Ramblings From Justin Penney

I'm trying to ride my motorcycle as much as possible but I'm not kidding myself on it's 100% usage. My bike was made 29 years ago, it has a charging problem, it leaks a little, it needs an overall tuneup... but it runs and it's fun... and It gets 44MPG even though I sometimes push it pretty hard, I could probably get 50 if I accelerated more slowly. However I still need an automobile for rainy days, winter, moving stuff... you know all the normal things you drive cars for.

My van is currently getting about 14MPG, our car is getting 32. The van is paid off but has needed, and needs, quite a few repairs which are costly and/or time consuming. With the huge cost of gas I started doing some calculations tonight. Assuming we purchased a car that gets around 30MPG, which every car I've owned until the van got, it would be an increase of around $80/month operating costs. If gas goes up to $4 it will equal out to around $60/month.

We've been living on one income the last few months and in doing so we've gotten quite a bit more frugal. We aren't going without for sure, but we are quite a bit more conscious of our spending. A year ago I wouldn't have flinched at this number but today all I can think is, "$80 freaking dollars!" However that would be for a much newer car, that would probably not be as likely to break down and would probably have a warranty. That's a pretty big intangible benefit. If the transmission were to go out on my van, a common failure on this model, I'd be out 6-8 months of a car payment. If it doesn't, "who cares, it's paid off." So I guess I'm gambling. Maybe I'll just drive it until it needs a major repair. At that point it's a no brainer. Or if gas hits $4.60, that's the price of gas that makes it a break even between a new car and operating the van at 14MPG.

# posted by Justin @ 10:17 PM