Dealing with High Fuel Prices (Part 2): The REAL Cost of Driving

Posted by Danelle Ice - Home Ever After at 10:27 pm

Mar 192008

How much does it really cost to drive your car? I mean in actual dollars and cents, a hard, specific, tangible number, how many cents does each mile cost you?

In the great fuel-cost-reduction brainstorm that happened in my house last week, a real number emerged. From the usual amount of miles we’ve been able to drive on one tank of gas, and the current prices of fuel in our town, we calculated that each mile we drive costs us 17¢. That’s right! Driving our cars = 17 Cents per Mile!

Both of our cars are compacts and relatively fuel-efficient, so while our miles cost us 17¢, many people are paying a much higher price to drive. When you look at driving in this new way, it makes you consider your destinations much more carefully. Using Google Maps to determine how far it is to drive to the places we normally go, we came up with this chart:

Armed with this knowledge, every time I want to leave the house now, I automatically think of how much it will cost to drive to where I am going. For example, I know that dropping and picking up my daughter from school each day is 18.4 miles, and costs our family $15.60 a week. Wow!

While we can’t skip driving to and from school, we can make better choices with how we group our errands together and where we choose to go. We’re even considering switching to banks and other businesses that are closer to our home.

Frugal Challenge: Calculate how much it costs YOU to drive with your primary vehicle. Can you find businesses to use that are closer to home?

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Comments (2)

Elliott - 21st Century Dad

March 30, 2009 at 1:42 pm Reply

The IRS gives us a standard $0.585 per mile deduction, but that’s still only part of the total cost of driving. I remember when it was $0.32/mile!

Since I don’t have a car, I ride my bike a lot. I ride so much, the cost of ownership of a bike has actually become apparent! I’m not complaining. It’s still only a fraction of the cost of driving.
Home Ever After

March 30, 2009 at 7:25 pm Reply

@Elliott: Congrats on moving past the setback of losing your car, and of finding a healthier and more economical alternative! It’s true that the tax deductions for mileage don’t begin to cover wear/tear and maintenance. Owning a vehicle is expensive.

Thank you so much for leaving a few comments – it’s great to see you outside of twitter :)

Danelle