Cost per mile- This has changed my shopping/driving habits (finally)

[checkerkitty]

I have always been very wrapped up in miles per gallon for my car. I reset my trip odometer every time I fill my car so I can calculate how many MPGs I was getting on a particular tank (trip odometer reading divided by number of gallons put into the tank). In town I get about 18-19 mpg and highway I'll get around 26-28 mpg. As gas prices started going up and up I started to wonder how much it cost me to drive to certain destinations. I took the price I was paying per gallon and divided it by the MPG that matched my driving habits at the time. For example, right now gas is running about $3.77 a gallon here. If I'm running up to my closest grocery store in town and expect to get about 18 mpg, it would cost me approximately $0.209444 cents to drive one mile in my car. Round trip is 3.2 miles (per Google maps). So it costs me about 67 cents to drive to the closest store and back, every time, depending on gas prices.

I have never been a great meal planner. Well, I am now. I used to go to the store 3 or 4 times a week, minimum, for things I would forget. That adds up:

1 trip- 67 cents
4 trips a week - $2.69
over a month- $10.75
over a year- $129

There is a group of stores that I try to hit once a week including Costco, Wally (for a single brand of chicken) and 2 local grocery chains. That round trip runs me almost $3.50.

I've probably gone overboard with some calculations ($2.18 to drive to the in-laws!) but this has really opened my eyes. I am really trying to combine trips and plan better. It has helped me stretch a tank of gas further and be better prepared for meals.

[imagine]

I also get different miles per gallon in winter when I have to warm up the car than in summer.

So a trip in the store in winter is more expensive then one in summer.

One disadvantage to knowing how much each trip is costing me is when my plans have to change.

Several times when I plan to save money by planning to stop at the grocery store on that way home from school pick up (grocery store on the same side of town as the school) and friend of Buddy's needs a ride home. So I end up taking the child home then going back to shop.

This has made me a bit grumpy about other children asking for rides home. This should not be. When a child needs a ride I want to be happy to help not thinking of how much $$$ I'm using Which I am doing.