Friday, May 21, is Bike to Work Day, which celebrates the end of Bike Week, all of which of course takes place during May, a.k.a. National Bike Month. It may be too late for you to ride your bike to work today, but you can change your commuting habits any day—and start saving as much as $5,000 annually in the process.
Over at a Consumer Reports blog, a staffer tallies up her yearly savings due to her daily 20-mile round trip commute by bicycle:
Karin Weisburgh, a 25-year veteran of Consumers Union who bikes to work daily, can attest to those benefits. She estimates she saves $1,650 a year by cycling every day to work. Not accounting for inflation and the interest she may have earned on her savings, that’s $16,500 in 10 years. That’s more than enough for two years’ tuition at a public, four-year university or a luxury bike tour for two in Tuscany (airfare included).
Here’s the breakdown of savings:
As you can see, the estimates don’t factor in parking expenses, which can make one’s car commute even more costly.
So how much can you save by biking to work? If you really want to know, head over to Kiplinger’s “How Much Can I Save By Bicycling to Work” calculator. Plug in the mileage of your commute, parking and toll expenses, and wa-la, you’ve got an estimate that factors in what you would have spent, including gas, insurance, maintenance, depreciation, and so on.
For example, with a 15-mile round-trip commute, $10 daily parking expenses, and no tolls, you’ll save $16.06 per day. And if you’re in the office for a fairly typical 250 days per year, that’s $4,015 you’d save by biking to work. Cancel your gym membership—who needs it if you’re biking to work every day?—and you’re looking at an even $5,000 you could save annually.
Related:
What I Learned by Not Getting into a Car for a Year