I think I'm going to take the train to work tomorrow.

It won't save me any time, although with some creativity I could save five minutes some days (but lose five on others). I do figure it can save me some money.

I drive 76 miles to and from work every day. My car gets about 35 miles to the gallon, but I just put more than $30 worth of gas in my car and I'll have to do it again in a week at the rate I'm going. I'll spend about $6.50 driving to and from work tomorrow.

I also had a bunch of maintenance done this week. I figure the consumables in my car--oil, timing belt, shocks, tires, compliance bushings--cost me about a nickel a mile, so potentially it costs me more like $10 to drive to and from work every day.

I'm not factoring in depreciation since I intend to keep the car 10 years, and I've only had it five. But going by the IRS' standard mileage deduction, my commute costs a whopping $38.38 a day. And I don't get to deduct that. Ouch.

The closest Metrolink station is 8 miles away, but the route from it to work is impractical--it'll add almost an hour to my commute both ways. I need to go to a station closer to work and catch the train there. I figure I can drive about halfway, take the train the other half, and not end up spending three hours on the train every day.

A monthly Metrolink pass costs $60. Assume 21 working days, and that's $2.86 a day. Even if all I was saving was gas, it's worth doing. But I stand to spend $2.86 to save $5.50. That's a good deal. Or if you ask the IRS, I stand to spend $2.86 to save $19.19. Even better.

If gas goes to $4/gallon like some are predicting, it becomes an even better deal. And there's nothing I can do to control the price of gas.

Nothing, that is, except burn less of it.