Getting rid of an SUV right now is not the best decision mainly due to the loss in value as a result of high fuel prices! Just run the numbers for yourself.
Anyways, I drive a Nissan Pathfinder. Doesn't make sense to sale it seeing that now is not a good time to sale a gas guzzler. So why sale at a loss just to spend more money getting an economical car? THIS MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE!!!!
In the end it will take the better part of a decade (or longer) to break even when you consider fuel costs, payment and loss of value. So I've taken a different approach. Below is my way of reducing cost:
1. We drive my wife’s car everywhere; it gets 26 city and 32 highway.
2. My tires are always at the proper pressure and the cars exterior is well maintained.
3. I found MARTA which is the public train system here in ATL (yes it’s not as nice as my car but for the amount of money it saves me who gives a $hit). It's about a 2 mile drive to the station from where I live and a 45 minute train ride to the airport (non-rush hour it takes me 40 minutes to drive to the airport). Total cost round trip on the train is $3 ($1.50 one way) as compared to $13+ round trip for fuel in the SUV.
By doing the above I cut my fuel needs down from 5 tanks of gas per month, at around $80/tank, to only 1 tank per month (YES that's only 1 TANK PER MONTH
). That’s a savings of around $308 per month (4 tanks at $80 = $320 - 4 train rides at $3 round trip = $308). THAT'S HUGE!!!!!
And now I still have my Pathfinder so we can still pull our boat or trailer. We've also changed out all of our light bulbs in our home for the energy efficient bulbs and raised out thermostat 2 degrees. We spent $184 on bulbs but our electric bill dropped an average of $50 per month so after 3.7 months they will have paid for themselves.
It’s truly amazing how much money the little things can save you.
