• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Podcast

Money Wise Pastor

Career, life, and money wisdom from a pastor's perspective

  • Make Money
  • Save Money
  • Banking & Investing
  • Debt
  • The Bible & Money

Is it Worth it to Track Your Car’s Gas Mileage (MPG)?

June 26, 2012 | By Rich | |

Last week, a friend asked me what kind of gas mileage I was getting from my car. I told him I had no idea. You would have thought I told him I was an axe murder, from the look on his face.

He could not believe that I wasn’t tracking, and doing whatever I could to improve, my gas mileage, given the higher gas prices we’ve endured over the past few years.

I told him that I didn’t really care about how many miles per gallon I was getting.

Again, you would have thought I told him the Pope wasn’t Catholic. He had that deer in the headlights look.  Then I started hearing crickets chirping. It was awkward.

Tracking your miles per gallon

Don’t get me wrong, there are a few things I track and pay attention to when it comes to my money.  But gas mileage isn’t really one of them.

How to Calculate Your Car’s Gas Mileage (MPG)

By the way, in case you’re not familiar, here’s how to track your car’s gas mileage, or miles per gallon:

  1. The next time you fill up your vehicle with fuel, reset the trip odometer or write down your vehicle’s current mileage.
  2. Drive your car until the tank is close to being empty.
  3. Refill your fuel tank and (a) take notice of the number of gallons needed to fill the tank, and (b) note how many miles you’ve gone since you reset your trip odometer, or write down your current vehicle mileage and subtract it from your starting mileage from the last time you filled up, to calculate the total number of miles driven since your previous fill-up.
  4. Divide the number of miles driven by the amount of gallons used to fill the tank. For example:  200 miles driven ÷ 10 gallons used to fill your car = 20 miles per gallon.

Improving Your Car’s Gas Mileage

While I don’t care to track my gas mileage, here are a few things I do care about that will hopefully improve my car’s gas mileage, or at least maintain it:

  1. To begin with, my vehicle is a Honda Pilot, and it’s only four years old.  I figure it must get pretty good gas mileage, anyway, right? 🙂
  2. I get regular oil changes, and my mechanic gives everything the “once over” every time I’m there.
  3. I keep my tires inflated at the proper pressure.

That’s all good enough for me.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t track your gas mileage if it is important to you and you enjoy seeing if you can tweak things to eek out another mile per gallon. Just don’t make me feel guilty if I don’t do it.

After all, there are things that I track that you probably don’t care about, like the price of tea in China.

Just kidding.

Maybe.

Is it important for you to track your car’s gas mileage?  Why or why not?

You might also like:

  • Save More Money Tomorrow
  • Earn Extra Money by Donating Plasma
  • Minister’s Tax Guide

About the author

Rich Rich writes on money and personal growth from a pastor's perspective here at Money Wise Pastor. He loves In-N-Out Burger (and has the t-shirts to prove it), big cities, international travel, running marathons, and helping others create more freedom, purpose, and fulfillment in their life and work. Find him on Twitter and Facebook.

Filed Under: Save Money

Primary Sidebar

Start Here…

Check Out Our New Podcast!

More Than a Pastor Podcast

Connect With Us

RSSTwitterFacebook

Money Wisdom from the Bible

"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share." - 1 Timothy 6:17-18 (NIV) Click for more of the Bible and Money...

Topics

  • About Money Wise Pastor
  • Banking & Investing
  • Bible & Money
  • Church Administration & Staffing
  • Clergy Tax Issues
  • Financial Challenges for Pastors
  • Giving
  • Leadership & Personal Growth
  • Make Money
  • Money Management
  • Resources & Reviews
  • Retirement
  • Save Money

Disclaimer

The content on Money Wise Pastor is for informational purposes only. We may be compensated by companies mentioned through advertising, affiliate programs, and otherwise. However, we will never promote or recommend a product that we wouldn't use ourselves. Affiliate links and ads are simply a way for us to provide the information on this site at no cost to you, our reader.

Footer

Privacy Policy

Terms and Conditions

Make GDPR Requests

Copyright © 2023 MoneyWisePastor.Com