Point of breaking even

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supertracylynn
supertracylynn Posts: 1,338 Member
in Chit-Chat
Being a math/logic person, I had to do the math.

Gas prices are rising with no hope of going back down to less than $3/gal. That being said: I work from home with an office meeting 35 miles away once a week, my church is 40 miles away (once a week), and my Darling lives 50 miles away (I visit once a week when I'm not driving my kids to their dad's). These are things that are not negotiable in my mind.

The things that ARE negotiable in my mind are the stores I frequent. I live in a fairly small town and everything is within 4 miles one way so I shouldn't "have" to drive there. Granted, I have 3 kids, my youngest is 4 so is rather untrustworthy to be riding a bike so near the street. No longer wanting to lose weight, I'm not gung-ho on the idea of running to the store to have to run home with a full stroller (not to mention, that would be hill-acious!).

My van gets 15mpg in city, allowing for stop lights, traffic, and such. I'm also using the average of $5/gal for gas.

Here are the numbers round trip per week:
2miles to the gym
7miles to our regular grocery store
8miles to the farmer's market and library
4miles to the bank once every 2 weeks.

That's 30miles per week, $10 gas. For a month, that's $40.

I've scoped out a tandem attachment that would work for my 4y/o to ride with me so she gets exercise too (I am all for having children who are exhausted as I am!) that would be $75 (amazon.com!) Bikes that would be suitable for me are about $135.
Total, $210 for a bike/equipment/whatever.

It would take me about 21wks to recover my costs.
if gas goes up to $5.50/gal, it would be 19wks.
$6/gal is 17.5wks to "break even".

Beyond that, it would be one more fun thing to do with my kids, promote fitness, help the environment, AND my Darling is a cyclist.
Win, win, win, win, Right?

Replies

  • Sarahbara76
    Sarahbara76 Posts: 601 Member
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    full of win beautiful ;-)
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
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    Do you have cold winters?
  • IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym
    IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym Posts: 5,573 Member
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    you, my dear, are a genius!
  • supertracylynn
    supertracylynn Posts: 1,338 Member
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    Do you have cold winters?

    Not particularly. It doesn't rain much here in this part of So Cal either.

    Factoring that in, There's no reason why earmuffs (which would be necessary no matter what since we already walk to/from school (1mile there, 1mile back) and a sweater plus coat wouldn't work.
  • MattTheWaterRat
    MattTheWaterRat Posts: 167 Member
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    You could factor in the cost of maintenance for your bike.

    Rather than using an average for the cost of gas, you could use the rate of increase of the cost of gas in California, then use that number in a present value calculation to solve for the time to break-even.

    Beyond crunching numbers, I would recommend selling or trading in your van for a more fuel efficient vehicle.
  • supertracylynn
    supertracylynn Posts: 1,338 Member
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    Beyond crunching numbers, I would recommend selling or trading in your van for a more fuel efficient vehicle.

    I have thought of this as well. I chose not to because:
    I own my van outright, it is in good repair, most of my traveling gets me a respectable 20mpg, my traveling is usually with 3 kid and occasionally my dog, my vehicle seats 7 which gives me the ability to carpool, and not to mention that when I'm training for a half marathon, I load my van up with 2 of my kids' bikes and a jogging stroller so we can go run somewhere less dangerous (and more pleasing to the eye) than my trafficky area.
    As it is, I spend about $100 in gas in a bad week. That's a heck of a lot better than $200-300 for gas plus the $200 new-to-me car payment.

    Eta: Eliminating errands, I drive 250 miles/wk and typically fill-up every 350-400 miles.

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