Brief Editorial on Car Ownership
 

Soap box moment: any one check out the current price of gasoline in your city and then remember that you bike all year?

It's not quite the same, WFH, but I saw some gas prices last week and remembered the last time they were this high. At that time I was saving $100 a month bicycle commuting, and felt free to spend it on shorts, gloves, and the various accoutrements of cycling. This time I may just buy another bike. :)

Every time I start worrying about the price of gas, I do the math. I drive about 12,000 miles a year and my car averages 32mpg in the long run. That implies 375 gallons per year. So, if prices go up a dollar per gallon, that's an incremental $375 per year, which is less than $32 a month. THAT is not where I'm getting hurt. Food is what's kicking me in the, ah, "shins". I almost barked out loud in the market the other day when I saw the price/pound of sirloin. The effects of food cost increases are hitting me A LOT harder than gas prices. "Yeah, honey, burgers sound great."

I have roughly 10 mile RT, from where I drop off the kids and park the truck and begin my ride, to work. I've got a "9/80" schedule so that's 90 miles a paycheck and 2340 miles a year if lucky. Said truck gets awful 13 mpg city on premium. So potentially that's 180 gallons a year saved, which might be like $600-900. Which is a nice metric but not determinant. I'm in it for the exercise.