Rounding Up and Saving Big...

Hello, friends!

An interesting thing that I have noticed as I have been riding for this past year or so.  Actually, I didn't really notice until a few weeks ago, but it's something that I have been (or rather HAVEN'T been) doing ever since I started this blog.  I am talking about rounding.

Let me give you an example.  Let's suppose that I think I am going to be on campus for 5 hours for a given day.  I get to the meter and I put in $5 to give me 5 hours worth of time (so as to not get a ticket).  But, because a student cancels a meeting, I forget something back at home, or some other unforeseen circumstance, I am actually on campus on 4 hours.  Well, the meter doesn't give change, so I pretty much blew an hour's worth of meter money.  Isn't that the saddest thing in the world?

What are my options at that point?  I could gamble, put in 3 hours worth of time and hope that I don't get a ticket.  I could run back and forth from the meter to wherever I am so that I get things exactly right.  Neither of those really works for me.  The first one always ends up costing more ($10/ticket) and the second one just isn't efficient.  So, if I drive, I end up overpaying and just accept that this is part of life.

However, that is one more joy of biking.  I get to campus when I get to campus.  I leave when I leave.  There's no need for me to try to guess how long I will be there and hope that I get it right as I drop coins into the meter.  I am totally free to do what I want for as long (or as short) as I want and not feel guilty about wasting money.  If anything, I am saving even more money.  Hooray!

Stats:
Places traveled: Campus, Olive Cafe, home, plasma, and campus again.
Distance traveled: 7.4 miles (sorry, the link isn't working) ($.72)
Meters: 6 hours on campus ($6) + 2 hours downtown ($1.20) + 3 hours on campus ($3)

Total: $10.92
Grand Total: $296.41
Left to Save: $286.62

Friends!  We are past the halfway point!  Hooray!!!

Happy Biking!

~Adam