I don't get the "saving gas" as a SAHM

HarrietNJMommy · November 2012

Do you guys just not drive anywhere? I don't save any money in gas. I know I spend as much as I did when I was working and commuting, if not more now.......

I always see this as a savings in so many posts and wonder how you're doing it.......

notkateanymore · November 2012

I spend WAY more on gas than DH does...I mean, I have hours and hours to go somewhere vs. when I worked I was there all day.

Andrewsgal · November 2012

I don't get this either. When I was working I filled up maybe once every two weeks now I fill up at least once if not twice a week. I spend 4 times now when I spent when I worked. Of course we very rarely SAH.

notkateanymore · November 2012

Andrewsgal:
I don't get this either. When I was working I filled up maybe once every two weeks now I fill up at least once if not twice a week. I spend 4 times now when I spent when I worked. Of course we very rarely SAH.

When DD was little DH called me a Drive Around Mom vs. a SAHM.

J&A2008 · November 2012

I would be driving to school, then downtown, then to scouts, soccer etc. Now I drive to the grocery store in town. I still drive around, just not as far every day.

It wasn't really a factor in SAH, but I can see how it does add up to some savings.

HarrietNJMommy · November 2012

cjcouple:
Well I used to commute 79 miles each way so I save hundreds of dollars in gas as a SAHM. I drive my DS to school and pickup every day and run errands etc. I use $30 a week in gas.

I used to commute 50+ miles per day. I STILL spend way more in gas now.

$30/week in gas? I would LOVE that........

eaglesfan700 · November 2012

I save a lot in gas. I had a 40 minute commute each way at my old job. Where we live now is a lot closer to most of the places we need to go, and a lot of places we can walk to.

I couldn't live wihtout my car as a SAHM, but I also do not want to be in and out of the car running all over the place everyday

HarrietNJMommy · November 2012

eaglesfan700:

I couldn't live wihtout my car as a SAHM, but I also do not want to be in and out of the car running all over the place everyday

You'll see when your kids get to school age and they have activities, sports, etc. You are definitely in and out of the car and all over the place. It's just the nature of the beast.

eaglesfan700 · November 2012

HarrietNJMommy:
eaglesfan700:

I couldn't live wihtout my car as a SAHM, but I also do not want to be in and out of the car running all over the place everyday

You'll see when your kids get to school age and they have activities, sports, etc. You are definitely in and out of the car and all over the place. It's just the nature of the beast.

Yes, but they will be in school most of the day and I won't have to worry about carseats!

HarrietNJMommy · November 2012

eaglesfan700:
HarrietNJMommy:
eaglesfan700:

I couldn't live wihtout my car as a SAHM, but I also do not want to be in and out of the car running all over the place everyday

You'll see when your kids get to school age and they have activities, sports, etc. You are definitely in and out of the car and all over the place. It's just the nature of the beast.

Yes, but they will be in school most of the day and I won't have to worry about carseats!

But you'll have booster seats. I still consider those carseats! LOL!

sbevmc09 · November 2012

I think this is going to be different for everyone depending on circumstances.

I definitely save money on gas. We get out of the house for errands or play dates, etc. probably 2-3 times per week. I probably fill my gas tank every 2 weeks, sometimes even 3.

When I was working I was commuting from one side of the city to the other 5 days per week. I filled my gas tank at least once a week and that's if I was ONLY using my car to drive to and from work.

JaysonandKristin · November 2012

I had a two hour commute one way when I was working.

I rarely leave the house in the car most days. So... Yes, I'm saving a TON in gas.

MAprincess · November 2012

I spend more on gas now. When I was working, it was mostly highway miles, which helped. Now I am all over creation in town all the time.

AppleMomma · November 2012

I have friends in the area and really only drive when I'm grocery shopping & hitting appointments,.

We don't do a lot of activities that involve an immense amount of driving.

Mrs.Greg · November 2012

When I worked, I drove about 45 minutes each way. We live like 15 minutes from the freeway so I'd just take main roads, about 25 miles. I'd fill up every weekend and I'd be on empty. Now that I'm home, I only fill up every week and a half to two weeks. Everywhere we go is within 10 minutes from home: grocery stores, Target, Kohl's, mall, library, school, MIL's house. I go out to dinner with my friends once every week or two and that's the furthest I venture from home during the week. Its freaking awesome!!

4Speedy · November 2012

When I worked, I sometimes drove 150 miles a day, u reimbursed. I could claim some of it as a tax deduction, though. I fill up slightly less now but I don't get any tax deduction so I'm really not sure if I'm coming out ahead now or not.

charlatti · November 2012

Igoo0304:
I personally saved because I worked much further from my home than I did from the places DS and I go. Plus, we stay home probably 2-3 days of the week and just do stuff here.

Ditto. Another reason is that I'm driving at non-peak times, so I don't have the stop-start traffic I had when commuting to work.

PurpleDrewbie5 · November 2012

I think this is one of those misconceptions about SAH. Honestly, it's just like everything else, it depends on your situation. I only spend about maybe $20 a week in gas. Before I was a SAHM I was driving to and from work and going to OB apts in the neighboring town so I spent more. I live in a small area so there's not really a lot of place to go.

mrswright2006 · November 2012

Before DD started school, I saved a TON on gas. We didn't really go anywhere during the day. When DH got off work we would run errands together to get out of the house. DD doesn't do many activities outside of school time, but even those I try to schedule after DH gets off work so we can either go together and run errands in town while we are there, or one of us can watch DS while the other takes her,

Now, I probably spend more in gas, because I have to drive to town 1-2 times a day, which sucks gas, but we try and work it so that DD stays with my mom until DH is off work, so he can pick her up on her way home ... although on days like today (my mom has a meeting after school), I am stuck picking her up. Then again, if I worked outside the home now, I would still have to drive her to school, and most likely would work at least 30 miles from her school, so I would probably spend more on gas that way, too.

sophie206 · November 2012

I save in gas for sure. I only have a toddler though. I definitely don't drive 30+ miles 5 days per week anymore like I did for work. We do a lot locally, so maybe an average of 10-15 miles per day. And some days it's just preschool and back which is only 1-2 miles away.

jensriot · November 2012

cjcouple:
Well I used to commute 79 miles each way so I save hundreds of dollars in gas as a SAHM. I drive my DS to school and pickup every day and run errands etc. I use $30 a week in gas.

