Car Pooling to Save Money and Time
Driving to and from work is one of the greatest expenses that Australian’s (and people world wide for that fact!) incur over the course of a 5 day working week. There are a large list of costs associated with driving to work including; petrol costs, parking costs, general depreciation and for some it also adds extra time to their journey.
Now we say hello to car pooling, the concept of sharing a car to work with a colleague or co-worker in the hope of reducing the above associated costs.
So why car pool?
- If you car pool with just one other person, you effectively cut your operating costs in half.
- You are lowering you emissions and doing your part for the environment.
- You can use the T2 (transit lane for 2+ people) potentially saving a lot of time on the way to work.
- You can discuss business on the way to work, or allow the passenger to catch up on the dreaded emails.
- Driving to and from work can get boring – wake these boring sessions up with a bit of chit chat and discussion about your week ahead.
How much money will it save you?
To figure out how much money this would save you – add up the cost of petrol, the cost of parking and amount of usage your car gets on a 5 day week. Divide this by two and that is what it leaves you.
For instance, I personally drive to work and pay $65 a week in petrol, $15 a day parking and use my car for 5 days all while polluting the Sydney highway with emissions. Having a person to car pool with will save me $70 per week in petrol and parking and also limit the usage on my car, thus keeping the KM’s down and the overall depreciation to half of what it normally would be – all while doing my thing for the environment! Who says saving money can’t be easy?
Potential issues with car pooling
Although the money saving benefits greatly outweigh the negatives, you must remember that by car pooling you are taking on a number of new responsibilities.
By sharing a car you will have to think about what times you wish to arrive and leave your office or location, as these times may differ from your co-worker or colleague.
You will also have to think about whether or not you enjoy your personal time to and from work, and whether you are driving in the first place because you do not like having crowded company that you may find on a train or in a car with another passenger.
Do you car pool?
Tell us how you save money on the way to and from work, have you had any nightmare experiences with car pooling that we should be aware of?
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2 Responses for Car Pooling to Save Money and Time
My husband use to carpool for his 30 minute commute to and from work, mostly because we were sharing a car and it was a nightmare taking the 1 hour drive twice a day to get him to and from work, especially after having a baby. YIKES!
It was hard on him,though, because his schedule wasn’t on track with his friend’s. He’s not what you’d call a morning person, but they were leaving at 5 AM. And although he was able to get his work to agree to allow him an alternative work schedule, his boss managed to come up with reasons for him to stay late and require me to come and pick him up from work. Ick! So that didn’t work out too well in the long-term.
It just depends. I advocate carpooling. I remember doing it when I was in Elementary school as a kid. The moms all took turns driving us to school and picking us up. It was great, and it strengthens friendships.
Thanks Jennifer, it just goes to show that car pooling can be great in theory yet not so suitable when put into practice.
The money savings of car pooling make it so attractive though.
Anyone else have any simple savings techniques for transport?
