Yesterday I filled the van’s tank with gas. At 3/4 empty, it cost $32 to fill. So a full tank of gas would be $43.
For $43 I could buy:
or
or
or
or
or
Now for some more practical applications:
One tank of gas could pay for water and sewer for my home for 2 weeks (including the lawn sprinkers)
One tank of gas could cover either my cell phone or my regular phone for the month.
One tank of gas buys me a subscription to the local paper for a year.
$43 is the cost of a lab test or two for my daughters at the doctor – or half of a sick child visit.
It buys three pairs of shoes for my girls (or countless second-hand clothes).
Or more than a month of diapers and wipes.
Ted and I could go to the movies three times!
Or go out to dinner once….
It gets our garbage picked up for two months
Or 2.5 gallons of milk delivered from the dairy each week four times.
$43 is the first 20 days of our electricity in a summer month.
Or the first 20 minutes of my dental appointment…
Of course $43 doesn’t make a dent in some other bills (such as our mortgage), but it’s wise, given gas prices, to think about what else I could have before I press the pedal and spend… It might seem like robbery but at least it is voluntary…when possible, we can try to choose how much we spend and how little we drive…
As for me – I’d choose the 54 tulips – and walk home with them, arms and face filled with flowers!
NOTE: I edited this entry when I discovered I had made a math error! Oops!
5 responses so far ↓
1 Phil // May 14, 2004 at 12:40 am
To enable comparison, exactly how much fuel would the $40 buy?
2 Julie // May 14, 2004 at 12:49 am
Roughly 18 gallons at $2.23 a gallon
3 Julie // May 14, 2004 at 1:56 am
Oops – I made a math error – it should be more like 19 gallons for a total of $43
4 enoch choi // May 14, 2004 at 2:20 am
gee, i think i’d walk, and have the bottle of ’97 flora springs trilogy we opened in celebration of our new house 😉
5 Julie // May 15, 2004 at 1:52 pm
Enoch – I thought you’d figure out some way to spend $43 on a good bottle 🙂 – enjoy!