Author Topic: $4/gal soon  (Read 6625 times)

Rob

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« Reply #30 on: September 01, 2005, 09:15:41 AM »
>>"That's a tremendous impact on those folks," Cooper says, noting that the average American spends 4.2% of annual income on gas.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2005-08-21-gas-prices-usat_x.htm

ober

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« Reply #31 on: September 01, 2005, 09:26:59 AM »
For my area, that's below average (the milage, that is).

And you've picked out a small portion of that article.  The paragraph right before that says that the average low-income family spends between 8 and 11 percent of their budget, just like me.  

I'd wager that the majority of the people that live in my area (around Baltimore and Washington) spend close to 15% on gas, because they commute much farther than I do.
« Last Edit: September 01, 2005, 09:32:55 AM by ober »

Rob

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« Reply #32 on: September 01, 2005, 09:40:14 AM »
Quote from: ober
For my area, that's below average (the milage, that is).

And you've picked out a small portion of that article.  The paragraph right before that says that the average low-income family spends between 8 and 11 percent of their budget, just like me.  

I'd wager that the majority of the people that live in my area (around Baltimore and Washington) spend close to 15% on gas, because they commute much farther than I do.


Well, of course, you're right, I did pick out a small part, because I figured comparing average with average was logical. It would be easy for me to counter with stats for an average low-income UK family, which would also be different. Lies and damn lies eh?

I still don't understand how you do 24000 odd miles a year. That's the kind of mileage I used to do when I was carrying a tool case, but I was pretty much driving all day every day. You must have a hell of a commute??!??!

Govtcheez

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« Reply #33 on: September 01, 2005, 10:00:45 AM »
I did about that when I was living in Lansing and working in Jackson (45 miles one way).

At my new place, if I only drive to and from work, I'll only have to fill up once every 2 months.

Bassy

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« Reply #34 on: September 01, 2005, 10:07:06 AM »
Quote from: axon
of course europeans pay much more for gas, but, they drive more fuel efficient cars, rely on public transportation much more, and cover smaller distances when driving - don't get me wrong, all of these are positives!

where did you get this info? i havent used public transport in about 5 or more years - the train system in this country is abysmal and bloody expensive (it costs about £30 for a 25 minute return trip to london from here) and buses are awful - i know very very few people who use public transport. Most people use cars not public transport. Umm also most cover quite large distances to work etc - i regularly did a 75 mile round trip each day to work and i would think that a lot of others average 50 miles or more round trip.

just worked it out and i spend about 2.6% of my annual budget on petrol
« Last Edit: September 01, 2005, 10:18:11 AM by chimaera »
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ober

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« Reply #35 on: September 01, 2005, 10:09:22 AM »
Quote from: Rob
Well, of course, you're right, I did pick out a small part, because I figured comparing average with average was logical. It would be easy for me to counter with stats for an average low-income UK family, which would also be different. Lies and damn lies eh?

I still don't understand how you do 24000 odd miles a year. That's the kind of mileage I used to do when I was carrying a tool case, but I was pretty much driving all day every day. You must have a hell of a commute??!??!


Again I'll say, I think the 4.2% figure is below average and I'd like to see where they get their stats from.  The people that make more around here travel farther to get it.  I think that's true for a lot of areas in the US.  Live where you wanna live, work where you have to work.

And 24K miles is actually low for me.  Keep in mind that I live 60 miles from my parents, 350 miles from my in-laws, and my commute to work one way is 37 miles.  And for the majority of the summer, I was driving an extra 80 miles (it was ~40 miles to the field in the opposite direction of home) twice a week to play softball.

If that's not bad enough, I put 110,000 miles on my old car in 3.5 years, and my car barely moved while I was at college for 6 months out of the year.  That's what having a girlfriend 300 miles away and commuting 45 miles one way to an internship will do.  And that's before vacations, simply going out, etc.

To say I've driven a few miles in my short time on this earth, is putting it lightly.

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« Reply #36 on: September 03, 2005, 09:53:09 AM »
On the other hand I love to drive and if fuel wasn't so expencive I'd have covered 2x as many miles...

Govtcheez

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« Reply #37 on: September 03, 2005, 10:24:36 AM »
Suddenly Deus Ex doesn't seem like that bad a future.

ober

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« Reply #38 on: September 03, 2005, 11:18:48 AM »
It's around 3.20/3.30 here now.

Sang-drax

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« Reply #39 on: September 03, 2005, 06:20:04 PM »
Here's an interesting article on the topic:
Peak Oil: http://peakoil.net/Aleklett/Oil_Market_Tsunami_Alert.pdf

Perhaps it has some language errors (translation from Swedish) but the author knows what he is talking about. He is currently writing a book on the subject, btw.

2008 the world's oil production will reach its peak, while the demand continues to grow.

ygfperson

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« Reply #40 on: September 03, 2005, 06:46:56 PM »
That's a theory called "peak oil" in english, and you can find a lot of information on wikipedia about it

ygfperson

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« Reply #41 on: September 05, 2005, 12:23:17 PM »

Betazep

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« Reply #42 on: September 05, 2005, 03:14:57 PM »
As a test, I assumed that 12000 miles would be put on my van. It gets about 20mpg average.
 
At $4 a gallon, that is $2400 of gas for the year. A considerable amount, yes. But it is the difference that matters. So at $2.50, it is $1500. That is a $900 difference.
 
My car gets closer to 29 mpg average. $1660 at $4 a gallon. $1040 at $3. A $620 difference.
 
So $1520 a year. ~$130 a month more that I have to pay.
 
It is a little paiful initially, but I generally make more money per month over time (as have all of us). In the meantime, I will just cut back on some of the driving... some of the home electricity... and maybe remove a cable channel or two.
 
It is mostly a restructuring of how I live that hurts the most.
 
I sure wish I had a car that ran on water.
 
**edit: more gas prices around the world  http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/global_gasprices/price.html
« Last Edit: September 05, 2005, 03:19:10 PM by Betazep »
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