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fret fret fret ...
So I'm about to go on a brief road trip with my two best girlfriends. (We're going to visit the fourth member of our little coven and talk about her wedding, which is taking place in about seven months.) Total distance: about 1700 miles, round trip. Car we're going in: mine. Issue: how much should each of us contribute?
One of these friends was my roommate in my senior year of college, and when we graduated we went on a (much longer) road trip with our other remaining housemate (the bride in the above wedding had originally been our fourth housemate, but that's another story). On that trip, we took my car; we split the cost of each hotel room, campsite, etc. three ways; and we took turns buying gas, one, two, three, one, two, three.
This seemed Not Unfair, but possibly Not The Best Way To Arrange Things, as in the course of the trip I had to buy a new tire, and then not long after the trip ended I had to get two more tires and three new rims. While not denying that the owner of a car assumes the responsibility of maintaining the car, there was wear and tear on the car as a result of the road trip that I wouldn't have incurred without it, the same way I wouldn't have bought all that gas without driving cross-country. In short: each passenger should be responsible for one-third of the cost of the trip, not for one-third of the cost of the gasoline. Right?
I'm not freakishly devoted to this concept. (My parents are, but their opinions carry the weight of suggestion, not of instruction.) All the same, it seems reasonable to multiply the mileage by 36.5, which is the federal cents-per-mile reimbursement for work-related travel, divide that by three, and have each person kick in that amount. Doesn't it?
One friend -- the one, as it happens with whom I have not taken a road trip before -- agrees with me. The other may or may not; I'm letting the non-car-owner float the proposition by her, so it won't be a case of Fox Asking For More Money. College-roommate-friend is, and I appreciate this, not swimming in cash; she and her husband are about to move a thousand miles to another state so he can pursue his Ph.D., so, you know, not flinging money around wildly. Now, I've been fortunate not to have the same kind of debts they've had -- but on the other hand, I've only been working with one income all this time; and I'm also about to move to another city and become a penniless graduate student, and I'll be a grad student without an employed spouse to help me with the expenses. So I'm not precisely rolling in it either.
I don't want this to be a Huge Thing, and I don't know if my friend will choose to make it one. But I don't want to be taken advantage of, either. Argh.
One of these friends was my roommate in my senior year of college, and when we graduated we went on a (much longer) road trip with our other remaining housemate (the bride in the above wedding had originally been our fourth housemate, but that's another story). On that trip, we took my car; we split the cost of each hotel room, campsite, etc. three ways; and we took turns buying gas, one, two, three, one, two, three.
This seemed Not Unfair, but possibly Not The Best Way To Arrange Things, as in the course of the trip I had to buy a new tire, and then not long after the trip ended I had to get two more tires and three new rims. While not denying that the owner of a car assumes the responsibility of maintaining the car, there was wear and tear on the car as a result of the road trip that I wouldn't have incurred without it, the same way I wouldn't have bought all that gas without driving cross-country. In short: each passenger should be responsible for one-third of the cost of the trip, not for one-third of the cost of the gasoline. Right?
I'm not freakishly devoted to this concept. (My parents are, but their opinions carry the weight of suggestion, not of instruction.) All the same, it seems reasonable to multiply the mileage by 36.5, which is the federal cents-per-mile reimbursement for work-related travel, divide that by three, and have each person kick in that amount. Doesn't it?
One friend -- the one, as it happens with whom I have not taken a road trip before -- agrees with me. The other may or may not; I'm letting the non-car-owner float the proposition by her, so it won't be a case of Fox Asking For More Money. College-roommate-friend is, and I appreciate this, not swimming in cash; she and her husband are about to move a thousand miles to another state so he can pursue his Ph.D., so, you know, not flinging money around wildly. Now, I've been fortunate not to have the same kind of debts they've had -- but on the other hand, I've only been working with one income all this time; and I'm also about to move to another city and become a penniless graduate student, and I'll be a grad student without an employed spouse to help me with the expenses. So I'm not precisely rolling in it either.
I don't want this to be a Huge Thing, and I don't know if my friend will choose to make it one. But I don't want to be taken advantage of, either. Argh.
(1700 X CostPerMile)/2
i'm tired/hungover/bringing powertools to keep away the boredom - screw the mile high club, i wanna have multiple-political-district-orgasms; can't drive stick/automatic/anything-so-uncool-as-your-car/these-new-vaccuum-cleaners/because-I'm-now-a-jainist-and-bugs-get-all-squishy-on-car-windshields; my hemroids/bad hip/last-night's-bikini-wax-job is bothering me, you'll be a dear and drive, won't you dear?
just don't expect that to happen. real friends will understand, but you might need to explain if they don't think of it first. (this changes when you hit late 30's, petty fights over who gets the honour of paying becomes the norm)
if your friends offer to cover your expenses without you having to explain, take'm out dinner and treat, they're good people.
no subject
Another factor to consider: Would you take your car if you didn't have fellow passengers? If the answer is yes, you might just split gas 3 ways instead of expenses by 3, and hey, you're saving money.
If the answer is 'no way I'd make a trip like that myself - I'd fly instead' then your proposal sounds reasonable.