Think of it as a way of locking in your mortgage interest against potential rate hikes or having a futures market for petrol at your own disposal.

Steven Verona, founder and owner of the Miami-based MyGallons.com startup, explains that in reality the idea is even less complicated. "We don't sell futures," he says. "It's prepurchased gas." The recently introduced service simply enables drivers to buy gas in the future at present prices.

The assumption that gasoline costs will only go up, the underlying principle of the scheme, has insofar been a safe bet. According to the PC Magazine, "on Monday, the average retail price for U.S. gasoline hit a new record of $4.10 a gallon, rising 1.6 cents over the last week and up $1.14 from a year ago." This upward trend is largely responsible for drawing nearly 2,000 people nationwide to purchase gas from MyGallons since its initial launch in January.

"There is that risk that the price could fall significantly," said Verona. "But I think that most people would agree that risk is pretty minimal. Overtime, it is going to go up even if there is no change in the supply/demand relationship because inflation alone would push the price up."

To learn more about MyGallons.com read the full article at PCMag.com.