How many gallons of gas do you use a week?

[BeTheChange]

Poll question: How many gallons of gas do you use a week?

Ill start. My husband and I use less then a tank a week (12 gallons) and have a car that gets over 25 mpg. HOWEVER, we both telecommute and have no children or obligations that force us to even leave the house.

How about you?

I just want to get a clear picture as to how a gas hike of 20 cents impacts the wallets of an average american family.


*** edited****
I took out the verbiage of less then a tank because a car's tank size can be so variable.

[Roland99]

1. A tank will last me two weeks

Then again, I have a 6-mile commute (round-trip) ;)

[Beaverhausen]

2. I have a short commute and a Prius - life is good!

Hi BTC!!! :hi:

edit- oops! need.more.coffee!

[okieinpain]

11. braggert...

[Beaverhausen]

17. I do feel bad for those who have long commutes and drive gas guzzlers

really, I do! ;-)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

43. I don't

Nobody forces people to live in a car-burb and drive a gas guzzler. It's just mindless consumerism.

And don't give me that nonsense about not being able to afford a house closer in. What people really mean is that they can't afford a house of the SIZE they think they need. Even if they really can't afford a house, there are other things to invest in. And each SUV you get rid of saves you thousands of dollars a year--tax free.

[okieinpain]

46. no I can't afford to move. and I need my truck for the work I do.

[BeTheChange]

12. Heh...

Hi to you too.. but Im BTC ;)

[MissB]

3. A tank lasts me almost 2 weeks.

And I get about 22 mpg. A tank is 18 gallons.

I don't work out of the home, though. My consumption is strictly errands or fun stuff.

Dh bikes to work.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. My car gets near 30 mpg

and at 250K on the engine, I don't think that's bad. My problem is a long commute once a week.

[texastoast]

5. Ride the bus when I can

but still use about 20 gallons a week, mostly sitting idling in the middle of poorly planned urban sprawl traffic jams. 60-mile roundtrip commute.

[hexola]

6. Ford Van, Chevy Caprice Wagon, Roadmaster...

All big hogs...especially the van...I only use that for work/hauling.

The Chevey is getting worse...nearing 200,000 miles.

The Roadmaster has a corvette engine in it...

I have an old Nissan Sentra wagon - broke the glass out of the hatch - but its going back on the road...SOON!

[seabeyond]

7. i get gas ever 2-3 weeks, a saturn l300, not sure on milage

i use a lot less in summer when kids arent in school. almost all usage is driving and picking kids up

[femmedem]

14. Between my husband and me, we use less than 5 gallons

per week. I made a commitment about 8 years ago to only work walking distance from where I live. It's meant changing jobs a few times, but I've been able to do it.

Oops. I meant to respond to OP. Sorry.

[seabeyond]

20. but.... good for you. wink n/t

[Sammy Pepys]

8. A tank will usually last me three weeks.

I only fill up about once a month. I mostly use public transportation whenever I can. I think I might drive about 20-30 miles a week overall.

[TomInTib]

9. I rarely leave my house...

and the grocery store is about 400 yards down the hill.

[wtbymark]

10. 70mi round trip per day

GMC 6cyl P/U 5 speed - bout 4gal/day to be safe

[BeTheChange]

15. Are you a contractor?

Or another like profession? Cause that kinda spending on gas, not to mention maintenence of a car would kill me.

[newportdadde]

13. If you want to track fuel, try gasbuddy.com then go to your state.

They have a nice fuel logbook you can use. I've been recording my gas purchases in it for about 9 months.

Total gas used this year starting with a fillup on 1/3/06
Vehicle - 99 V6 Mustang

Total quantity - 127.845 gallons

Total cost - 283.68

Average price - 2.212

Average fuel economy - 22.17

Total fillups - 11

[BeTheChange]

23. I dont really want to know about price. I want to know how much people use

For me.. when gas goes up .20 a gallon overnight it impacts us 3 bucks a week MAX.. so although Id definately like to pay .99 a gallon, I dont get that up in arms over that portion of our economy. If we look at a true cost economy, gas would be more expensive then caviar.

However, I want to understand how it is effecting the average American family that does have kids and little league practice... or the person that is a contractor and hauls around lumber in their trucks while builders make all the profits.. or whatnot.

[Blue_In_AK]

16. A tank lasts us for quite a while...

We have a Ford Ranger. I have no idea what the gas mileage is, but I work at home and my husband is retired so we probably don't travel more than 50 or 60 miles a week unless we go out of town to take photos or something.

