How often do you fill the gas tank of your primary vehicle?

[Bob Of Burleson]

[b]Your commute is costing you
more than you realize

By Chris Taylor
Reuters

Kay Phillips has been dreading this moment for a very long time.

The 59-year-old from Elon, North Carolina, has often wondered how much her commute cost her over the years. She decided to sit down and tabulate it once and for all for Reuters.

Specifically, the four years when Phillips was driving 2.5 hours each way to her job and back, every single workday. From little Granite Falls, up in the mountains of North Carolina's Caldwell County, to Chapel Hill for her job with the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Coalition of North Carolina.

The total tab, she figures: $43,000. And that is just in gasoline - not oil changes or repairs, not the value of her time.

"I always thought it would make me sick to find out," she says. "And it did."

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[planosteve]

I expect in a few years she will consider that to have been a bargin. Once the frackin fad fades and the gas tax is raised 20 cents a gallon to pay to keep the roads from falling apart, it's going to be a lot worse. Eventually, all vehicles will be chipped and you'll pay a tax on every mile you drive.

[Bob Of Burleson]

The top toll for a two-way commute on the new Chisholm Trail Parkway from Cleburne to Fort Worth is about $16 a day. Figure that out over a year's time.