Many of you probably know your car’s fuel efficiency or MPG. It is a fairly abstract number that tells how far your car will drive on a gallon of gas. Have you ever thought of converting that number into something more meaningful? For example how much does your weekend trip to downtown will cost in gasoline expenses? Or how much do you spend daily on your work commute?
Miles Per Dollar is a simple but very useful calculator I recently stumbled upon. Why another calculator? Here is the authors perspective:
Believe me—when you start thinking about how much money it costs to drive one mile it changes your whole perspective on life. You start to question reality—the world as it really is versus the world as it has been presented to you. And with this changed perspective you might one day even hope to understand “supply and demand.”
It is a good thing price of gas have come down quite a bit over the past few months.
I am speculating if I should hedge against future increase by purchasing some oil ETFs (e.g. USO or OIL)
Great calculator. However, one should note that the cost per mile (or number of miles per dollar) is actually a more dismal number when one factors in vehicle depreciation, maintenance, taxes, insurance, and other less-obvious but essential costs. Some vehicles approach $1/mile when these costs are accounted for — see http://www.commutesolutions.org/calc.htm or http://www.milesgallon.com/cal.....r_mile.php for example.
I have to agree with Mike – there’s more involved in cost per mile formula. If I wouldn’t have to drive to work, we wouldn’t own a second car, big expense right there. I miss public transportation. ;)
Usability, usability. Great calculator but why make it so difficult to vary the gas price? This is one variable that will fluctuate the most…