Originally Posted by
Buzzatronic
I started commuting in mid-Feb. I've put over 2,000mi on my bike. I live 11mi from where I work.
According to the spreadsheet I keep I've spent 10x more on bike stuff (all inclusive, bike, gear, lights, clothes, parts, maintenance, repairs, etc.) than I have saved so far and I save an average of $6.50 a day (computed generously including the wear & tear calculations for the US tax deduction).
And I still pay the same car payment (I'm not car-free) as well as the same car insurance.
At this rate I'll never save money by biking to work.
That said, will I go back to driving a car? Hell no.
Your bike expenses have to be spread over the life of the items you've purchased. For example, if you spend $80 on a pair of tires, but you expect those tires to last a year, then those tires cost $3.33 every month for twelve months. Similarly, you should be able to spread the expense of your bike out over several years.
Unfortunately, we typically have to pay the full purchase price up front, so it feels as though we are spending more than what we really are. On the other hand, some months we may not experience any out of pocket costs, but we still have to count a portion of bike price and maintenance costs as an expense incurred during that month.
Over the past 4.5 years, I've spent only about $20 per month on bicycle commuting (if I depreciate my bike fully over that time period, which isn't very realistic, since it should provide many more years of useful service). That doesn't mean that I never have to spend more than $20 per month on the bike. When I have to spend money, it's usually more than that, but I don't have to spend any money on it most months.