My commute was 50 mi one way, so I save a ton too. Most of our activites are really close to home. Even though we are out every day, we only use $30/week in gas.

AimeeL85 · November 2012

I guess it just depends on where you worked or would have worked previously. I spend more on gas because when I did work, it was literally 5 minutes from my house. Then we moved and I am SAH, but anywhere we wanna go is 15-20 minutes one way, minimum. If someone would have been working much farther away, I could see how it's a savings.

roxy_jj · November 2012

I definitely save on gas now that I'm a SAHM. My commute was almost an hour (or more on really bad days) each way. I do drive a lot now, but most of the places we go are pretty close to home. All of the many short trips we take on a daily basis still add up to fewer miles than my commute. One thing I definitely don't miss about working is sitting in traffic.

MrsKM82 · November 2012

I used to spend $400-$500 a month on gas since I had a long commute. Now I spend about $100 on gas a month, so it is a very big savings.

MrsBalletStar05 · November 2012

It depends on where you are at and the ages of your kids. I'm sure some people do just stay at home all day, or their activities are all very close by.

2-Step · November 2012

I used to commute 60 miles per day, plus whatever errands I would run on my lunch hour. Now I take DS to preschool 2x a week 5 miles away and run errands. My gym is 2 miles away, grocery is 3 miles and everything else I might need is within 15 miles. I probably run errands 3x a week locally and I work from home on Tues/Thurs, so I don't really go anywhere those days. So, that is how I am saving tons on gas!

Rink08 · November 2012

At one of our old houses, we lived within walking distance of everything so we only used one car. We had two but only kept one insured. We went to the library, park, bounce center, stores, restaurants, post office, etc. daily and the town's farmer's market was across the parking lot from our house. DH used the car for work and I walked and pushed the stroller everywhere. I spent less than 30 a month on gas which was pretty much visiting relatives and OB appts.

I could never do that where we live now. I spend at least 60 a month.

hjk5000 · November 2012

Igoo0304:
I personally saved because I worked much further from my home than I did from the places DS and I go. Plus, we stay home probably 2-3 days of the week and just do stuff here.

Ditto.

jnksmom · November 2012

I definitely spend more now than I did when I was working. I only had a 5-10 minute commute though. The distance I drove to work is now the distance I drive to DS's school. Then I have to go back past my house and 10minutes the other direction to take DD to preschool. That alone is more than I did when I worked.

Even before they started school, I still spent more because we were out almost every day for errands, play dates, zoo, museum, etc.

rylen1kobe · November 2012

I do not save on gas. DH commutes 40 mins each way to work, and I fill up about as often as him. During the day I run errands etc, which is probably not the bulk of my gas. Some days I stay home. Every evening we have practice, games etc and I have to drive all over for that stuff.

AgrippaRidesAgain · November 2012

I definitely put fewer miles on the car now than I did when I worked. Gas costs more now though, so it's probably the same amount of money.

I used to put 30 miles a day on the car when I worked, b/c I had to commute between two high schools mid-day. We got a new car when DD was born and we JUST hit 19,000 miles on it. I run errands and do preschool dropoff/pickup 5 days a week, and it's our primary vehicle for longer trips and we still are barely adding miles to it.

shortstuff15 · November 2012

We definately don't spend as much on gas as I would if I were working, but I've never been working our entire married life so we aren't really saving anything. When I did work I would be spending $60 every week and a half in my little car that was great on gas. Once I was at home we only had to fill the car once a month. Now that we have an SUV and the car rather then an old van and the car we still don't spend more on gas. Our gas budget it $250 a month and we rarely go over unless we've taken a trip to see the in-laws or something. If I were working we would pretty much have to double that amount.

Que*Syrah · November 2012

I fill up once a week which is the same as when I worked. I have a friend who fills her tank once a MONTH but she doesn't go anywhere. She literally stays home all day long. I would go nuts if I literally stayed at home all day.

shortstuff15 · November 2012

Que_Syrah:
I fill up once a week which is the same as when I worked. I have a friend who fills her tank once a MONTH but she doesn't go anywhere. She literally stays home all day long. I would go nuts if I literally stayed at home all day.

We try and fill our tank only once a month, but we go lots of places. We just walk unless it's too far.

Mama-Bear · November 2012

We stay in most days. I HATE driving, and honestly, it's a PITA to take all of the kids out often. At a minimum we go to church on Sunday's and Wednesdays, and to IL's on Friday's, but it's not uncommon to not go anywhere many days. Today we're not going anywhere and DS1 asked if we could have a PJ day. Those I listed aren't the only places we go ever, but we're not ones that "just need to get out everyday".

kcisthebombdotcom · November 2012

I save a ton! We go out everyday but I live in the burbs and we have easy highway access. Everywhere we go regularly (children's museum/zoo/Y/library/playground) is under 15 minutes away and we go when there's no traffic.

When I commuted, I spent 40 minutes in the car (well over an hour if there was an accident/traffic during tourist season) and endured lots of stop and go traffic which goes through a lot more gas than highway driving with zero traffic.

I save over $150/month on gas.

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