Does Saving Money cost Time?
There are many newspaper articles and studies coming out about ways to improve your gas mileage and therefore save money. With the slowed economy it is obvious why so many people are looking for ways to cut costs. The interesting thing is to see how people respond with the same data. Some look at the numbers and say “Yes, I would drive 10 mph slower to save $.56 per gallon.” Others say, “No, it only saves me 3.5 pennies per mile.”
The biggest factor seems to be Time. Is the money saved worth the time lost? The difference between 65 mph and 70 mph correlates to .75 seconds lost per mile (CBO Study). After driving for 1 hour you have lost 4 min and 37 sec of traveled time but have saved 80 cents. After an hour of lost time (not clock time) you would have saved $10.45 by going 5 mph slower. So is 80 cents worth leaving 5 min earlier? Well for one day maybe not, but if you leave 5 min earlier every hour commute then (80 cents*2 trips per day *5 days a week * 26 weeks a year= $208 a year). This is just reducing your speed 5 mph. For those who tend to drive over the speed limit this value increases.
Another math example is at the gas pump. Today’s average gas is $3.35 per gallon. Many drivers will wait in line for just a 10 cent decrease. However, by slowing down 10 mph, then the average user will save 4 mpg. So if your car has a 12 gallon tank and you normally get 20 mpg then you can go 240 miles on one tank of gas. However if you get 24 mpg then you can go 288 miles on that same tank. So you would need 2 extra gallons at 20 mpg to go 288 miles or spend an extra $6.70. If you split the difference evenly then it is equivalent to buying the same 12 gallons at $3.91 per gallon of gas, or a savings of $.56 per gallon.
So if you are willing to wait 15 min in lines to save 10 cents per gallon (in this case $3.25) you are saving $1.20 to wait in line. By driving 5 mph slower for an hour commute to work (there and back) you save $1.60. Driving 5 mph slower to work and having it take 10 min longer from your day it saves you 5 min from waiting in line for cheaper gas. So instead of wasting the time and gas to drive to the cheapest station across town, just slow down and enjoy your drive. It will actually save you time to Drive Slowly.
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