How much is vanity worth?
The decision to not drive my accident-damaged car is mostly based on vanity issues. I don’t want to drive a car that is smashed in on one side, no matter how much I love the car or how much I dislike driving our other two vehicles. We decided to keep the car, as-is, and the partner can start driving it to work since his commute is 70 miles a day and his current vehicle gets about 16mpg and the car gets 30mpg. Before that switch happens, though, there are still some repairs/improvements the partner wants to make and there is the issue of wrapping his mind around driving a stick-shift car. The partner worked on the car a bit this weekend, making it drivable and the passenger door is now mostly-operable. But, he’s not quite ready to drive it yet, so it’s in the driveway this week.
I had several errands to run today, which happened to be in opposite directions. Living out in the country has the disadvantage of being far away from everything. Last night, as I planned out my morning trip: chiropractor, freecycle pick-up (on the way), fabric store, feed store, and attorney’s office – I realized I was going to be doing a lot of driving. Since the partner had fixed the immediate driving problems with the car, I had the option of driving it or the utility van I’ve been driving. Because the cost of gas is at the seriously-painful point, for me at least, I couldn’t ignore the financial implication of my two options:
- All of my errands totaled a 41.5 miles roundtrip. Current gas price is $3.79/gallon.
- Vanity Option: Drive the van, at 18mpg, for a cost of:$8.74
- Practical Option Drive the car, at 30mpg for a cost of: $5.24
I decided to save the $3.50 and go with the practical option. Also, considering the fact that 30mpg is my low estimate and the majority of my driving is at highway speeds (one advantage to country living, everything may be far away, but you don’t have to crawl to get there), I probably saved a bit more than that. I still don’t want to drive the car, but if it means helping our dollars stretch a little further – I will do what I can.
Also, since the accident, our gas usage has dropped dramatically. Because I dislike driving the van, I will stay home if I have the choice. This means combining trips even more than before and resiting the urge to just get out of the house – a very common issue for me. Now that I have the option of the van or the car, at least till the partner finishes the improvements he wants, I’ll still probably chose to stay home due to vanity and gas-price concerns.
Mrs. Micah
May 19th, 2008 11:34
Handy, that vanity can work for you if you combine your trips with the van. I think many would have just gone with the van without thinking about gas.
New Car Drama » The Weight of Money
July 1st, 2008 10:09
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