US gasoline prices may finally adjust to a reasonable figure

[Sibirsky]

If gasoline rose to $7.00 a gallon that would be a surefire way for Obama and the current congress to be voted out en masse and the entire economy would suffer from such a steep hike. Perhaps people that lose their jobs or businesses because of this will riot. Also, most Americans wouldn't want to have to use public transportation out of choice. (I know I wouldn't) We have a predominately car culture that can't be gotten rid of. We're all about the individual.

So what will happen when there is not enough oil left to sustain your "car culture"?

That will happen gradually. And gradually the price of gasoline will increase. And gradually other fuel sources will be provided. And gradually people will switch to other fuel sources. Some of them are available now (CNG for instance) but the fuel stations are too few and far between. Eventually they won't be. The point is, it is absolutely not necessary, and would be very devastating to the economy to have gas go up three fold in a very short amount of time. Gas is also just one energy source. The plan would cause most energy sources to increase in cost by similar amounts.

Or you won't you'll just pay higher fuel prices, and then when there's not enough left to be able to sell it at any reasonable price you'll be fucked.

Why wouldn't investors, invest in money making businesses? You're not making any sense. If there is money to be made, somebody will do it.

because it won't make money until it's too late. Was my point.

Yet every other technology was able to become profitable before it was too late. Too late for what? The world to end? Oil to run out? Certainly not. You are being ridiculous.

[Person012345]

Yet every other technology was able to become profitable before it was too late. Too late for what? The world to end? Oil to run out? Certainly not. You are being ridiculous.

What other technology has been in the situation of oil technologies beforee in our history?

[Sibirsky]

Yet every other technology was able to become profitable before it was too late. Too late for what? The world to end? Oil to run out? Certainly not. You are being ridiculous.

What other technology has been in the situation of oil technologies beforee in our history?

All other technologies were in the situation of alternative energy technologies at some point. Unknown, underfunded, underutilized. Most progress was achieved without massive taxation and economic crippling. Your lack of faith in people is startling.

[Person012345]

Yet every other technology was able to become profitable before it was too late. Too late for what? The world to end? Oil to run out? Certainly not. You are being ridiculous.

What other technology has been in the situation of oil technologies beforee in our history?

All other technologies were in the situation of alternative energy technologies at some point. Unknown, underfunded, underutilized. Most progress was achieved without massive taxation and economic crippling. Your lack of faith in people is startling.

There were a number of technologies in that position and guess what? Some didn't get developed. Since that has no relevance to the argument I asked you to name a technology that has been in the same situation as oil based technologies?

And I don't have faith in people. People are idiots, people don't like change, people will continue to do what they've always done.

Sure, a person is capable of rationalising, a person is able to change, but people do seem to lose the ability to a large degree. As long as it's convinient they will use oil, and when it's no longer possible to do so they may well be screwed.

It really depends on exactly how things go. If the price does rise gradually, I'm sure green techs will become more utilised if they are cheaper. But I'm not entirely convinced it will. I'm just saying, you can't necessarily rely on it. The above poster has already demonstrated a resistence to using public transport and not his car (his statement would not indicate lack of availability, but that he simply doesn't want to use it). Even though it's the greener and more sensible option overall. You think people will wake up one day and go "OMG, I wanna use the bus/train/whatever otherwise we'll run out of fuel"? I don't.

[Sibirsky]

Yet every other technology was able to become profitable before it was too late. Too late for what? The world to end? Oil to run out? Certainly not. You are being ridiculous.

What other technology has been in the situation of oil technologies beforee in our history?

All other technologies were in the situation of alternative energy technologies at some point. Unknown, underfunded, underutilized. Most progress was achieved without massive taxation and economic crippling. Your lack of faith in people is startling.

There were a number of technologies in that position and guess what? Some didn't get developed. Since that has no relevance to the argument I asked you to name a technology that has been in the same situation as oil based technologies?

And I don't have faith in people. People are idiots, people don't like change, people will continue to do what they've always done.

Sure, a person is capable of rationalising, a person is able to change, but people do seem to lose the ability to a large degree. As long as it's convinient they will use oil, and when it's no longer possible to do so they may well be screwed.

It really depends on exactly how things go. If the price does rise gradually, I'm sure green techs will become more utilised if they are cheaper. But I'm not entirely convinced it will. I'm just saying, you can't necessarily rely on it. The above poster has already demonstrated a resistence to using public transport and not his car (his statement would not indicate lack of availability, but that he simply doesn't want to use it). Even though it's the greener and more sensible option overall. You think people will wake up one day and go "OMG, I wanna use the bus/train/whatever otherwise we'll run out of fuel"? I don't.

