Since June of 2005, I've been keeping a record of how much I've been spending on gasoline. This wasn't just to see how much I've spent, I was curious about what kind of mileage I was getting in the green Saturn. I started doing this when gasoline prices were on the rise at the beginning of summer '05, when the fear of $3.50 gas was looming. I found it interesting how much prices fluctuated, and when. The lowest I've paid for gas since June of '05 was $2.06 in December. The lowest in '06 was in February at $2.16. The highest entered in the log in 05 was $3.19 in September; I expect that to be eclipsed sometime soon, I haven't updated the log since June 15th. I know I have paid over $3.00 in the second half of June.

Some interesting things to note, the green Saturn gets about 26.59 miles per gallon, with an average station visit of $14.72 or $2.55 a gallon averaged out over the course of a year. On average I put 5.861 gallons in the car, with a grand total of 638.8836 gallons, or 1.75 gallons a day. I know that seems like a lot, it is, but you have to consider that my commute to work is about 45ish round trip. In the course or a year I have driven 16993 miles or 46.55 miles a day. I have been curbing my unnecessary trips, no more road trips to look for typewriters and other antiques in the far of distant lands of Woodstock and beyond, and if I do go anywhere my trips are consolidated, get everything done in one trip, all routed out with walking a big part of it.

In thinking about this stuff, it makes me want to get some other form of transportation, either something that gets better gas mileage like a scooter or something that doesn't use fossil fuels at all. It seems that the types of vehicles I would want either don't exist yet or are too expensive. I've been keeping my eyes peeled for different types of vehicles that would fit the bill, from hydrogen fuel cell motorcycles to Smart cars, something will show up that makes sense. In the meantime I am trying to save money by not driving everywhere, conserving fuel and keeping the Saturn in top shape. Just imagine if I was still driving any of my old cars, the old Ford Crown Vic, aka the Star Destroyer, the Chevy cavalier, better known as the CommieWagon of Doom or even the Tempo of Doom.

Mpg city highway combined: 26.59
Average price per gallon: $2.55
Average station visit cost: $14.72
Average gallons per visit: 5.861
Total gallons 6/3/05-6/2/06: 638.8836
Average gallons used per day: 1.75
Total driven in one year: 16993
Average driven per day: 46.55
Average cost per mile: $0.10
Lowest cost per gallon '05: 2.069
Highest cost per gallon '05: 3.199
Lowest cost per gallon '06: 2.169
Highest cost per gallon '05: 3.059
Total cost one year: $1604.85

June 3rd 2005 cost per gallon: 2.149
June 2nd 2006 cost per gallon: 2.989
Difference in one year: $0.84 increase.