I have a confession to make.
We have a gas problem.
Sure, we only have one car. And, no, we never really fly. And, happily, we already paid off the car. And, yes, we live in a walkable area. BUT. This summer, we drove to NYC, North and South Carolina, to western Massachusetts, across the state a few times. The result? We’ve been spending absolutely insane amounts on gas for our car. It’s embarrassing, but I have to share:
May: $310
June: $230
July: $267
(The months before that? Around $100-150 a month.)
Oh, friends. It’s not pretty. Not only is this hurting my pocketbook (and pride). Since I claim to care about the environment, it’s even worse.
Every day, I hear reasons for driving less. How the heat from this (SUPER HOT) summer will affect the ozone and trap the fumes from cars in our cities and towns, causing pollution; how the US’s demand for fuel causes conflict abroad; how we will have to ‘drill, baby, drill’ or gas prices will continue to rise due to high demand (false, but anyway). My friend complains about car accident and its consequences. I told her finding an injury lawyer in the Orlando area was a good idea, but she decided to handle everything by herself.
What many people do not realize is that the verdicts and settlements given out for car accidents are, for the most part, paid by the driver’s insurance company. Due to this fact, it is important that you and your legal representative understand how to deal with insurance companies. Unfortunately, some insurance providers are more concerned with the bottom line. They want to keep profits high, often at the cost of the victims who rely on them for help. In order to successfully submit a claim to your insurance company, there are some procedures you should follow. If you were involved in an accident that cost you thousands in medical bills and property damage, it may be in your best interests to have a skilled attorney on your side ensuring that your rights are being protected. Visit https://vinsautogroup.com.sg/car-insurance-quote/ site for the details about car insurance claim.
In order to successfully deal with your insurance adjuster, it could be very helpful to have insight into the different tactics they may use. If you are aware of this from the beginning, you can make sure that you are not being misled. The first tactic insurance adjusters have been known to use is delaying. By drawing out the process of claiming insurance, people are more likely to settle for an amount lower than what they need. They may also request unnecessary information. This could cause victims to fear that there is something wrong with their case. They have even been known to argue about medical treatment. By saying that those injured do not necessarily need a certain medical procedure, they are acting like a doctor and perhaps putting the victim’s health even more at risk.
If your insurance company offers to pay a certain percentage of your health bills, you could be being tricked. They may be responsible for paying your entire bill, but are trying to see if you would settle for less. There are also cases of insurance adjusters pretending like they are your friend. The reason behind this is to manipulate victims of car accidents into thinking they are on their side. Other insurance adjusters use threats to try to get people to accept less money than they need. They may threaten to lower the amount offered at first if the victim goes to a legal representative for help. What they will not tell you is that the settlement usually multiples by over three times as much when they seek representation from a personal injury attorney. If you suspect that you are not being treated fairly by your insurance company or adjuster, it is in your best interests to contact a lawyer as soon as possible. They could be able to help you get the compensation you need.
Every time I hear or read things like this, I feel a pang of guilt: Aiii, Ashley! Why do you guys drive so much??
I have a little business, a little business that I dream of becoming a big business, allowing me to leave my day job and stay home full-time while earning a living designing wedding invitations, coding websites, and photographing little babies. It’s important for us to cut the excess in our budget to allow for this (actually, it’s impertive that we do so, even right now, considering our measly incomes and all). I don’t want to have to go back to work full-time because we aren’t being careful and frugal with our money.
And yet? I continue to drive a few miles to the grocery store instead of walking to the one that’s 1.5 miles away.
Not this month. This month? We’re spending $100 max on gas for our car. Even if it means we have to be homebodies and turn down invitations. Even if we end up walking (or taking the bus) to the grocery store. Even if it means sweating our rear ends off while walking two miles to the art museum in 90+ degree heat like we did Sunday.
No more excuses, Ashley. Walk the walk.
I dream of someday getting rid of our car and living in a city or town where a car-free life with (a) kid(s) is possible. Alas, we are the mercy of Mike’s job hunt once he gets out of his PhD program. An actual job trumps finding our ideal location to live. BUT, I could always work from home and live within walking distance to the university where he’s working. Maybe we could make it work….
I’m curious:
How much, or how little, do you drive? Do you live in an area that is walkable or has great public transit? Where?
..maybe I’ll move there someday.
I spend about $200 a month on gas, and more the last few weeks because my commute doubled. I’m hoping that by the end of the month, I’ll be within walking distance of campus, work and home.
GL with your goal!
