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I’m moving!

Ahhh, no time to post today as I’m loading up boxes and putting them in the back of my 16′ rental truck. CRAZY! Next time I blog, it will be from Seattle! Woohoo!!! Just to keep things interesting, I want to see who can guesstimate how much gas will cost me for the trip. Are you up for the challenge? Here are a few facts to get you started….

1) 16′ rental truck from Budget Truck.

2) Chuck Norris can do a hand stand….with his feet.

3) Truck will be 80ish% full.

4) I had a mole that looked like a third nipple.

5) The truck takes regular unleaded gas.

6) I will be driving roughly 1,302 miles.

7) The truck has a 35 gallon tank

8) I like the color blue

9) I will be towing my 2 door coupe behind the truck.

10) Website says truck gets between 6-10 mpg.

Alright, those should be enough facts for you to make a reasonable prediction as to what my total gas bill will be. My guess is $762.60.

I’d like to pretend that I’ll give the closest commenter a sweet prize like an iPad 2, but let’s be honest, if I could get my hands on an iPad 2 I’d keep it for myself 🙂 So the winner, instead, will have to enjoy a virtual iPad…

So reader, how much do you think I’ll be spending?

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26 COMMENTS

  1. Some quick back-of-the-envelope calculations put my guess at around 670, so to be evil, I’ll say $666.

  2. Did the truck have a full tank of gas when you picked it up? Do you have to fill it up before you turn it back in?

    My guess is $757.33.

  3. i am guessing high as you are towing a car roughly 4-5 thousand extra pounds and gas is expensive on the west coast i bet its over $900 for fuel alone with about 5 mpg and $3.50 per gallon

  4. I’m guessing $842.57. Hope that packing goes well for you! And driving too! those 16′ trucks take some getting used to.

  5. $840. Don’t forget to fill’er up before you return it! Unless you were dumb and pre paid the gas into the price of rental.

  6. I hope you don’t return the truck with any more gas then it started with.

    Their are two major variables in this equation: The fuel economy of the truck (which has a number of other variables that influence that) and the cost of a gallon of gas.

    Looking at the cost of a gallon of gas:
    According to AAA (updated on 3/4/11) the average cost of a gallon of regular gas in the following states is:
    CA: $3.845
    OR: $3.545
    WA: $3.543

    A 35 gallon fuel tank will require you to fill up between every 200 and 300 miles. That will translate into either 5 or 6 fill ups along the way. Although each fill up is a discrete event, and gas is generally more expensive immediately off the highway, but as a first order approximation you can just do a simple weighted average of the miles traveled in each state by the cost of gas in that state. That would give an estimated average cost of a gallon of gas at about $2.729.

    Since the majority of the driving will be done on the highway (where fuel mileage is a bit better because of the minimal need to accelerate from a complete stop every few blocks) and the face that you shouldn’t be facing any major headwinds would help to boost your fuel mileage. Even towing your car, which may add a fair amount of weight to the load, because of the cross-section of the truck and the limited acceleration needed on the highway, won’t be a major drag on your overall fuel economy. So I will assume a fuel economy of 7.5 miles per gallon.

    Thus I have your total costs as: $647.35

    I should note that it is your fuel mileage and not the gas price that will really impact how much you spend.
    At 10 mpg and $3.729/gal: $485.52
    At 6 mpg and $3.729/gal: $809.19
    At 6 mpg and $4.000/gal: $868.00

    So if you really want to try and save some money, slow down to about 60 and accelerate slowly.

  7. Count your lucky stars you’re not hauling your worldly possession in Southern Ontario were gas is $1.23/LT… almost $5/gal!!

  8. I think someone guessed the gas bill already, if not who cares! You better check out your mole with a dermatologist! If you never noticed before, it may be a problem. Have a safe trip.

  9. Aww, San Diego will miss you! Drive safe & don’t pick up any hitchhikers. Unless they’re stick figures, then you probably should.

  10. I predict you will have to fill up 4 times en route and one top off upon returning the truck. $648.

  11. I’m betting $1,545! I hope I win that virtual IPad!!!

    Lol, I always wanted to move to Seattle (or Portland) when I graduated from college! Congratulations, I’ll live vicariously through your blogging and adventures in your new city 🙂

    • If it is not reimbursed, absolutely. And you don’t have to itemize to take this deduction. Save all receipts, and use Form 3903.

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