How much money has commuting saved you so far this year?

[400bhp]

NERD

Oh yeah, and proud of it

 

[GrumpyGregry]

So far? It's on my sig.

Although about 70 commutes were last year - the rest this year.

are you prepared to unpack that £3610 for us?

 

[jonny jeez]

Car and motorbike are bought and paid for and have a cash value if I ever want to liquidate them. I guess there is some residual loss so lets assume around a grand a month. I'll over egg that to £100 a month. Then there's fuel, tax, insurance and running costs. Say another £100. So that costs me me around £200 a month.

On the bike I am loosing around £200 a year in value so £16 a month. I have no tax and £15 a year insurance so £1.25 a month.
Grand total for the bike is £ 17.25.

BUT...I spend about £30-50 a month on Bike stuff. Usually in big spends of a couple of hundred quid every few months. So I guess a fairer comparison is that the car costs £200 a month and the bike costs around £65.

Interestingly I did just under 2000 miles in the car last year where-as the bike racked up over 5000 miles. Does that make me a proper cyclist.

EDIT. but of course, If I were to drive every day the fuel bill would be way...way over £200 a month.

PHEW

 

[Matthew_T]

Interestingly I did just under 2000 miles in the car last year where-as the bike racked up over 5000 miles. Does that make me a proper cyclist.

It means you have your priorities right .

 

[DCLane]

are you prepared to unpack that £3610 for us?

I can, but probably should delete my spreadsheet it's on before SWMBO finds out;

Bike no. 1 - Ridgeback Platinum 2011 £780 after Quidco & discounts. Replaced under warranty by Spesh Secteur Comp 2012 for £200 extra inc. free carbon fibre shoes = £980. Additional spend on bike parts/wheels = £550 = £1530 cost

Bike no. 2 - Carrera Virtuoso. Bought for £120, £70 spent, sold for £185 = £5 cost

Bike no. 3 - Python Impact DD. Bought new for £150, spent £80 on parts/servicing = £230 cost

Bike no. 4 - Raleigh Airlite 100. Won from Sustrans, £80 on parts = £80 cost

Bike no. 5 - 'Lethal Impact' (old Ammaco Tony Doyle). Free bike and paint, £20 on parts = £20 cost.

Spend on SWMBO's Spesh Globe Daily 2 step-thru; £15 on lights/parts.

Total cost on bikes: £1865

Spend on servicing (Evans Leeds): £165 for 6 services

Spend on tools: £175 on various tools

Spend on locks (8 of for family/various locations): £170

Total: £2375

CC membership £38
Friday's membership inc. cc: £17

Now the big bit: spend on lots of clothing; £1420 spend - £245 sales = balance of £1175 spent

Total: £3605 - £1740 commuting = £1865 balance to date to pay off

Oh, and the estimated value of all the kit is about £5k. It's worrying though that I know how much I've spent. Maybe I should just press 'Delete' on the whole lot

 

[John90]

I strongly suspect biking costs me more than it saves me, although I haven't done the sums. I've never looked on it as a money-saver however. If I did, I'd get a cheaper bike.

 

[Blurb]

It's just about my first full year of commuting and after all setup costs I am £300 in the red. I too keep a fairly accurate spreadsheet of costs out of general interest and also as encouragement regarding the economic benefit. The fitness and enjoyment I get is the primary driver though and you can't put a price on that.

The defecit will be cleared within a few weeks barring any serious unforseen costs and is only negative because of the initial bike purchases/upgrades, nothing extravagent and one which was strictly speaking a bit of a weekend bike, 3 in total, and myriad of accessories I just had to have .

Loads of cycling specific gear, technical clothing, lights, locks, panniers etc.etc.etc.
My annual season ticket would have been close to £2000 and against that I am well ahead, but I do tube it on the fold-up when the weather is bad, so their is still a cost there - Oyster PAYG.

On top of that, the commute is now the part of my working day I most look forward to. Couldn't have said that before I started, and wish I had done it years ago.

 

[bicyclos]

I dont know where to start with this one, I know without working things out over the last 12yrs I have spent (invested) alot of money in cycling / commuting. Apart from bikes and accesories I have built up over time my workshop tools and spare parts. Using public transport to work would involve catching 2 buses (8 miles) but by bike using back roads (3.2miles) is stress free. Standing at a bus stop is a no-no for me. Using the car would be an expensive toy for the distance travelled to work(4.5miles) and the parking is hard to find a decent spot and prone to damage and vandalism. The feel good factor, the fun of cycling and the fitness you can attain is priceless.

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

Saved nowt. Because it never works like that, you just find other things to spend money on and live to your means

People told me I'd be loaded if I stopped smoking 40 a day., So I stopped almost 5 years ago. I'm still skint. Driving same.

I couldn't afford to start smoking and driving daily again- how come I managed it when I was earning about £6K a year less?

 

[al78]

I couldn't afford to start smoking and driving daily again- how come I managed it when I was earning about £6K a year less?

Inflation?

 

[Pat "5mph"]

I'm well in the red: a monthly bus card was only £ 36 a month for me, plus about £ 100 a year in taxis.
I this first year of not using public transport at all, I must have spent about £ 1000 between bikes, accessories and clothing.
Good thing is, I don't forecast any major bike related expenditure for the next 12 months, unless a major breakdown befalls me , lost lots of weight, I'm saving at least 90 minutes a day in commuting time, having fun in the bargain.

 

[DCLane]

lost lots of weight, I'm saving at least 90 minutes a day in commuting time, having fun in the bargain.

That's the bit that's not factored in for me financially; I'm fitter and healthier, 8" smaller chest & waist, happier and I commute faster than in a car or on public transport.

What I've also not factored in is the cost of the 2 wardrobe changes which have been needed due to weight loss

 

[subaqua]

Difficult one. Any money I 'save' by cycle commuting gets 'invested' in more cycle gear. In fact I am 'investing' in a new bike for audax duties in the spring. Suppose, if truth be told, I am very much in the red! Still, it's a darn sight less expensive than UK SCUBA diving which used to be my vice. Cycling is easier to fit around family duties as well. Thank goodness I have an understanding wife.

oh the joys of driving 250 Miles to find out 10 minutes before you are due for ropes off the skipper says the dives are blown out. the money spent on B&Bs and beer for nothing.

the most expensive curry i have ever had was on a trip to exmouth. fuel down, there on a good chance the wind would veer or fall back, the hotel bill, the curry. still it was a good laugh and i got very drunk

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

I had a spell doing 34 miles a day and I tracked my costs excluding the purchase of the bike.

I came up with a figure of just over 10p/mile (ten pence per mile), yikes and that was being fairly disciplined.

One of the bigger costs is food, 34 miles is going to be roughly 1,000 Calories, in theory you can get these calories from pasta and rice, but I found in practice the odd Big Breakfast from Maccy Dees popped in.

Stuck will 23/25 tyres, 28+ looks unsafe, I was getting 1,500 miles on the rear and 2,000 miles on the front. Then the chain broke, taking a cassette and rear mech’ with it, all of which I had just bought.

Bye

Ian

 

[dave2041]

Well it's my first year of commuting... i've spent £1090 on gear and bought two bikes coming in at £2650 Totalling £3740.

Public transport would be a train ticket which IF bought yearly is £1016.
A car would cost me (in petrol) around £2000, averaging 50p a mile over around 4000 miles... But i'd need to buy a car, VED and insurance.

A LOT of the items i've bought over the last year will last me several more years and could be seen as startup costs...