It’s so tough when you’re traveling during the summer to keep a tight budget on gas, especially since it’s so expensive these days. And, sadly, I don’t really have any tips on how to make this better, as Winston and I both try to not be crazy with our driving, but we still spend about $200 or more monthly on gas between the two of us. :/
If you think of any tips or suggestions, please let me know this month!
(ALSO, the new site design looks ah-mazing!)
I’m sure if we both had cars, we’d be spending way more, sadly!
My only tips would be: walk or bike instead of driving when you can and do all of your errands one day a week. :)
(ps: I miss you. You are cute. The end.)
Chicago! I sold my car when I moved there and never looked back.
My sister just moved there and sold het car! I do love the idea of living in Chicago…just wish it had better winters!’
What a great goal for this month! Honestly, I couldn’t tell you what we’ve spent on gas this past month, because it’s been crazy with the move. My husband’s commute is almost non-existent (maybe ten minutes including stop lights), but mine increased when I started a new position with my company at the beginning of July. Public transportation is pretty good in the D.C. metro area (where we live), but only if you work close to a metro. I tried to figure out what taking the metro would cost me each day (between driving to the closest stop – where I’m only a few miles from my office), getting off at the next stop, trying to catch a bus to my office, etc and it would end up costing more money than driving would.
However, that doesn’t mean I like sitting in traffic, or using my car. On the weekends my husband and I try to act like a one-car family. A lot of times I won’t be out doing things while he’s at work so we’re not still using twice the amount of gas.
Have you ever looked at a commuting calculator? It’s something like 52 cents a mile for commuting for gas, wear and tear and insurance. Bleh!
I wish so much I could take the bus, but it’s so bad here it’d take 1 hr and 45 minutes for a 15-20 minute drive!
Mike usually bikes or takes the bus to school, happily. That’s why we chose to live in this spot – we have to be close to one of our jobs to make it work!
(do your husband still work at Starbucks? :))
We miss public transportation, since we were able to bus/bike to many locations in the community we lived in before we moved here (for a job). There is no public transportation here (small town in Louisiana that has a University). And one factor that did come into play for us when we were purchasing a home here was the school districts. We could have lived walking distance to dh’s work, but the school district for elementary was not a good choice. And we would have still had to drive to get the kids to school – no sidewalks. Instead we made choices to help our commutes.
The nicest homes in our price range were farther out. We made the choice to live midrange instead. Dh can bike if the weather is good, we live less than 5 miles from work, and now that our youngest is not in the preK across town and is in our neighborhood elementary instead, we live less than 2 miles from the kids’ schools. It’s not perfect but it’s better.
Of course then we have the problem of going to therapy in a town 40 minutes away 2x a week. We are taking a break from that therapy now and the gas bill has dropped 80/month. Nice.
We have 2 cars in a 3 driver family, and some days the dance of who gets what car when is interesting. The kids could ride school buses, but since they would have to get on the bus about an HOUR before school starts (to go to a place that is 5 minutes away), we choose to take them and get more sleep. It was nice having one car and not using it all that much – but reality bites sometimes, I’ve decided.
Ah, yes. Schools are often a consideration as your children get older. It’s a bit of a shame the best ones are often in far-away suburbs without sidewalks!
Our gas budget is twice that as well. I carpool to and from work with my MIL – Nathan drives our car. His job is the type where he has meetings at different locations all over the city every day so he drives A LOT. Apart from commuting to work, though, we’re in a great location for walking everywhere else we need. Church, Nathan’s parents, the library, a couple of parks with playgrounds, three grocery stores, two shopping plazas, the Farmer’s Market – are all within easy walking distance. Of course, I’m the only one who is WILLING to walk those places (or take the bus!) – Nathan hasn’t walked anywhere he could drive or ridden the bus since he got his driver’s license.
Ha! Well I think you deserve some sort of treat for saving you guys a bit of gas money. ;)
We unfortunately drive a lot. BUT we did just purchase a new bike for me, and Dave and I have begun running around a lot more on those, rather than hop in the car. Every little bit helps!
I love biking! How fun!
Oh lord.
I laughed at my misfortune when I read your post, and the comments below.
Between me and Mike, we spend $400+ on gas per month. Part of that I blame on the fact that Illinois has one of the highest gas prices in the country (if not THE highest…I’ve stopped looking, too depressing), though in reality I commute 45 miles one way (1 – 1.5 hours), and he commutes 30 miles one way (45 min – 1 hour).
