I wonder if Beano would help...

Gas is mighty 'spensive these days. I own both a very economical Toyota Echo, which averages 35 mpg and a very uneconomical Hyundai Tuscon, which averages 24 mpg. My husband was wondering the other day if it would be cheaper for him to drive the Echo every day to work. Obviously it would, but by how much?

Current gas prices in my area are $2.21 a gallon. To figure out cost to operate a car per mile, I divided the price of a gallon of gas by the estimate mileage (which I found by going to www.fueleconomy.gov). It costs $.10 per mile for the Tuscon and $.06 per mile for the Echo. Which translates into 40% savings. But how many dollars is that?

My husband's commute is 38 miles (determined by www.mapquest.com). So a roundtrip day for him costs $7.60 in the Tucson vs. $4.56 in the Echo (cost per mile x miles driven x 2). Per week that works out to $38 in the Tuscon and $22.80 in the Echo. By driving the Echo, yearly savings work out to $790.40. Pretty substantial.

Now this is only an estimate. The government website also offers tips to determine your car's actual mpg, based on you own driving habits, as well as information about the most fuel efficient cars and tips to improve your current fuel economy. Definitely worth checking out.

We do make a point to try to use the Echo as much as possible-when we both have to drive separately into work (I work from home a few days a week), the person with the longest commute (me) takes the Echo. Whenever possible, we drive together-it's a bit harder on me, as we both drop off the baby, then I drop off the husband, and continue my merry (or not-so-merry) way into work. It takes anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours. But it saves $$$. But frankly, people in my area all drive like crack addicts looking for a fix. I'm sorry, but when we are driving with the baby, I prefer to take the Tucson-it has a variety of safety features, like side airbags, steel-enforced doors, and frankly, it's way more visible than a small, silver Toyota Echo.

Furthermore, the Tucson has been of enormous use to us. I have been able to pick up some Freecycle items solely because of the Tuscon. It has helped me, my sister, and my sister-in-law move, and we have been able to purchase some furniture without having to rent a van to get it home.

But for our next car, which hopefully will not be needed for several more years, I plan on looking for a used, reliable car that gets excellent gas mileage.