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

[Norm]

I've done about 75 commutes of 10 miles each, for which HMRC would allow me £350-ish. I've bought a couple of inner tubes and 2 caps this year, total cost around £35. Which is pretty good.

I have bought a couple of spiked tyres for the winter, and a couple of tyres for my road bike, but I've only done one commute on that so I'm not sure I could count that.

On the other hand, commuting by car takes about 10 minutes, whereas cycling takes about 45 minutes if you include all of the time to change, wash, re-pack my clothes etc. So 75 hours extra home time over the past 6 months would cost me about £250.

 

[BlackPanther]

I estimate that I save £2,500-£3,000 per year by cycling to work. That's the figure I tell the Missus whenever I buy a new machine!

 

[John90]

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

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...

I reckon a lot of us said that during year one, but there's always a new piece of kit and a better version of existing kit, and of course a better bike. The cycling business is an example of capitalism at its finest/worst and it's a strong soul who can resist the lure.

Not many mentions of servicing costs. Does everyone except me do their own?

 

[Moodyman]

Saves me £5.40 per commute. Cycling takes about 30 minutes longer over two legs, but saves me 2 hours by avoding the gym, so I'm better off timewise too.

 

[Norm]

Generally, I do my own servicing - my kids have 4 bikes between them and I've got 5 and it appears that they were specifically chosen to share as few components as possible. But I do enjoy a few quiet minutes (or hours) tinkering in the garage, sometimes with the company of my son, more usually alone.

 

[Jenkins]

Cycle commuting has saved me the equivalent of one gallon of Diesel per week - and possibly my sanity as I can cycle away the aggression build up caused by one idiot I have to work with.

 

[Mushroomgodmat]

I save £5 a day on bus/car parking.

And seeing as my wife has the main car, to run around, buy food ect...we have managed to be a one car family. If not for the bike (£800) I guess we would have another car - £3kish, and additional insurance and tax too pay for.

Saying that though....what was originally a reason to save money has now turned into a hobby, and iv just bought a new bike - £1700. So, I'm still better off, but not by as much better off as I was yesterday

 

[dave2041]

I reckon a lot of us said that during year one, but there's always a new piece of kit and a better version of existing kit, and of course a better bike. The cycling business is an example of capitalism at its finest/worst and it's a strong soul who can resist the lure.

Not many mentions of servicing costs. Does everyone except me do their own?

Taken both bikes into a shop. 1st bike went in after a crash, second bike went in after another crash :P

Keep em cleaned and tuned and no reason to need servicing

 

[Acyclo]

I've done the maths. Using low end road bikes (currently Triban 3) and good value clothing (Aldi and Decathlon) the cost has been 3.2 pence per mile. I haven't factored in extra food, because I haven't eaten any, just got thinner. Nor have I factored in the non purchase of a gym membership as I'm a couch potato. Indeed, if i did factor in a gym membership the cost-per-mile would be negative.
[Edit] I have done all my own maintenance, not to save money but because it's a lot quicker to do-it-yourself than to take your bike to the shop, then go and get it later.

 

[Steve Saunders]

I save about £10 for each day that I commute by bike, which I've done about 30 times this year - only took up cycling in may, and it's a 20 mile each way commute. So I've saved about £300 in petrol.

However, being new to cycling I've purchased two bikes - a road bike, a hybrid which will now be my winter hack. Together with loads of clothes, accessories, lights, Garmin ... bla bla. I think I'm actually down about £3700 ... yikes ! Should make a fair chunk of that back next year though if I stick to my plan to cycle 3-4 times a week.

** edit
I just wish the weather would give me a break though, I think I can count on one hand the number of days where the rain has stayed away both directions.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

This morning it was raining.

The lovely Helen looked out the window and said
"You're not going to ride that bike to work in this are you? Get the train."
"Fourteen quid." I replied. "That I can spend on bikes or wine or pretty things for you."
"In that case you're riding." was her response.

 

[Steve Saunders]

^

 

[GrasB]

This morning it was raining.

The lovely Helen looked out the window and said
"You're not going to ride that bike to work in this are you? Get the train."
"Fourteen quid." I replied. "That I can spend on bikes or wine or pretty things for you."
"In that case you're riding." was her response.

Problem is you'll now be required to spend about £140 on pretty things for her... (based on the 2 working week memory my other half has when it comes to commuting)

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Problem is you'll now be required to spend about £140 on pretty things for her... (based on the 2 working week memory my other half has when it comes to commuting)

If I could keep it down to £140 a month I'd be a happy man.... (actually that is not fair and said only for comedy value, the lovely Helen is a very economical model to run)

 

[SW19cam]

I haven’t bought a tube card since commuting by bike, so about 6 years worth of Zone 1-2s have been saved (say £6-7kk?). I’ve probably spent £3-4k on bikes and associated equipment during that time. Maybe a little more. Not having a monthly ticket does mean I get ripped off anytime I take single or return journeys unfortunately, but given whenever I get on the tube I vow not to use it ever again, that's not often.

Overall I think I do save because of cycling but the financial saving doesn’t even come close to explaining why I do it... JJ