On leaving something in the tank

The most efficient time to fill up your car is when the tank is empty. Over a year, that means the least possible trips to the petrol station.

But, and it’s a big but, that’s also pretty risky. Get it wrong and run out of petrol and you pay a big price.

I used to pride myself (and stress out Trish) on getting pretty close to zero. These days I’ve mellowed a bit (and we don’t have so many petrol stations near where we live), so I tend to go a bit earlier.

There are times it makes sense to push hard and (horribly mixing my metaphors) sail close to the wind. And there are other times it makes sense to leave something in the tank.