Obviously a global depression is the solution.

Funny, how it was people that invented the radio, television, telephone, automobile, airplane, typewriter, computer, and on and on, the list is long. If there is money to be made in it, than people will do it. If there isn't, then the technology is not worth pursuing for some reason (it is too expensive, or it is not efficient enough, or whatever else). Your lack of faith in humanity is irrelevant. People have proven themselves to be ingenious, productive, adaptive and capable of change. You think going from the horseless carriage to the car or train was a change? It happened. And it made the world a better, more efficient and more productive place. And technology will continue to evolve. The solution is not to have some central authority deciding what energy sources we should be using, but to let the resources be allocated by the market, as that is the most efficient way. I don't have faith in government, as they have demonstrated time and time again complete ineptitude in allocating resources.

[Saiwania]

The above poster has already demonstrated a resistence to using public transport and not his car (his statement would not indicate lack of availability, but that he simply doesn't want to use it). Even though it's the greener and more sensible option overall. You think people will wake up one day and go "OMG, I wanna use the bus/train/whatever otherwise we'll run out of fuel"? I don't.

There are plenty of reasons people may choose not to take public transit, a car gives me what a subway train cannot. Namely personal space/security, convenience, and comfort. I'm not too keen on going into a crowded bus or train to get to where I need to go. I'd much rather drive a car to have my personal space and drive my own route. (which may be faster) I also of course wouldn't have to be around or deal with complete strangers as often. (many of which are weirdos) One time, I talked to this girl online who claimed she almost got molested taking a public transit bus and that's not the kind of environment I'd want to see or expose myself to. So long as it's affordable, more people in the US will want to drive cars. If not for personal/privacy reasons, then for the sheer size of the country which makes setting up such a mass transit system unfeasible.

[Gun Manufacturers]

maybe they are buying more then they can carry in one trip ?

Go shopping every day?

Do you have any idea how expensive that is?

I go shopping every day, why is that expensive?

Buying in bulk is usually cheaper.

[Dakini]

maybe they are buying more then they can carry in one trip ?

Go shopping every day?

Do you have any idea how expensive that is?

I go shopping every day, why is that expensive?

Buying in bulk is usually cheaper.

That would depend on what you're eating and how many people are eating the food that's being purchased in bulk.

If you're buying produce in bulk, this is only a good plan if you like eating a lot of frozen foods or you have a large-ish family (or friends who will go in on these sorts of purchases). If you're buying something like rice or olive oil, then it's definitely cheaper to buy in bulk, but also you don't need to buy this every day and can go shopping frequently while only occasionally stocking up on these items as they run out.

[Gun Manufacturers]

....

Where's the rest of it?

[Gun Manufacturers]

maybe they are buying more then they can carry in one trip ?

Go shopping every day?

Do you have any idea how expensive that is?

I go shopping every day, why is that expensive?

Buying in bulk is usually cheaper.

That would depend on what you're eating and how many people are eating the food that's being purchased in bulk.

If you're buying produce in bulk, this is only a good plan if you like eating a lot of frozen foods or you have a large-ish family (or friends who will go in on these sorts of purchases). If you're buying something like rice or olive oil, then it's definitely cheaper to buy in bulk, but also you don't need to buy this every day and can go shopping frequently while only occasionally stocking up on these items as they run out.

My roommate and I can go through 24 rolls of TP pretty quick (especially since TP can do double duty as facial tissue in a pinch). Also surprising is how quickly we seem to go through boxes of cereal, bags of flour, sugar, rice, beans, pasta, soup, gallons of milk, etc.

Usually the larger the quantity of an item, the lower the unit price is.

[Brickistan]

I just fueled up today, it was 126 yen/l. (Around and about $5 per gal).

And before you guys say anything about how Japan has wonderful public transportation (It does), I live in rural Japan. The store we go to is 20 minutes down the road, my school is 30 minutes away (26 km, or about 16 miles). But, see, Japan believes in smaller cars with much better fuel standards than the US.

It can be done and it just MIGHT get people out of their gas guzzlers.

NERV, my dads 71 Ford Pickup gets nearly 12mpg, and thats with it original engine, a shitty accelerator pump and a shitty carburetor. If a 71 (Year before the Crackdown on Gas Guzzlers began), gets nearly half the MPG as my mom's 86 Mercury Sable, i dont know what a gas guzzler is.