Unfortunately, since we live a way from the CITY public transportation is scarce. If I wanted to take it I would have to leave my house at 5am, drive to the train station, take the train for one hour, then take two buses to work, resulting in a 2.5 hour commute.
Since I spend SO much time doing all this, I tend to talk about it, a LOT. So apologies for my far-too-long comment!
Ack! Those commutes would probably kill me. Or, at least make me cry.
Yeah, gas prices impact a lot! Ohio is in the mid-range, and when we just went to NY and MA, we couldn’t believe how expensive it was!
I live in Portland, OR, and it is really easy to get around here with a car. We used to live in the suburbs, but now we’re city folk and LOVE it. We’re down to 1 car, and we often go a week without even getting in the car because we can both ride our bikes the 2.5 miles to work. We walk everywhere. Our front of my work is a light rail stop, so we can easily get downtown in less than 10 minutes and not have to deal with the hassle of parking. I love it! We probably spend less than $50 per month on gas.
That said, don’t turn down invites to avoid driving. Years down the line are you more likely to say “gee, I’m glad we didn’t spend time with our friends and family but we saved $50” or “gee, that was silly to not spend time with our friends and family just to save $50”?
$50 on gas? Amazing!
And I was mostly tongue in cheek about the invites. :) But, I suppose it is only one month after all!
I live in the DC suburbs and spend about $40 a month on gas when I don’t travel somewhere far, and I could do better if I tried. DC itself is OK, but since the Metro (subway) goes out to the suburbs (technically, I’d call them semi-suburbs) you can live walking distance to it in some pretty awesome neighborhods. Biking to work is really popular and the bus system is extensive.
We’ve always lived in rural areas (except for a brief 7 month stint in Anchorage), so we have to drive everywhere. When your grocery store is 20 miles away you just have to drive! Since it’s always been that way for me I can’t even imagine being able to walk everywhere. I think it would take a lot of getting used to.
I drive 90 miles a day thanks to my work commute, so… for just my car alone (which is, thankfully, small and fuel-efficient), we pay around $140 per month. Our family vehicle is a minivan and we try to drive it as little as possible if we can help it — just in town. It’s really too hot to walk anywhere right now (summer in AZ) but once it cools off we’ll start walking to church and maybe the grocery store more often.
We’re going on vacation at the end of the month (in the minivan) and I really hope gas prices stay where they are now — when we originally calculated our trip budget several months ago, gas was around $3.75 per gallon so that’s what we used for our estimate. Now, it’s only around $3.27 per gallon, so that’ll save us a bit of money.
I’ve lived in a couple of major cities (New York and San Francisco) but moved a couple of years ago to a small town (in my mind at least): Northampton, Mass. I live here while working on my Ph.D. at a nearby large university. Despite loving NYC transit despite it’s shortcomings, I think this place (the Pioneer Valley) would suit your needs. The PVTA is free for those with a university-issued ID (from any of the Five Colleges: Smith, Amherst, Hampshire, Mt. Holyoke, and UMass), which means during the school year you can access the buses which run fairly regularly (every 20 mins roughly between Amherst and Northampton at least through the town of Hadley). After about 6/7 pm, it gets a little trickier. I also know plenty of people who live in nearby communities who do a mix of a driving/public transport (i.e. drive from Chicopee or Springfield to South Hadley and take the bus in). I’m not sure if I could manage that since that drastically extends commute time but it’s an option. To speak to the other cities I mentioned, SF has certainly felt the hit of California budgets so while once recommendable as a city with quality public transportation, I don’t think I could encourage that choice now (sadly).
The Pioneer Valley also has some decent public transportation to nearby regional locations (MegaBus to NYC, Hartford, and recently Holyoke; Peter Pan to Boston, Worcester, NYC, etc, and Amtrak in Amherst and Springfield). Some of these are harder to get to than others but remain very good options.
Last year, my partner commuted to our university via bike (40 mins) and/or bus (15-30 mins depending on bus) from the town we live in about 10 miles away. He prompted the change by not buying a university parking space. I’m following his lead this year even though the commute is short enough that I’d only buy gas once or twice a month; at nearly $50/fill up, that’s an easy expense to cut out. Good luck to you!
I live in Portland Oregon and work at Portland State University downtown. I only drive my car on the weekends (a fuel efficient Honda Civic) for weekend trips with my boyfriend (who is from Ohio) to the beach (two hours away) or one of our many state parks and rivers. We have street cars/light rail/and buses. I take the bus to work (only 38 dollars a month) from a really great family area near a neighborhood called Hawthorne. (A little Portlandia-ish). :) It’s great never driving and you never have to wait more than a few minutes for the next bus or light rail. You guys should come here!!!
