# A Little Lesson on Gasoline

## By Mr. Money Mustache

## Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:19:20 +0000

Just a little internet video today, that Mrs. M. stumbled across. It’s a quick explanation for beginners on the life of gasoline before and after you use it for driving.

The lesson is obvious for the more environmentally-minded folks, but I figured it is still worth sharing because the average US driver doesn’t think about much other than the numbers that appear on the pump display when they buy gas. In fact, this line of reasoning is so common that I ignored all external and social costs when I wrote up the true cost of commuting – figuring that there’s no sense trying to make a point using information most people don’t care about.

Even if the calculations in the video end up being imprecise, the real message is that when deciding how much gas to burn, the pump price should really be the last thing we think about. The first priority is burning the smallest amount that is practical.

I think of the cheap gas we have here in the US as a guilty pleasure. It is great for me personally that it costs virtually nothing to fuel a car. But I still don’t want to waste it with loads of frivolous driving (or driving an inefficient car or truck) because I don’t want to be a big douchebag towards everyone else and burn out the lungs of their children with Benzene and soot and flood them with rising sea levels.

I don’t mean to get overly crunchy granola hippy on you here. You should think of this little post as a positive rather than negative message: by learning to live a more fuel-efficient life, you’re mainly making yourself richer and happier. But you’re also delivering an even bigger difference for everyone else in the world with each gallon you save. So you’re becoming a Rich Mustachian – but you’re also becoming a hero.