Monday, February 2, 2009

$80

$80 can buy alot of things. It can buy you 80 items on the Wendy's $.99 menu. It can buy you a new pair of Lucky jeans if they are on sale. It can buy you quite a few groceries. For me $80 buys me toll fees every month to go to and come home from work. As I have tried to become a little bit more budget minded I took a look at that and thought that was just too much to spend to just travel on roads. Obviously there are other roads that I can take to work that are free. So, since I didn't have to take Katie to school, I decided to leave a little bit early and take free roads to work this morning. I figured I wouldn't give up toll roads completely. I would take free roads in the morning because one is really never in a rush to get to work and I figured there would be some extra time involved not traveling a toll road and then take the toll roads in the afternoon. I would be saving $40 a month! This was much easier said than done. Sure the roads were free this morning but I guess so were all of the red lights that I had to stop at and the 20mph school zones. My car is German, it longs for the lightless stretches of toll road that you can freely zoom down as if it were the Autobahn not the constant stop/start of morning traffic. And to top it off, some crazy driver in a Suburban decided to take a left from the middle lane right in front of me! This would have never happened on the toll road!!! So, I think I have decided that maybe I can cut $40 out of the budget somewhere else.

7 comments:

Jeff said...

What's your car's name?

Bling said...

My car's name is Baby Benz.

YaYa said...

Gosh, I don't even want to know what my tolls are each month,,,but as you say, sure beats school zones and red lights....I think we should just take the helicopter every day!!!

Jeni said...

WOW. I want to figure out how much we spend. geez! Good for your budget cut!

Abby said...

i hate traffic- and it's worse being STUCK in traffic- i may stick with the toll roads- but it does add up SO quickly. How much longer did it take you to get to work? hmmm.. good luck :)

Jeff said...

Show me your budget and I'd be happy to make some cuts that won't hurt (me) a bit.

Jenny said...

I've thought the same thing b/c I take 121 all the way to work. HOWEVER, I have figured out the best places to get on and off to minimize the tolls (all entrance and exit fees are NOT created equal!!)

When coming home from work, if I get off at 2281 it's only 53 cents, but if I go all the way to Paige it's $1.17...yes, there are 3 lights I have to go thru, but 2 are almost ALWAYS green with no traffic. so it literally only takes me an extra 60 seconds, but saves money.

Also, for short trips between The Colony and Frisco -- don't get on 121...and you can skip the light at North Dallas Tollway by getting on, going over and getting right back off for FREE!!

I know it's way faster to get on and and go the whole way, but maybe you can find the perfect balance between time and money!