[Horse with no Name]

18. I have a jeep and get about 22-23 mpg

and living rurally as I do, I commute approximately 300+ miles a week.

[Warpy]

19. I got about six months out of a tank

in my old Ford Ranger. I live alone and in the inner city.

My other car is an electric moped. I use it for most short trips when I'm not hauling cases of soda or building materials.

[dr.strangelove]

21. My old car gets about 15 mpg

but I use it to get to and from the train station, so I don't have to drive the 60 miles each way to work. I use a tank (16G) every 7 work days or so.

[Cleita]

22. None of the above. I don't really know the miles per gallon, but

I managed to go two months on one tank of gas by planning my trips into town to get a lot of things done at once. I finally had to fill my tank yesterday after two months. Of course I was presented with the $2.83 a gallon price which was up from $2.56 a gallon that I paid the last time.

How do you say, STICKER SHOCK!

[BeTheChange]

26. So you use less then a gallon per week?

;).. That is a pretty small tank you got there.

[Cleita]

32. I don't go out more than once a week if I need to shop, run

errands or go to the doctor. Most of where I need to go are clustered in one area. Often I go two weeks without leaving my house. I pretty much stay up on my hill, gardening, working on other household projects and of course surfing the internet.

The internet is the ony traveling I do anymore. It's a personal thing with me to stick it to the oil industry because I can. This is the second year I haven't turned the heat on because I don't want to use the propane more than I have to. It has become very expensive too.

I'm trying to talk family into investing in solar panels to lower the electric costs and another way to stick it to them. Also, much of our electric comes from the nearby nuke plant, a big no no in my mind.

[Rude Horner]

24. 90 miles round trip every day

A use about a tank and a half every week, so about 25 gallons. I work in Madison, WI and the property values there are insane. The only housing I could afford was 45 miles away, in Dodgeville. I bought my home in Dodgeville about 5 years ago. Brand new home - $127,000.00. That same home in Madison would be $220,000.00 - bare minimum.

[norml]

25. I've never figured my mileage. I drive a 1988 4 cylinder Olds.

I deliver pizzas six days a week. I get paid a little over $1 per delivery. That's supposed to cover gas and maintenance. Ha! I've just arranged to make Saturday my day off, so that I can take an additional job that can only be done on that day. The job will be as a mobile DJ, so I'll need my car for that too.

[NeoGreen]

27. 100miles/Day 4-Days/week, Telecommute 1-day/week

With my 2000 Honda Civic at 35-40 mpg.

At each step as I have progressed in my career the distance to work has increased. Started at 15-miles and am now at 48-mile, one way.

For the last job move, I negociated 1-day/week at home.

I do what I can do.

[TechBear_Seattle]

28. Sold my car in January

I live in a dense area of Seattle. Within a mile and a half -- easy walking distance for me -- I have the entire downtown retail core, three grocery stores, five movie theaters, a dozen restaurants and stops for maybe 30 different bus routes. In three years, my new car was used for less than 4000 miles.

[Touchdown]

29. You don't have my situation. Can't vote.

I have a car, and use it. I live 2.6 miles from work. I also fill up once a month...which is 1/2 a gallon a day. I rarely ride my bike...not on that one way thoroughfair without a deathwish.

[Jankyn]

30. I know not everyone can do this, but...

...we got rid of our Honda Accord (a '91 with 190,000 miles on it that still passed the smog test and got roughly 18 mpg) last January.

We moved into the downtown area almost two years ago, but kept the car for "emergencies." That meant that it was getting driven about a half dozen times a week instead of daily. Now, we walk to work, ride bikes, take public transit. I have a little fold-up cart that I use for trips to the grocery store. It can be a pain in the butt on rainy days, but really, what's a little water?

When we need to go out of town, we take the train (3x in last year) or rent a car (2x in last year). We were doing that anyway, because the Accord was so old.

And yes, not everyone can do this--but I think a lot more people can do it than will do it.

Sometimes it's an inconvenience, because it takes some extra effort to plan trips, and often the light rail/bus schedule in Sacto means extra travel time. But the "inconvenience" has already saved us enough in parking, gas, maintenance and insurance to buy a laptop. Yep.

The other thing I've noticed is that we've slowed down. I've had less indigestion and fewer headaches, as has my partner. We walk to a nearby restaurant for dinner, then walk home--and there's time for conversation.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

31. 2 cars. Both retired. Live in a rural area. 1-12 a week.

