The Shop Logs

See the IRS for more:

“WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today issued the 2006 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2006, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (including vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:

44.5 cents per mile for business miles driven;
18 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes; and
14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations, other than activities related to Hurricane Katrina relief.
The new rate for business miles compares to a rate of 40.5 cents per mile for the first eight months of 2005. In September, the IRS made a special one-time adjustment for the last four months of 2005, raising the rate for business miles to 48.5 cents per mile in response to a sharp increase in gas prices, which topped $3 a gallon.’”

When I changed the mileage from last year to this year’s I took a $300 hit in my overall profit - yikes! I can’t say the New Year has brought any dramatically increasing shop fees yet. Using the new mileage I started off my new year with soma fairly simple local gas shops that only (barely)put gas in my tank when all was said and done.
Here is my earning chart, including the entire 2005 shopping year:

As you can see I track earnings as paid, not as made. I had a mad dash before the Holidays and now expect the cash flow to drop off. I use this to look back (boy was 2005 rocky!) and make estimates of what my monthly income will be based on the mean of the past two or three years. I am finally collecting enough data to help me predict my income. Based on previous years I will not pick up the pace again until June.