As I was filling up my tank this morning on the way to work, I thought about gas prices and the rising cost of fuel. As my car slowly sucked the money out of my wallet, I looked over at a man filling up a behemoth of a vehicle. I wondered how much he must spend to fill the tank. Upwards of $75, I’m sure. It hurts just thinking about it. This thought led to another until I had the ultimate solution: if you can’t beat them, join them.

Let’s face it, gas prices are going to keep moving higher until additional refinery capacity is brought on stream, and it’s doubtful that’s going to happen any time soon because there’s little incentive to do so. Why would anyone spend the money to build a new refinery when they know the end-result would be to lower their profits on every gallon of gas they produce, both on the existing volume, and any produced from the new refinery; it’s simply a losing proposition.

Most people, who drive regularly, probably fill up two to three times per week. This of course depends on the vehicle you drive, how you drive and whether you do mostly highway or city driving or a combination of both. According to the annual study, Gasoline and the American People, in 2005, American’s drove 12,375 miles, 20 percent more than 1990, consuming an average of 703 gallons of gas annually. Given the increase in the price of gas over the past five years, I wonder how much more we’ve spent to keep our cars on the road. Using an average price for May 2002 through May 2007 and the gallons per year figure above, the dollar amount comes to $3,438. That’s not considering inflation but I think you get the picture.

Now, what if you took $3,438 in May 2002 and bought stock in Exxon Mobil (XOM), America’s largest oil company. Today, that would be worth $7,829, a 128 percent return on your investment, more than covering the added cost of fuel.

This is a clear example of what we refer to as everyday investing. Instead of moaning about the cost of a product or service that you repeatedly use, go out and purchase the stock of the company that makes it – if it’s public – and get the best revenge, in your pocketbook.

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