So you have a car? How to keep it going for cheep cheep.
Accidentally this week I took adeep dive into what it actually it costs me to drive work - and has lead me to discover a heap of ways to change my car/petrol/driving behaviour to make that cheaper.
With some of my daily work hours decreasing to 4.5hr shifts, I decided it was time to calculate the actual cost of drive to work. Sometimes, I think about it, and in the past I’ve driven along and roughly worked out what I think it is in my head - but I never I’ve never done a true calculation. So for the first time I kinda shelved all my other things I like researching and dove into working out the figure. Based on my little car, the distance, the rate of fuel according to my cars actual usage, and at an average rate of $2 per litre price...
So, I worked it out, via Google Maps the distance from my house round trip to work via dropping kids off at school….and back again… and that total is a round trip of 102km.
102km. Wow.
To be honest, I was kind of shocked straight off the bat. And not in a good way - I never thought I was driving over 100km a day. 100km seems a lot.
So, what does my work trip actually cost? Hunting around for info, I came across a little ‘Petrol Cost Calculator’ which works out your distance, petrol and your fuel usage on your car - and quickly I can calculate the price of fuel each trip. And know your cars usage. Mine said it was a 4.7 litres per 100km…but the speedo said it had a number - 6.7 litres per km. Thats a big difference.
So for all those keen - here is that calculator 👇🏻
Petrol Cost Calculator ….. so now what is yours?
Drumroll…So my work route petrol cost is $14.84. So, for the sake never remembering any figures properly…let’s call that $15 flat.
So with my new found fun in petrol fininaces, I decided I’d work other trips I do regularly from the cottage & home again…( maybe you should do the same)
Drive the kids to school $2.24
Local Saturday veggie shop $2.11
The weekly big shop $7.56
Tip shop run $6.80
Going to the Kingston $15.12
Cottage to Officeworks $18.48
But when you start looking at the fine print in calculations - these figures are all based on if you drive at 50-80km an hour - so that great if you're living in the city - but I’m in the country, and frankly I drive faster than 80 to get anywhere. Sometimes much faster. Stats however show that if you go from 100-120km per hour, you're actually consuming about 20% - 25% more in petrol. Then throw in a few steep hilly passes, an extra person in the car for weight or a roof rack and that number just balloons.
Suddenly my $15 to work trip is actually roughly about $19 if I consider the hills and speed I travel. And God help me if I’m late or if I drive anywhere else than the direct path. Especially if I do a ‘pick up eggs on the way + drop in & drop in for a coffee’ And that can be easily tapped on - and for me, that detour route usually adds another 13km to the trip. So maybe it’s actually more like $22. Ouch. Thats $22 after tax dollars - so thats like a $33 earnt in your hand. More outch
So how can I make petrol more affordable? Well heres what I surfaced from a few days of research - and frankly I think I’m on a winner with this all. Financially that is.