can rack up 10 cents off per gallon for every $100 they spend using their Bonus Card until July 11. The savings can be redeemed at 30 gas-pump-sporting locations until July 25. The next round of gas bonus card rewards starts up July 26.

Sunoco A-Plus Rewards program works much the same way, but savings are tied to purchases of specific products, the list of which changes monthly. For example, buying two 32-ounce bottles of Gatorade at participating A-Plus convenience store locations this month nets shoppers 12 cents off per gallon. Purchase of a fountain drink or coffee takes five cents off per gallon. Swipe the card for each purchase, accumulate the points (and savings) all month, then redeem them before the month is up.

My friend Discount Dave saved 48 cents per gallon this month simply by spending $15 on items he buys every day anyways. A couple of danishes and Diet Cokes on the way into work and the guy’s filling his wife’s minivan for nearly 20 percent less than the guy next to him.

Check your A-Plus to make sure it participates in the program.

Note, Discount Dave’s 48 cents per gallon savings would have cost him $500 at Tops instead of the $15 it cost him at A-Plus. But, if you do your grocery shopping at Tops, you’d be nuts not to take advantage of the savings.

NOCO Express stores now offer a Friends and Family Club loyalty card. If you add its EZ PAY program, which links the card to your checking account to cover gas purchases, you’ll save three cents per gallon every time you use the card.

Just know that EZ Pay takes two to three business days to activate, and will put an initial hold on your checking balance of anywhere from one to 99 cents to verify the account. Yeah, I know, it’s not even a dollar, but those of us who manage our checkbooks to the cent need to know these things.

Members of BJ’s Wholesale Club get a 20 cents per gallon discount on gas. And this isn’t a case where the nonmember gas price is jacked up so the member price merely appears to be a savings. BJ’s non-member prices are usually rather competitive, meaning member prices can be a downright steal.

If you live close to a BJs offering full gas stations (Allegany, Clarence, Geneva and Tonawanda all do), do a lot of driving or have a large tank to fill, a membership might be worth it for gas alone.

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