But, we're both homebodies and readers. 7 years ago, before retirement, we both travelled 70 miles a day to work and back. Both cars get about 25 mpg. '91 Tercel, '94 4wd (we need it) bottom of the line Toyota pickup.

We're not poor but see no need to trade in perfectly usable, trouble-free, cars for something shiney and zoomy.

[magellan]

33. Should be an 'other'

We have a Jeep that gets 21mpg and we hardly use it because we work from home. We refill the tank every couple of weeks at most.

[BeTheChange]

35. They only allow you so many options..

:) Unfortunately there was no room for an other.
If you refill once every couple weeks.. wouldnt you use atleast 1 gallon a week?

[magellan]

37. LOL, you're right

I'm too literal. Just added my vote. :)

[Nicole]

34. 1-20 with less than 20 mpg

So far this month I haven't used any.

Like you, I have no obligations that force me to leave the house.

[LostinVA]

36. A long compute, a VW diesel (45-50 mpg)

I fill every 10-12 days.

[tammywammy]

50. Diesel here too

But I fill up every two weeks. It's never on empty then, but usually under a 1/4 of a tank left.


Edited to ask: Are you using straight dino or straight bio or a mix?

[taught_me_patience]

38. I drive 1,500/month

and get 30 mpg from my honda accord coupe. Therefore, I'm filling approx 12.5gallons/week on gas. Gas would have to get above $5/gal for me to make any change in my driving habits. A car just provides too much freedom for me to cut back.


taught.

[kevinbgoode]

39. 38 mpg here. . .on a nine year old Mirage. . .

with a small tank, too. . .I can go 2-3 weeks on a tank, sometimes longer. Short commutes, though all the supermarkets are located on the edge of the town, of course.

[Adelante]

40. No car

Public transportation and two feet. I keep my life in range and always have. The last time I drove was about 40 years ago.

[MercutioATC]

41. About 18 gallons...2 cars averaging 25mpg

...about 200 bucks a month.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

42. I fill the tank an average of once a month, and i have a 1990 car

I live in an extremely walkable neighborhood on a bus line, and I work at home. This is deliberate. If Minneapolis were a different city, I'd do without a car completely, as I did in Portland.

If car-sharing comes to my neighborhood, ny personal car goes bye-bye.

[Pugee]

44. I get 25 mpg and drive about 80-100 miles a week.

However, 71 miles of that is from office to worksites which means 44 cents mileage per mile. That $31 pays for my gas.

[garybeck]

45. drive on vegetable oil, not gas!

check this out

http://greendiesels.net

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

47. Between My Wife And I Probably 40-45 Gallons A Week I'd Say.

I get 15 mpg she gets probably 19-20 mpg.

[dysfunctional press]

48. we have one car for two people, and fill up once/week or week-and-a-half

we have a vw "new" beetle, and average about 22 mpg- but most of our driving is city, and i drive FAST. (the beetle is a turbo, and can really fly). I'll be riding my bike more, now that it's getting nicer- and my wife is starting to run the 2.5 miles to/from the train to her reverse-commute job- which is a block from the sub-urban train station.

[sheelz]

49. I'm getting by without a car

I walk everywhere I need to go. :)

[SmokingJacket]

51. My car doesn't get great mileage --

it's an old volvo, so it's not terrible mileage either -- but we don't drive to work or school and can often go days at a time without even getting in the car. ANd since we live in a compact little city, and hate all our out of town relatives... well, we don't use more than 7 or 8 gallons a week.

on edit: this was totally deliberate, though: I've always wanted to be able to get along without a car...

[MelliMel]

52. Too much

At least I can admit it. 5 kids including 3 teens has turned me into the ultimate chauffeur. And thanks to the brilliant urban planners in L.A. it is nearly impossible to find housing less than 5 miles from work. We are planning on moving out of Cali next year, and this has a lot to do with it.

I try to combine trips, but it doesn't always work. Inevitably I hear, "Moooooooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! I forgot I need XYZ for XYZ tomorrow!" or "Moooooooooommmmmmmmm, I have to go to XYZ now!".

The jump in gas prices does impact us, but we are trying to cut out trips where we can. It's just easier said than done.

[KansDem]

53. I didn't see "a few gallons more than I can afford" as an option.

But generally it's two fill-ups a month. I drive a 41-year old car so the mileage isn't very good.

[B Calm]

54. I mow 4 !/2 acres, weed eat, drive 2 cars, 1 pickup, and a boat.

I have no idea how much gas I use, but I probably wont get to fish much this summer either.