Let's start this one off with a rant about gas prices. (And let's combine it with evidence of how anal I am.) Sherman, set the wayback machine for May, 2001. I bought my current car at that time. It came complete with a manual and new car smell. The manual told me that I wouldn't be able to gauge my gas milage until the engine was broken in. Not satisfied with that, I set about calculating it for myself. I still had the receipt from the first tank of gas (that I could account for), so I figured it was now or never.Today, I can tell you to the penny how much money I've spent on that car. And I can tell you confidently that it costs nearly three times as much to drive it today as it did then. The charts below depict the prices I paid for gas over the six-year period and my gas costs per mile, respectively.  In November and December of 2001, the price of gasoline flirted with, and actually fell below for a day, $1. I spent roughly $.07 on gasoline for each mile I drove. Lately with gas prices above $3.25 per gallon, that per-mile cost figure has reached $.20. Now you may not care that you're handing over $1 for every five miles you drive. But think about it the next time you use your car for company business. Will their per diem rate cover your gas expenses?
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