Wise Words

NFL.com's Greeg Easterboork, who writes Tuesday Morning Quarterback and a host of other things for other people, included this tidbit in his column from a few weeks ago.

And Crank Up the Air Conditioner As You Drive Around Trying to Save on Gasoline
With fuel prices rising, last week the American Automobile Association advised motorists to "shop with their steering wheel" by driving around and looking for the cheapest gas. This is terrible advice. If the pump price is $3 a gallon, a car that gets 20 MPG consumes 15 cents' worth of gasoline each mile. Motor more than a couple miles looking for the cheapest gas and you've already spent your savings -- considering filling stations know each other's prices and usually post rates only a few cents different from the next guy's. And gasoline is hardly the only expense of operating a vehicle. Cars, pickup trucks and SUVs cost on average about 40 cents per mile to operate, when fuel, maintenance, repairs, insurance and depreciation are taken into account. (The estimate comes from the Internal Revenue Service, which allows a deduction of 40.5 cents per mile for business or charitable use of personal vehicles) So if you drive five miles to "shop with your steering wheel," you've just spent $2 -- and you're not likely to find a station where a fill-up is $2 cheaper.

With fuel prices rising, last week the American Automobile Association advised motorists to 'shop with their steering wheel' by driving around and looking for the cheapest gas. This is terrible advice. If the pump price is $3 a gallon, a car that gets 20 MPG consumes 15 cents' worth of gasoline each mile. Motor more than a couple miles looking for the cheapest gas and you've already spent your savings -- considering filling stations know each other's prices and usually post rates only a few cents different from the next guy's. And gasoline is hardly the only expense of operating a vehicle. Cars, pickup trucks and SUVs cost on average about 40 cents per mile to operate, when fuel, maintenance, repairs, insurance and depreciation are taken into account. (The estimate comes from the Internal Revenue Service, which allows a deduction of 40.5 cents per mile for business or charitable use of personal vehicles) So if you drive five miles to 'shop with your steering wheel,' you've just spent $2 -- and you're not likely to find a station where a fill-up is $2 cheaper.

I've been trying to tell people I know this for years, but no one seems to believe me. Also, that 40.5 cents the IRS recommends? We get 22 cents per mile at my office.

Anyhow, I read TMQ as much for the non-football stuff as I do for the actual football insight, which is always a cut above the rest.