Bike to Work, Save Money

One way I have found saves money is by biking to work. There are lots of benefits besides saving money on gasoline as well.  It's better for the environment and you get a great workout at the same time.  If you work in an area that doesn't have a lot of parking, it also reduces the need to search for a parking space and could save you money paying for a space in a lot.

This could be difficult for some people, as distance or weather are often a factor. But if you can manage to do it, you can save hundreds of dollars in gas and wear and tear on your car. To figure out how much you save in gasoline, find the total mileage to work.  Then, use your car's gas mileage to determine the number of gallons of gasoline that are consumed in one round trip.  Multiply the number of gallons times the cost of gas and you have the total dollars saved in gasoline.

For example, my commute is four miles each way.  In total, I drive about eight miles a day to and from work.  My vehicle gets 22 miles per gallon. This means I use 8/22nds of a gallon on each trip.  With gasoline at $3.50 per gallon, biking saves $1.27 each day in gasoline.  Once more, you can count about ten cents per mile as depreciation on your vehicle (the cost to replace the car), which totals about $0.80.  Even more important, I pay $5 for a parking spot and it takes me about ten minutes to walk from my parking spot.  So, biking would actually put me at the front door of my building, saving me 20 minutes of walking, and the total savings is $7.07 per day in parking, gasoline, and depreciation.

Try biking to work out and start reaping in the rewards!