While walking is great for trips less than 1 mile, for those 1-5 miles, biking is often the most efficient mode. A 2 mile, 40 minute, trip by foot, could easily be a 15 minute trip by bike, even at a leisurely pace.
Mike bikes to school, but we haven’t figured out a way to do so with Gabe! I’m not comfortable with him in a trailer on the street, but I don’t know if I’m strong/balanced enough to use one of those bike seats for babies.
Hi Ashley
Go check out this website: http://www.riksha.co.za/ My brother recently bought a Riksha trailer, and it’s simply amazing. Easy to ride with, and you can convert it into a pram. The guy who designed it told us that he often cycles with his son to their closest shopping centre, unhooks the trailer and quickly converts it into a pram and lock his bicycle outside. Once the shopping’s done, he simple converts it back into a trailer, and there’s enough space for daily groceries, and cycles back home! Even if you fell over, the trailer does not tip over. It simply stays upright (believe-you-me, we tested this theory over and over again and it really is true!). It’s easy to pull and your kid is safe since the trailer is also built with a proper roll-cage design. AWESOME stuff!
PS: My husband says I sound like a salesman pitching my product to a customer… LOL
Wow, our gas budget is twice that, because my husband commutes, and I’m about to commute as well.
I’d love to walk everywhere, but it’s not feasible where we live or where we are moving. I spent a summer in Sweden, and I LOVED the fact that you could walk everywhere downtown Uppsala, and everyone does!
I think the actual amount you spend depends on gas prices where you live, as well!
And that number doesn’t include all the other expenses with a car – we just spent 230 on a new ball bearing. Blah!
Portland! I actually ditched my car in sort of a “Can I do this?” experiment (also, my car was on its deathbed and I was too broke to replace it) when I moved to Colorado last January. Boulder’s not the ideal place to be carless, but I made it work. Portland, on the other hand? AMAZING. You can get almost everywhere by streetcar or MAX (train), if you can’t then there are buses that go EVERYWHERE and often. And for when we really *do* need a car, we’ve got Zipcar accounts, meaning we can rent a car by the hour for the time we needed. No car insurance (our Zipcar memberships cover that), no gas (Zipcar covers that also), no car payment, no maintenance, yet all the benefits of needing an SUV for a giant IKEA trip from time to time :) However, we don’t use Zipcar THAT much because the buses, walking, biking, and trains are such a perfect option. Come to Portland!
Also, I love that I just found two other Portland bloggers here :)
We spend around $250-300 a month on gas…sometimes it gets up to $350. I work 40 miles away from home so sometimes it takes me about 45 minutes to 1 hour to get to work and back home too. We only have 1 car but we have a SUV so it’s not exactly the best car for gas. We’re really good at not going out that much on the weekends anyways.
Yeah. Uh. If that’s your HIGH, you would be mortified by what we pay. I’d say a normal month would be $300-$400, depending on what we do. AND we have a sedan. To be fair, gas here in San Diego is ridiculously high (in the top 10 in the country, go us. Wait…), and there’s next to no public transportation unless you live downtown, but yeah. It’s not pretty.
I love our city because it’s big enough to have everything we need but small enough you can go across the whole thing in like 20-30 minutes. My commute to and from work is 5-10 minutes MAX. I do bike about once a week but it’s quite hilly (luckily the hill is on the way HOME) so I don’t do it more than that.
I spend MAYBE $100 on gas a month and I drive quite a bit but usually it’s all short trips. Plus my car is really great on gas! I fill it up once ever 2.5 weeks usually if I’m just driving around town and a fillup costs $40 – $50 depending on fuel prices.
I work at home, so I don’t drive a ton. I did just get my bike from Ohio, though, & I could deifnitely give that a bit more use. Also, I LOVE your new design website. I sing your praises to everyone I know. :)
how about biking?!?!?
Guilty, guilty, guilty here.
We haven’t spent that much on gas this summer, but 90% of what we have spent is totally unnecessary. One of the reasons we moved to DC is great public transportation (at least compared to most of the US). But I can’t handle the heat, so during the summer I drive to the metro station rather than walking, drive to the grocery store, drive to church, etc. They are all short drives, but therein lies the guilt. They aren’t necessary.
Thankfully my husband sort of balances me out. He walks 4-5 miles each day because his work is a few miles from the nearest metro station. But that should be more inspirational than guilt-relieving.
