I made a spreadsheet to calculate the savings of commuting. It is a basic thing for now. The tab I have done has the date, the price of gas per gallon for that day, the miles you would have drove in your vehicle and the savings for that day and of course cumulative.

In a separate sheet I am going to add in the money I spend on the bike that is commute related so I can get a true cost.

I just changed the "Savings" column to have three decimal places.

There are other factors such as insurance, depreciation, and maintenance to name a few.

A lot of auto-insurance policies will charge you different amounts depending on how much you drive. It's pretty easy to see why ... taken to the extreme, if you drive 24 hours a day, it won't be long until sleep deprivation takes its toll, and you'll be in a crash by the second day. If you never drive at all, you'll never cause an accident, and your premiums are free money. Most people are somewhere in between. Anyway, a lot of policies go a step further, and classify how cars are used. Not using your car to commute probably makes it a pleasure vehicle instead of a work hours, and you might be able to reduce your monthly payments because of it. If so, that's a step away from basic, but it's also money you could be saving thanks to your bike.

True. Another sheet can handle the basic costs... line item type things... but if I never get uber-detailed about it I'll be fine. I'll cover the basic costs and savings and go from there.

Right on. It will be a while before the number of commutes will bring me down to that level but it would be good information to get from my insurance company.

I typed my response without acknowledging the "It is a basic thing for now". With more detail you will probably see you are underestimating your savings, but that's a different discussion .

You forgot to calculate in the price of bicycle fuel!

I get 12 packs of Cliff Bars from Wegman's for $10.99/box, and wind up eating part of one before I leave work, and finishing it on the commute home. I also use Elixir or Nuun. 6 tablets of Nuun in a 3L CamelBak or 4 tablets of Elixir. For an 8.5 mile commute I down about 1L. My maximum consumption per months, 20 days commuting, is about $18.33 in Clif bars + $28.15 in Nuun ($16.89 for a 4 pack of tubes of 12 tablets each). That's $46.48.

For reference, the car commute is 7.7 miles each way at 23mpg, $52.09 of fuel, for a savings of $5.49/mo.

Mind you, those electrolite tablets are expensive. Powdered Gatorade is much cheaper, but sugary and nasties up the CamelBak. As compensation, though, I tend to gulp down Gatorade before I leave (about 16 ounces), and even bring a water bottle containing Gatorade or Tang. Clif bars are also expensive versus food; it's much more cost-efficient to bring a bit extra lunch and save it until I leave to mitigate the daily commute need for a Clif bar.

Clif bars are something I would use on a 16 mile trip if I got hungry during it; more likely I'd eat lunch before leaving, or eat something and pack lunch. For a 48 mile grocery shopping spree all around town that'll take me 4 hours, I'd probably bring a Clif bar, because lunch will not likely cut it when we're talking about 4 hours of near-continuous cycling.

Amusingly, good planning can evade the need for using your Clif Bar supplies, even though they're incredibly tasty. A little playing with water bottles and powdered sugary sports drink can dodge the need for expensive electrolyte tablets, too; not like anyone makes a non-sugar powder.

I agree.

I find that I don't need to eat any extra food for regular commuting. Of course, I've got a spare 20 pounds of reserve body weight, but just eating what I would anyway (a bit less than I used to before I started biking even) my weight stays about the same. Of course, for long distance recreational rides, I'll bring along a food bar or two.

I use the gear tracker at mapmyride.com. I noticed recently that even my most expensive tires (Ultremo R.1's) have only cost me about 10 cents a mile so far and are still going strong. I compared that to the cost of gas, which I think I figured at about 12 cents a mile, and immediately resolved never to buy cheap tires again.

Sometimes I think people want to add in every possible cost or savings. Often I think the true cost is much more simple like you have outlined here espcially if you aren't getting rid of your car. This simple method is what I use.

Tires are so irrelevant. I always recommend like $200 tires for people in cars (17 inch wheels), they're like $100 if you have 15 inch wheels. Big wheels are a fad. Goodyear Assurance Triple-Tread, Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus... I have yet to evaluate Continental DWS Extreme, but i hear they're good, in decreasing order of expense. For 17 inch, $180, $140, and $110, last I looked, without mounting and balancing (so the Goodyears cost around $210/wheel; but again, 15 inch is $100/wheel base price, $130 mounted). People I know insist on buying tires they can get for $50-$70/wheel mounted.

