How's this logic.
 

The more expensive gas gets, the more money I save by cycling. Thus, I have more money to spend on bike stuff.

The question is, will my "accountant" buy it.

Works for me :)

or "wife" for that matter.

Well, it's a false economy, but makes perfect sense to me!
:beer:

with the way the price of oil is going we'll all be commuting on carbon fibre Pinnarelos before long ;)

If you accountant expects you to say, "Yes, Dear.", don't count on it;)

Heck, while you're at it, use the difference between if you were driving a Hummer and your bike. Include the cost of the Hummer too. It's what the government would do when figuring out how much they "saved" us this year.

I've been trying that sort of logic with my "accountant" for a while now...it never seems to work. Let me know if you figure out the secret!

I am the accountant. It works for me. :p

At $3.00 per gallon, I "save" $1.50 in gas per day of commuting. BUT, the teenage kid wants the car available, so I would be "unable" to drive to work even if I wanted to. Therefore, my choices for getting to work (walking is too far) are to ride or to spend $4.00 on the bus. Therefore, I actually "save" $4.00 a day by biking.

It depends on if the US$ is losing value (and bicycle stuff purchasing power) faster than the price of fuel is increasing.

Money saved from buying gas is money free for bike stuff.

http://www.yehudamoon.com/index.php?date=2008-02-04

:D

Oh, do it this way --

Remember your previous budgets where you'd count gasoline as a necessary expense?

Figure out how much you're saving, then create a new entry in the "recreational funds" section for bike stuff.

OR,

Figure out how much you're saving on gas, and create a new entry in "necessary funds" for bike support.

Eh? Eh? Sound good?