saving me money in more ways than one

[KelKel]

So I have started riding my bike to work in order to save money on gas. I have about a half hour commute and my weekly gas bill was eating me alive when I was only getting between 15-18 mph in the truck. Now with the bike I a getting mid 50s and loving it. I filled up my tank for the week on less than $10 . I am finding a new source of savings as well though. I have found that I am much more reluctant to eat out at lunch than I was with the truck. Putting all of my gear on, letting the bike warm up, and then having to re-primp (fix hair, etc) upon returning to work just seems to be too much of an ordeal, so instead I bring lunch with me. Probably a good idea anyway but it was just so convenient before. Regardless, I am loving my little money saving machine more and more each day.

[Paulie]

Six or seven years ago, you could make the case that the motorcycle was pretty close to being as expensive as a car to operate. Now, with the price of gas close to $4 a gallon, it's a no brainer and a good way to save money.

[justinmahn]

My first bike, a VLX, paid for itself in saved gas.

[kacealraid]

I bought my motorcycle because it's all I could afford on the low income I had. Cheap insurance and I could pay for one up front .

[tucker92]

Great way to save money. This is also a test to upload a picture.

[tucker92]

File is too big to upload. Need to find out how to make it smaller.

[justinmahn]

Windows paint can resize and save as either .jpg or .png in Windows 7.

[Fat Kid]

I was long thinking about which impact for a budget my motorcycle have made, and what are the benefits of ownership.

Up to date i have spended $5k onto motorcycle, accessories, equipment, service. That's an roundup number. I think it's less but to be fair i put it on larger side.

The main benefit of owning motorcycle is gas, what becomes more and more expensive.

So my calculations are made on comparison with my SUV which is now belonging to my wife. What is excluded is compensation for purchase of a new car and amortization of ownership of that car. Amortization of ownership for motorcycle is excluded as well (besides cost of oil&filters).

So to make long story short, that's my formula:

6k miles is a distance i've put on my motorcycle. Average mileage per gallon is 50. Average price of gas is $4
Average mileage for car is 19mpg.

6k/50*4= $480 spent on gas for motorcycle
6k/19*4= $1263 possible expense on gas for car

overall profit - $783

Expenses left: $5k - $783 = $4214

To calculate period to get to if not profit but no expense, I've calculated profit from 1k miles - $132 (clear).

So to balance it up I would need to ride ~26k miles without spending a dime on anything.

I hope it's not too confusing...

But so far motorcycle isn't cheap but in the long run - it's times cheaper.

[KelKel]

If we are going to factor in things like cost of bike and such as well, then I STILL come out way ahead. Bike cost $300. Put about $150 into it to get it running right. About $200 in gear (brother works at Cycle Gear). Then add insurance for an entire year $98. And lastly license and registration $20. You can't even dream of a car working out that good.

[1234thunder]

Originally Posted by Fat Kid

Expenses left: $5k - $783 = $4214

To calculate period to get to if not profit but no expense, I've calculated profit from 1k miles - $132 (clear).

These two sentences make no sense at all.