$4 gas (Boston, Watertown, Winchester: house, buy, school)

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

I stopped using self-serve years ago when the attendant turned around and nailed my car with the nozzle putting a big scratch/dent in the side. I watched him do it and felt it, and he denied it. I was 17 at the time, so I didn't really put up much of a fight then.

Ever since then, it can be 20 degrees below 0, raining, and my low fuel light could be on and I will drive past a full-serve station to search for a self-serve.

ugh. yeah that's annoying. I admit i like full serve when it's freezing...sometimes touching the nozzle also makes me nervous with how many other people have touched it and where there hands have been...but hand sanitizer works well

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by simplexsimon

I was joking! Yes it makes perfect sense...what is the alternative?

Just less discretionary spending. Fuel costs are lumped into "family expenses" considered necessary. Just means our budget for doing fun family stuff will be reduced.

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by robr2

On an other forum, a data geek used MATLAB to create a chart taking inflation, actual MPG averages, and gas prices that shows it's cheaper to drive a mile today than it was in 2008, 2015, and other times in the past 30 years.

We look at gas prices as an absolute number.

You're correct. We should take fuel economy into account, and look at $/driven mile.

[GeePee]

Someone at work panic quit last week. He found a job closer to home for a little less money. He stated that he was driving 40 miles a day and he could no longer do it because of gas prices. while this person was consuming his daily $12 food truck offerings I calculated that he was probably spending about half of that to get here. He didn't really want to hear that logic.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

It won't affect my usage at all.

I have no idea what I paid a few days ago to fill my tank. I never look at the price. I just pull up to the pump, swipe my card, and fill it up.


Edit: This response seems pretty smug. See below post for my explanation.

From lots of years driving 40,000+ miles per year, I got into the habit of planning fuel stops at the cheapest station on my route. GasBuddy on my iPhone made that really easy. If I'm driving from the South Coast to Vermont, I take the 30 seconds to plan the fuel stop. I won't go out of my way to buy fuel but I'll buy at the low cost station. The same if I'm out running errands around town. I take a quick look at GasBuddy and fuel up at the low cost station near one of my planned stops.



In the grand scheme of things, depreciation is my big automobile expense. In my current driving pattern, I'm only buying 500 gallons of fuel per year. At $4 per gallon, my car depreciates more than the $2k per year I spend on fuel. It still doesn't mean it's not worth it for me to save $100 over the course of the year buy paying 20 cents per gallon less at the pump by paying a bit of attention.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

I guess i should have elaborated a bit.

Less about it not being a financial burden, and more about just not caring about the day-to-day fluctuations to let it affect what I consider a necessary action on my part. If any concessions with regards to expenses are to be made, it will be elsewhere. But when it comes to driving, i don't have a choice, so I stopped caring. I need to drive to do the things I need to do. I can't do anything about the price of fuel to do these things so I stopped looking. Swipe and go. Less stress. I have other stuff to worry about.

I'm pretty much there as well. I make a point of not spending a penny more than I have to (I usually gas up at BJ's unless the line is too long), but I couldn't tell you what I paid yesterday. I don't sweat the things I can't control.

[GeePee]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

From lots of years driving 40,000+ miles per year, I got into the habit of planning fuel stops at the cheapest station on my route. GasBuddy on my iPhone made that really easy. If I'm driving from the South Coast to Vermont, I take the 30 seconds to plan the fuel stop. I won't go out of my way to buy fuel but I'll buy at the low cost station. The same if I'm out running errands around town. I take a quick look at GasBuddy and fuel up at the low cost station near one of my planned stops.

What kind of car do you use for this commute? What do you do you think is the most effective way to purchase vehicles? I do about 27k a year and my logic is every 3 years buy a 25ish k car and have some trade in value on a newer one with low miles before the big repairs come.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by GeePee

What kind of car do you use for this commute? What do you do you think is the most effective way to purchase vehicles? I do about 27k a year and my logic is every 3 years buy a 25ish k car and have some trade in value on a newer one with low miles before the big repairs come.

My logic would be to buy a used beater Corolla to put most of my miles on, and suck up the repairs (that usually end up being far less than a monthly payment). My "fun" vehicle is for the weekends.

[GeePee]

Originally Posted by massnative71

My logic would be to buy a used beater Corolla to put most of my miles on, and suck up the repairs (that usually end up being far less than a monthly payment). My "fun" vehicle is for the weekends.

sound logic. I feel for those who need to buy a used car (even corolla) right now.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by GeePee

sound logic. I feel for those who need to buy a used car (even corolla) right now.

True, definitely not the time to be buying new OR used right now. The current KBB on the vehicle I bought new in 2020, is higher than I paid out the door at the dealer 2 years ago. I could literally drive it over to Carvana today and make a profit off of it. Only problem is, then I have nothing to drive and who knows what I will find at "that" price in 2022. I guess the smartest thing at the moment is to hold on to what you have, as long as it runs and drives???