An Unpleasant Surprise:Your Annual Cost of Gas

By: Scott Siegel


As the price of gas has steadily increased so has your annual gas expenditure. It has gotten to the point that it has become a major part of your family expense. But do you really know how much you are spending per year on gas? Most drivers know what it costs for a fill up but not many can confidently state how much they spend per year.

It is easy to figure out and only takes a few minutes. That being the case one would think that most drivers would take the time to work the calculations and determine their annual expense. But most don't. If they did they might realize how important it is to their financial health to do something about it.

Almost every day, we see the increases to the price of gas. $3.00, $3.19, $3.39 per gallon, even $3.49 and $3.59 per gallon are costs that we have seen this year. Not long ago $3.00 for a gallon of fuel seemed high. Now $3.00 looks like a bargain.

The American Automobile Association generally figures 15,000 miles as an average amount of miles per vehicle per year.They use that figure when they do cost calculations. If you on average travel 15,000 miles a year in a auto that has a fuel economy of 20 miles to the gallon, you will purchase somewhere in the neighborhood of 750 gallons of fuel per year. If the price is $3.00/gallon that means an expense of $2250.00 per year.

If you have a two car family and both cars average 15,000 miles per year you will use 1500 gallons of gasoline annually. 1500 gallons costing $3.00 per gallon equates to $4500.00 in expense per year.

If the price of gas is $3.49 per gallon of course the results are significantly higher. If you are a one car household utilizing 15,000 miles per year you will have an expense of over $2600.00 annually. If you are a two car family your yearly costs will be over $5200.00 annually. That equates to $437.00 monthly. You are likely spending more for fuel than you spend on a car payment.

Every time that the price of gas goes up at the fuel pump by 10 cents the total increase for your two car family will be $150.00 per year. When you see the price jump 20 cents in one day, think annually. Realize that the 20 cent increase will cost you $300.00.

When you consider the yearly cost of your gasoline it is staggering. When you consider that you may be spending $5200.00 per year just for gas it could well be time to seriously look at ways to lower that cost. As you figure out the 20 cent increase at the pump today will really cost $300.00 this year it becomes a great motivator to do something about it.

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Information about the Author:

Scott Siegel is the author of a 143 page book of automotive industry insider secrets on saving gas and dollars at the pump (beatthegaspump.com). Visit us to discover how you can get better gas mileage. Find out how to increase gas mileage.
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