I recommend these as all-seasons; otherwise Bridgestone R030A summer tires and Dunlop WinterSport snow tires if you're doing 2 wheel sets. If you have a real snow season, it's highly worth it.

And people tell me, oh, those are expensive tires. You know what? You can go 130mph on freaking TripleTreds in the rain and it's like the ground is bone dry. Stopping distance doesn't change; you can't hydroplane; and they corner and stop even better in the wet than your cheap tires do on optimal, dry road. It's worth it for something you're only replacing every year or two, especially since the tires determine your steering and braking capabilities--something you don't want compromised, ever, even if you actually drive the exact speed limit and slow down in turns and everything like you're supposed to. Stuff happens that you just can't account for; this is the worst risk you can ever take.

On bikes, the tires last thousands of miles instead of 80,000 miles (right... try 30,000; after 2 years you need to replace 'em anyway due to dry rot); but while you can get into $300+ a tire for cars, your super-high-end bike tire is going to barely scrape $100. Most good bike tires seem to fall around $50 with a kevlar bead unless you're getting into racing gear. You also have half as many tires to worry about.

Again, nearly the most important part (brakes are the other part), and pathetically cheap no matter what you get.

I have to do a $700 or $800 "tune up" every 15,000 miles to keep the warranty on my Subaru. Before you laugh, I've had to use the warranty when something went wrong, and it's covered some of the costs of other maintenance I've had to do, so I'm not keen on blowing it. Anyway, it's been 2.5 years since the last of these "tune ups," and I've got about 4,000 miles until the next one.

The average American drives 12,000 miles per year, so bike commuting is saving me around $500 per year this way. If I biked every day, instead of most, it would be even more.

wat

If I REALLY wanted to get detailed I'd have to throw in the oil changes I don't have to do to my vehicle as often, tire wear (on both), etc. If I ever got where I was commuting a massive amount I may do that just for the financial exercise. But until know I'll just track things that are staring me in the face.

Sounds like a scam... I'd read the fine print on your warranty... I bet it says otherwise, just like the one on my new-ish prius. The dealership would have us believe that we need to do the same kind of $500 regular maintenance. My wife came home with their story. We read the warranty and saved a bunch.

It can be more basic. My job pays, I can't remember what, 50-55 cents/mile if I drive my car rather than take one of theirs. So maybe the cost of a car is 50-55 cents/mile all in (gas, depreciation, maintenance...).

I don't even want to think about "saved" money. From a while back now, the wife and I set up a monthly budget that included a small amount for minor bicycle repairs, a small allowance (I work a piddly part time job while in college and she is a teacher), and gas for my motorcycle. Generally, I will spend the whole lot each month, but I only fill up the motorbike maybe once a month and the rest goes to a new jersey, backpack, shoes, etc. All bicycle stuff. So I'm not "saving" exactly, but I am buying nice stuff that will last me a good while. Fine tuning my daily commute setup still after about 8 months now. After playing with the free pedals that came with the wife's bike and investing in some good shoes, I'm really wanting some eggbeaters instead. Damn N+1.

With my "savings" if I buy something that is for riding and will help with the commute I factor that in. Basically if I wasn't going to commute would I have bought "that item"? I won't get too complicated but it's just an interesting thing to track.

So yeah, I recant. Just went and had dinner with the wife, noticed her tank was nearly on empty and stopped to fill it up. 44 freakin' dollars. I could have bought the pedals I want for that...

To be fair, if I had her commute, I wouldn't be taking the bike. Too long, starts too early in the morning, no sort of shower facilities and she has to dress professionally. So goes life. Hopefully when I get my degree, we can be a little more strategic when it comes to work and where we live.

I have a 22 gallon tank. Mine requires many tear drops to fill up.

it's easey.... If i don't ride my bike, I bus/metro in... at around $10.50 per day. Those are real dollars saved, as I own a car and pay insurance and all on it. So, if I ride to work 3 times a week, I save $31.50 It adds up pretty quickly.

train safe

You know, real food is probably cheaper.

I get a $2.50 per day "incentive" added to my paycheck for every day I bike in. I'm making money by riding in to work, not just saving.

I do enjoy my job.

i think i read somewhere the avg cost to own + maintain a car is 6000 bucks per year that was about three years ago so it is more like 7000.