Lose Weight, Save Gas

Written by Nickel - 7 Comments

According to a recent AP news report, Americans are burning nearly 1 billion more gallons of gas each year than we did in 1960 due to our expanding waistlines… Based on recent prices in the range of $2.20/gallon, this translates into an additional $2.2 billion spent on gas each year. When you think about it, this makes perfect sense. After all, one of the most common gas saving tips is to remove excess items from your trunk to reduce weight. So adding a bunch of weight in the form of fat should have the exact opposite effect, shouldn’t it? Truth be told, this is a pretty minor effect on an individual basis, but when you add it up across the country, you start talking about a non-trivial amount of gas.

[Source: Washington Post]

Published on October 26th, 2006 - 7 Comments
Filed under: Automotive
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About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!

Comments (scroll down to add your own):

When I was racing (an expensive hobby, that)it always amazed me how many people would spend thousands on expensive parts and materials to ligten their rides, when for nothing, they could have easily lost 15 - 20 lbs. Taking that same weight off a bike or car, especially a race vehilce that’s already pretty light, can easily cost a small fortune, but losing that much flab youself isn’t all that difficult if you work at it for a couple of months.
Comment by Debt Free — Oct 27th 2006 @ 1:54 am
Weight loss and gas savings, now thats a double whammy. The majority of U.S. citizens losing weight and using less gas could lead to a revolution if your not careful. The proliferation of weight loss books, tapes and programs doesn’t seem to stop the prevelance of obesity. Hopefully hybrids will become the norm and help reduce gas consumption in this country.
Comment by Andrew — Oct 27th 2006 @ 3:09 pm
Hmmm. . . you could save even more on gas by walking once in a while - thus shrinking your waistline and saving more yet!
Comment by story — Nov 8th 2006 @ 9:43 pm
Would it be ok if I ate a lot, but got a smaller car every year?

Comment by David — Nov 10th 2006 @ 2:25 am