Slowing down

The commercial made the point that a vehicle traveling at 55 MPH uses 20-percent less gas than it would while traveling 70 MPH.

20-percent.

That was the part that really got my attention and started the gears turning in my head.

I have always been a "speed limit" driver.

That is to say, I always drive at the speed limit.

Precisely at the speed limit.

If the speed limit is 45, my speedometer will read 45. If it’s 70, then it will read 70.

Living in a rural area, more often than not, it reads 70 while engaged in highway driving, and so that "20-percent" figure really got my attention.

I’ve always known that a vehicle gets better mileage when driving at a slower speed, but I never realized what a big difference it could be.

Immediately, I knew I was going to have to do some math.

After jabbing at my calculator for a while, I have uncovered some numbers that have convinced me that I may need to think about changing my driving habits.

On average, each month our family buys about 150 gallons of gasoline for our two vehicles, at $2.85 per gallon, this means we are spending about $427.50 per month on gas.

Twenty percent of $427.50 is $85.50.

Not all of the miles we drive are highway miles, but a significant number of them are. I don’t really have hard numbers on this one, but I’d estimate that we could save as much as $50 per month, just by slowing down.

I can say for a fact that our family budget could definitely use an extra $50 per month, so I have decided to give it a try.

Even though the speed limit sign says "70," from now on I’m just going to slow down and let ‘er run at "55."

I know what some of you might be thinking –

"Great, another slowpoke on the highway that I’ll have to go around."

Not to worry, I will keep a close eye on the rearview mirror and pull over to the side when necessary, so that drivers with more expendable income can easily pass.

What will I have to give up to realize the savings?

I’ll have to spend a little more time getting from point A to point B – not too steep a price to pay, in my opinion, especially if you’re enjoying news programming or music while driving along.

I have figured out that in the morning, it will take me an extra two minutes to get from my house to the office and in the evening, it will take an extra two minutes to get home. So that’s only an additional four minutes a day I’ll have to spend for my usual commute.

How much will I save for this extra drive time?

According to my calculations, each hour spent driving at 55 instead of 70 will save me about $9.50. That’s $9.50 per hour in savings.

And since a penny saved is a penny earned, then I suppose in a way, I’ll be paid for all that extra time on the road.