Just crunched the numbers on my mixed gas fills over 3 years and I'm shocked

I was going through my old dive logs last week to figure out my yearly expenses, and I decided to actually add up what I've spent on helium for trimix fills since 2022. Turns out I've dropped over $4,200 just on helium. That's more than I paid for my drysuit. I found the receipts from my local dive shop in Seattle and some from a supplier I use down in Florida when I'm working salvage. The crazy part is, the helium cost per fill has jumped almost 40% since I started keeping track. I knew it was going up, but seeing it all in a spreadsheet really hit me. Has anyone else noticed their gas bill taking over their budget, or do you just not think about it?

2 comments

2 Comments

ericschmidt1mo ago

$4,200 on helium? Man, I feel that one deep in my wallet lol. I did the same thing last year and realized I was spending almost as much on gas as I was on filling my truck with diesel for the drive to the coast. My local shop in Ventura County did a price hike in 2022 and I just kept paying it without thinking, like I was on autopilot. I actually switched to doing my own mixing with a booster pump and some tanks I bought off Craigslist, but I bet I've still blown over $2,500 on helium alone since then. I guess the takeaway is that we're all just floating our money away one cubic foot at a time.

xenarobinson1mo ago

Maybe it's just me but the real inflation is in the rent for the shop keeping those tanks.