15 is the new 5…
Pumping Gas
When I was back in college and beyond, my monthly gas budget for my car was always up in the air. At college, I spent most of my time between classes, walking. So, my old clunker sat near my dorm parking lot, for the most part.
Ah, the old red Ford, I fondly remember it well. It was a “hand-me-down” to be sure, but it ran great. In fact, it was so reliable, I took it on a long road trip from Texas to Florida one fall (Big Sandy to Pensacola, to be exact). With over 150-thousands miles on the engine, it made the trip with little excitement, except for the Porsche 911 we followed to make good time, but other than that, it was rock-solid. Graeme, my good friend, and I pushed it to the limit a few times, but by and large, it was a strong running car.
So, way-back-when, I was on that tight gas budget, I would only put about five-bucks worth of gas in the car at any given time. Today, as I look for a new job and/or work from home I rarely drive my cars (yeah, surprise, surprise considering my recent past with cars). Stopping at the local Connoco or Shamrock, depending on which side of Target I find myself, I’ve dug up memories from those, oh-so-frugal college days of putting gas in the car I hardly drive.
Even though it’s been, (clearing throat), over twenty years since I attended college, keeping gas in the older SUV today requires a slight adjustment in gas price thinking. With regular income, my MO was to just keep the tank topped off all the time. Now, not so much.
Today, I only throw in about $15 bucks worth of gas in the old tank, so I call it, “15 is the new 5″.