Before we lived in DC we found that it was totally possible to reduce driving by living within walking distance of one of our jobs so that only one of us had to use the car. Housing may cost more, but living close to Mike’s work might totally be worth it as a quality of life issue.
Living in a walkable/public transportationable area is my dream, too. Right now, I drive from my little town to Denver three times a week for an internship, so I spend about $200 a month on gas, which is insane for me. Usually, I spend around $50. We just moved across the street from campus and I’m quitting my job, though, so I’m hoping to slash that but not needing to drive really anywhere. Driving makes me crazy. I would be so happy in a world where everyone walked/biked.
sadly i think i spend at least $100 a month on gas and that’s just on my car, not sure what matt pays. but i would love to live in a city where i didn’t have to drive and could walk places. luckily we can walk to the grocery store and i try and take advantage of that one as much as i possibly can.
Ashley, this post strikes a chord with me for sure. I actually live in a really walkable city: Monterey, CA. Sometimes it seems like a drive to the grocery store must be 5+ miles, but in reality, most of the places I frequent are probably less than 2 miles from my house. Still, I drive almost every day. In a recent post, I pledged to stop making so many short trips for just a few items here or there, but I haven’t broken the habit yet. I’ll be starting a job soon that will require me to commute about 17 miles one way, but I’m still considering going car-free and using our fairly-reliable public transpo. My car is paid for, but with the new commute, I’ll probably spend $60+ per month on gas plus $50+ on insurance. I just doesn’t seem worth it.
Renting a bike?! That sounds amazing. What a great idea!
I did enjoy London’s public transportation when I visited a few years ago. so extensive and easy to use.
I very much appreciate this post, Ashley. I have always driven about 50 miles round-trip to/from work. I used to not worry about it much. That was before, when I had a fuel-efficient vehicle and gas prices were manageable. Now that we’ve become a one-vehicle family and I drive Sweeets’ SUV and gas prices are higher? I cringe!
What we do to limit how much we drive? Sweets bikes to work in good weather and takes public transit in bad (I used to drive him to work a couple days a week – the days I was working at home – no longer). And, I’ve actually increased the number of days I work at home from 2 to 3 days a week. It’s pretty minimal, but it does wind up saving us money (and hopefully not hurting the environment in the process).
We don’t live in a walkable area. In fact, there are barely any sidewalks where we live – I have to hunt for those (it also makes running along busy roads very difficult). Although we drive our car everywhere (because there is no other way around – especially since there is no public transportation and we have been having 100+ degree weather for 43 days straight), we are “only” spending roughly $200 on gas a month for one car. This may seem like a lot for others but for us, in this area, $200 is very little.
I live in the Sacramento suburbs where public transit kind of sucks. My job isn’t conducive to the bus system (it stops running at 7pm or so and there are times I have to stay at work late or even overnight (it has happened!)) AND anyway, it costs $200 for a monthly pass. Isn’t that ridiculous? I thought for sure a monthly bus pass would be like $50!
Anyway, I drive about 70 miles round-trip a day AND I have to pay $200/month for parking. I am weeping all over again just thinking about it!
When I lost my job in May, I sold my car (which wasn’t paid off). However, Jared still has a truck that we share. We spend obscene amounts of money on gas because his truck is not energy efficient and there is absolutely no public transit in my town (no taxis, buses, anything!) and everything is too spread out to walk, nor are there walking paths, and it’s 106 consistently outside (like, old ladies passing out hot). I am aware how excuse ridden this sounds – but it’s hard not living in a town that supports people without cars. Friends in other states and cities always seem to be walking everywhere and I envy them desperately.
Don’t feel too awful. Fuel prices in Britain are ridiculous. We spend £200 (c.£250) on petrol each month just for me to drive to work (40 minute commute)! Prices here are about $5.40 per gallon…!
P.S. Still good to walk where you can… :)
Because I live in Scotland where petrol (gas) is ridiculously expensive I spend on average about £100-£150 a month (£163-£245 approx)however that is just driving to work and going to the supermarket. I could walk to the supermarket but it’s the walk back with all the groceries I can’t cope with. If I have to drive to see my folks or if we go on a road trip (which happens fairly regularly) my petrol costs can double. I do try to walk when and where possible and will take the bus if I really have to but where I live and where I work it is more practicle to take the car when I need to get somewhere. I am trying to cut down on how much I spend fuel because I soon will not be able to afford it but I can’t get rid of my car completely!! xx