Wednesday, 4/26

I was astounded by the total.

I was getting my hair cut Monday and somehow the topic of my walking to work came up in the course of conversation. It's been 20 years and seven months since I've actually had to drive to work, and a comment was made as to just how much money I've saved by not having to buy gas for that one score and seven months.

So, me being me, I thought about it for a bit, and sat down to figure it out. Wanna know how much I've not spent on gas the past twenty years?

Well, first let me explain the methodology I used. I'm basing all this on my old driving patterns, so I'm assuming that I'm not driving 150 miles a week in a car that would (hopefully) average 30 miles a gallon. I'm factoring in the fact that I still do buy gas on occasion for Loraine's car, and that I (on occasion) do have to haul the car out for various errands or work-related activities. And I'm making the (very big) assumption that over the past 20 years gas has been averaging 3 bucks a gallon (I know; it's higher than that now, but remember, this goes back 20 years to when gas was probably 2 bucks or so a gallon).

So how much money do I estimate I've saved in the past one score and seven months, since I've been (thankfully) able to walk to work instead of drive? Well, based on all that, it's my rough estimate that I've not had to spend $16,068 on gasoline the past twenty years and seven months.

That's not a bad chunk of change, is it?

Now, that number could be higher, especially if I was off on my estimate of the average of gas prices since the end of 2002. But I think that's a good starting point. Add to that the exercise I've gotten walking back and forth to work, along with the pollution I've not spewed into the atmosphere since then, and I think I've come out on the winning end of this whole deal.

I think.

I realize I'm very fortunate.   I realize that not everyone is either lucky enough or healthy enough to be able to walk to work every day. I realize that I'm very out of the ordinary in this regard. But I've noticed that there are benefits of living three blocks from where I work.

And that $16.068 is certainly one of them.

(jim@wmqt.com)