Many of you may wonder how and what to do with the money you save on Hypermiling. Even though integrating 3 mpg - 6 mpg saved due to great hypermiling skills, you may be surprised that it is a slight bit tricky to "see the money in your pocket". This is a prototype, but i hope this will help put that money saved at the pump in your budget.
2 things: 1. I am heavily influenced by approaches of Dave Ramsey towards budgeting. Google him if you need help with these ideas. It's really a great system.
2. FORTUNATELY due to gas being low at the time of writing ($2.39 in my hometown) i am analyzing a Scenario 1 and Scenario 2. Scenario 1 is where we are now. Hypermiling is important but not as important as when gas is $4 a gallon or more. Scenario 1 looks at what i call my "threshold" of pain before the price is up there. that threshold is for now at $2.87 Since 2.87-2.39 = 48 cents, it is nice to be below that threshold of pain, and that means you can "save" about 48 cents/gallon. More to come on budgeting, but an easy way to use that 48 cents is to put it into your savings account.
SCENARIO 1: Price of Gas: $2.39
Money saved below threshold (which is $2.87) 48 cents/gallon
est 15 gallons of gas used per month means $7.20 / month saved due to "wonderfulness of being below threshold".
SCENARIO 2: Hypermiling replaces threshold bonus
Price of Gas: $4.00
Money saved below threshold ($2.87) is ZERO
Money saved hypermiling 3 mpg up to 6 mpg bonus = 4.4cents/gallon - 8.8cents/gallon
est 15 gallons of gas used per month means 66 cents- $1. 36 saved per month, no "wonderfullness" but due to Hypermiling techniques.
I compute the hypermiling bonus based on getting 27mpg avg. before hypermiling, then adding 3 mpg-6mpg is a 1.1-2.2% increase.
BUT MAD MAX, what if i'm in the middle?
The easy answer, is that you can compute a medium range, then "adjust to taste".
7.20 /month + $1.10/month = 8.30 / 2 = $4.15/month saved, right around $3/gallon.
At any rate, saving $4 a month EXTRA based on what you already save monthly, AND I EMPHASIZE! based on DAVE RAMSEY PRINCIPLES, really adds up.
Conclusion: saving money at the pump is a great way to realistically add savings to your monthly budget.
