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Overall cost/mile to drive my pick up (price, license, Insurance, upkeep) $0.79


Out of Pocket cost per mile (gas) $0.18


Home Depot is 12 mile round trip


Overall cost to go get it is ($0.79)X(12) = $9.48 + item @ $15.58 = $25.06


Out of Pocket go get it is ($0.18)X(12) = $2.16 + item @ $15.58 = $17.04


Shipping cost of desired item is $5.99 + Item @ $15.58 = $21.57


What would you do? How would you figure it

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Sendhelp:          Did you get your alcohol diluted? 

It would be just the ratio of the strengths. So 92/75 = 1.23 therefore just add 23% more water. So for 2 oz you’d add 0.46 oz water.
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You are correct the cost of the item cancels out. I included it to make a complete picture.
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Why are you including the cost of the item in your comparison of delivery vs. collection prices? Unless you're planning to run away with it - ?! - you're going to have to pay the $15.58 anyway. No?

So then it's $9.48 (to collect it) vs $5.99 (to have it shipped). Not including social distancing and comparative carbon footprint costs.

Does that make the decision easier? - must do, I'd have thought, unless a) you're in a tearing hurry to get hold of the item and/or b) you have notoriously shocking delivery services in your area and the item is perishable, alive, or made of lead crystal.
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Which do you have more of: time or money? If shipping it saves you the time to go get it so that you can work more and be productive, earning money, then have it shipped. Also, shipping it does cut down on risks: exposure to virus, traffic accidents, etc.
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Isthisrealyreal: I have a record of all expenses since I bot the 2003 P/U in March 2010. $0.79 is the total expense including everything for 10 years divided by the miles driven. Since I am old I drive less miles - only 38040 in the last 10 years. (I drove over 2 million as a truck driver and don’t miss one of em.) So, yes, the cost per mile is higher than it might have been for a younger person; nevertheless the number is accurate. I don’t quite see how but would publish my spread sheets if interested.

The gas mileage spread is from 15.86 to 29.06 tank to tank (the extremes) and is 19.89 overall since purchase. Generally the mileage varies from 19 to 22 tank to tank. 29 was @ 45mph with tailwind. 15.86 pulling heavy load uphill.

Sendhelp: My father was a chemical engineer, both sisters were chemists, my brother was smart, it’s been 66 years since I studied college chemistry and I hated it. Can’t help ya.  Having said that I was a whiz at oxidation/reduction equations FWIW. Now I think of it I remember: Volume X Normality = Constant. :-)  VN =VN Will that get you there?

Desired Item: Refills for my string trimmer. It is a want; until I run out then it becomes a need (pain) if none on hand. Intangibles; you gotta figure em.

The length of time I keep the heap into the future is of no consequence here because the problem is right now.
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What exactly is 'the desired item'?

Is it a want or a need?

Home Depot may still have shop towels if you are out of TP. Lol.
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Ship it!
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How did you get enough hand sanitizer to sit in a puddle of it?
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QMNPXL,
Are you going to be our 'go to person' for mathematical questions?

I have one, because I have forgotten how to figure out dilutions.

In ounces.
92% Alcohol can be diluted to make 75% alcohol?
Two ounces of 92% alcohol, mixed with distilled water-how much?

Anyone?

The finances of it all (this latest crisis) is going on my credit card, then I will sell my home to pay the credit card.
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This has turned out to be an interesting diversionary thread!
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Why are your shades pulled down? 🥴️
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A visit to Home Depot is exposing yourself to many toxins all in one place, many of them are carcinogenic or allergens. This is true whether or not there are restrictions about staying home during a pandemic.

Limit your time there inside if you go.

Is there a savings plan on shipping if you buy a certain amount?

What would I do? Figure out a way to do without.
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You have to consider that you pay insurance whether you drive or not. Then you have to realize that the less you drive the higher your CPM is to keep and maintain the vehicle. So that will go down with every trip.

As I read your calculations I find that some details are missing. How did you arrive at .79 per mile? This would have to be done annually taking every mile, every oil change, every tire, insurance, etc into consideration. For a 10 year old truck that seems pretty high. Are you just considering the 12 mile trip? Price of vehicle has to be calculated over the entire 10 years if you are using that, which I think that you have to figure in how much longer you will be driving the vehicle to use that in your calcs. I assume that the vehicle is paid for so not really a cost at this point.
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I believe the $2.16 would be considered to be included in the $9.48


My opinion is that :
1.The Out-of-pocket solution is not valid as it doesn’t reflect the true cost of operation. I’ve had this heap for just at 10 years so the $0.79/mile is the true cost of operation for me for 10 years. 
2. Therefore shipping is the cheapest option. 
3. Plus! Any economic decision must consider the intangibles; in this case the Virus etc.
4. So shipping satisfies both the facts and the intangibles. 

I don’t see how to separate operation and overhead for this situation - ie just one person & one heap - actually I don’t completely understand the difference. I think overhead and operations are not separate and that operations are actually only one part of the overhead.

The $0.79/mile is actually the mean cost/mile so the cost for any one particular mile or group of miles may be much different from $0.79. But! How might you know when that variation might occur or might have occurred or the extent to which it occurred? 

Rather nice to get off serious business occasionally. 

Oh! My time. I stay at home with the shades pulled down, lights out, sitting in a puddle of hand sanitizer with my fingers crossed, counting my stimulus dollars.
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You have not accounted for your time. How long will it take you to drive 24 miles and how long to find the item in the store and go through the cashier?

Me, I am having what I can delivered right now. If a local company cannot deliver then I look for a big box store for delivery.
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First ur counting the item 2x. I took the 9.48 +2.16 = 11.64 +15.58 =27.22. To have item shipped is 21.57. Savings of 5.65 by having it shipped.
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If anything, the overhead should be divided by the number of miles, but that's better done on an annual basis.  Still, overhead in full shouldn't be applied to each trip.   

What is the item, and how critical is it?  How long is your state under lockdown?  (Ours starts tomorrow at 12:01 a.m. and at this point lasts until 13 April, although I anticipate that to be extended b/c for some reason some people just will not accept an isolation order and insist on partying, congregating and ignoring isolation and safety guidelines.
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I wouldnt factor the price and insurance, etc into each trip. If you have a car, it's overhead, not operational.

Right now, not exposing yourself to human contact is priceless. Delivery. No question.
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