The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: highwayskies on March 07, 2014, 05:52:55 AM
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I have exact records on fuel purchases and mileage, so have my actual gas cost per mile, but it doesn't include depreciation, etc. How should I be calculating my cost per mile? The AAA rate seems high.
Thanks for any help here!
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Some help here:
http://www.irs.gov/2014-Standard-Mileage-Rates-for-Business,-Medical-and-Moving-Announced
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MMM's gave his own version of the calculations in this article:
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/10/06/the-true-cost-of-commuting/
Personally I think that still comes out a little high, but that's just my opinion. It's often difficult to separate age and miles when talking about the lifespan of a vehicle, so the numbers you come up with depend a lot on how you handle that.
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Okay, after re-reading, I took my actual cost per mile in gas ($.21), added MMM's oil, tire, and miscellaneous (about a penny per mile each) to give me $.24/mile.
Have I correctly followed MMM's approach to depreciation? ... I bought an 06 Scion xB with 83,500 for $8400 a couple weeks ago. Hoping it will last 100k more. So, 8400/100,000=.084 means my depreciation is 8.4 cents per mile?
Any other costs to figure into a per-mile cost? Insurance is elsewhere on my sheet at its actual cost.
Thanks for the help!
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http://mustachecalc.com/
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Why is this the first I've seen this! Awesome. Thanks 4alpacas. Have a smiling, bloodthirsty alpaca.
(http://m3.i.pbase.com/o6/34/564334/1/115888523.vxu01GMk.20090807alpaca09comp.jpg)
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my somewhat dated (2009) rant (http://sporkintheeye.blogspot.com/2009/04/aaa-figures-out-cost-of-auto-per-year.html). It doesn't really address the question. It just pokes fun.
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I forget the user that made it, but I love the mustache calculator. I frequently plug in savings estimates to predict my FI date.
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As I alluded to earlier, some things like oil changes are more complicated if you're a mustachian driver. The recommendation for my car is 5k miles *or* six months, whichever comes first. If I drive less than 10k miles per year, then the oil cost doesn't really relate to miles driven; it's just part of the cost of having the car in the first place.