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Miles for March

April 2nd, 2010 at 12:20 am

I've had mixed feelings on the car mile challenge.

We try really hard to keep our fuel costs down, in general.

On the other hand, driving I feel, is one of our luxuries. AND we often drive further out to save money on things. (i.e. I drive a few miles out of the way for my aerobics/yoga class, but it only costs $2.50/class, when I show up. The aerobics classes in my neighborhood cost $8-$10 a pop. Clearly, gas, wear and tear and everything, is worth it).

So basically, I don't feel any motivation to change my driving habits.

BUT, after thinking about it, I decided to keep track. Why? Because the last couple of years I have been AMAZED by our mile figures. We cut WAY back in 2009 and I Really expected a lower annual mileage figure, to show for it. I honestly couldn't tell you how the heck my dh racks up 10k miles per year, easy, though he doesn't have a commute.

SO, I jumped in and kept track.

& now, I wasn't cheating. Didn't see about the challenge until the 2nd, and no idea how much we drove on the 1st (dh had his big out of town appointment). I suppose I will add 200 miles for that, and call it a day (might not be enough!)

981 Total Miles March
-572 Commuting
------
409 miles
------

22 miles x 26 round trips = 572 commuting miles
(I usually don't commute so much - but been working every Saturday).

Other miles break down as:

37 miles errands/kids (one week was really bad since dh still couldn't do much)

40 miles to visit a good friend

132 miles - trips home for lunch (priceless)

200-ish miles - Dh had a big doctor visit in the Bay Area, plus we visited some family and had to pick up the kids after, etc., etc.

All in all, though I drove more for work, I was too busy and exhausted to drive home for lunch as much as I usually do, don't remember the last time I went to the gym or aerobics, and haven't been terribly social. We also tend to drive a lot to visit our friends and family, who mostly live 100-200 miles away.

How much I drive home for lunch is generally dictated by gas prices, and by my budget. When my eldest was born I drove home every noon hour to breastfeed. With rising gas prices I largely stopped the lunch visits. These days, the budget allows a few days a week, which I probably do more when it's busy. It really helps break up the day when it is crazy.

I VERY loosely kept track of dh's driving.

The gory details are here:

Text is http://monkeymama.savingadvice.com/miles-driven-march.html and Link is
http://monkeymama.savingadvice.com/miles-driven-march.html

At the least, I think I will keep loose track of odometer readings on a monthly basis. I think March was a low drive month for us, in general. Will be interesting to see which months we drive more, and why, etc.

Oh yeah, and though walking BM to/from school is a good goal, the challenge wasn't really a motivating factor. I only dropped him off/picked him up on the way to/from work, which didn't *up* my miles at all. (It's a pretty short walk).

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