Heck, even those big diesel Pickups people are really fond of over here get's good fuel mileage, provided you get the Diesel Engines and not the gas. 20mpg out of a 08 Dodge 2500 Ram is nearly the same as many Economy fuel cars. Scion for example gets 27mpg highway, my Shop Teachers Dodge, which i stated before, gets 20mpg highway.

My Noah (A minivan) gets 28.

My little k-car gets much better.

I would never consider getting a car that did less than 40 – 45 mpg.

Look, I can accept the argument that public transport won’t work in America due to the sheer size of the country. But that’s no excuse for driving around in gas guzzling SUVs and pickups. Well, ok... If you’re a farmer in a rural area you might have a legitimate need for a large heavy-duty pickup truck. But soccer moms and high school kids in suburban areas? No way...

And in any case, sooner or later we’ll run out of oil so we might as well start looking at alternatives...

I've helped several people move with my pickup, I've brought brush to the dump with my pickup, I've brought a 1958 Ford engine to an engine builder with my pickup, I've transferred furniture between family members with my pickup, towed a trailer with my pickup, and done lots of other things with my pickup that I wouldn't be able to do with a car. I'm not a farmer (although I did work on a farm when I was in high school), but I'd rather have my pickup than a car.

Well, in those cases I simply rent a large trailer - $20 for 4 hours or $40 for 24 hours... In fact, last time I bought new furniture I borrowed a large trailer to haul it home with for free. As I only need to do this once or twice a year, at most, that’s good enough for me.

As for moving large amount of heavy stuff... Last time I moved I hired a company to do it for me. Not only do they have a big truck to haul stuff around in, they also did all the heavy lifting. Cost $300 which was the best $300 I’ve ever used...

You don’t need a big SUV to tow a trailer. Unless, of course, you’re talking really heavy loads. It might be convenient, but do you really haul big loads that often? Ok, so if you do, you might be one of those who need a slightly bigger car than average. But still...

One of the things I remember best from my visit to America is how big things are over there. Not only are the cities big, the houses are big as well, and the cars... My, oh my... Compared to the usual mid-range European/Japanese cars you see here in Denmark, the average car in America was just enormous...
Seriously, does a single family really need that much room? What do you use it for? And do you really need large pickup trucks just to go to the nearest shopping mall? I’m honestly wondering: if you were forced to pay as much as we Europeans do, wouldn’t most of you be able to get by with smaller, more economical, cars?

How do we switch? It's not feasible unless you are in the market for a new car. Otherwise you keep driving what you have.

Good question…

To be honest, I don’t know. You Americans are caught in the trap. Sooner or later you’ll have to ditch the big cars and houses and live more economically. But how you’ll get out of the dept and get rid of those cars and houses... ? Perhaps the only way to do it is to let the country go bankrupt and then build everything up again? It’s going to be very painful, but what else can you do?

Actually, perhaps I should rather say that the Western World is caught in a trap. It’s not just America that’s in trouble. We Europeans certainly have problems of our own... But just as you Americans are unwilling to give up your big houses and cars, we Europeans are unwilling to give up on our welfare...

But I think I’m getting somewhat off topic here...

[Person012345]

Yet every other technology was able to become profitable before it was too late. Too late for what? The world to end? Oil to run out? Certainly not. You are being ridiculous.

What other technology has been in the situation of oil technologies beforee in our history?

All other technologies were in the situation of alternative energy technologies at some point. Unknown, underfunded, underutilized. Most progress was achieved without massive taxation and economic crippling. Your lack of faith in people is startling.

There were a number of technologies in that position and guess what? Some didn't get developed. Since that has no relevance to the argument I asked you to name a technology that has been in the same situation as oil based technologies?

And I don't have faith in people. People are idiots, people don't like change, people will continue to do what they've always done.

Sure, a person is capable of rationalising, a person is able to change, but people do seem to lose the ability to a large degree. As long as it's convinient they will use oil, and when it's no longer possible to do so they may well be screwed.

It really depends on exactly how things go. If the price does rise gradually, I'm sure green techs will become more utilised if they are cheaper. But I'm not entirely convinced it will. I'm just saying, you can't necessarily rely on it. The above poster has already demonstrated a resistence to using public transport and not his car (his statement would not indicate lack of availability, but that he simply doesn't want to use it). Even though it's the greener and more sensible option overall. You think people will wake up one day and go "OMG, I wanna use the bus/train/whatever otherwise we'll run out of fuel"? I don't.

Obviously a global depression is the solution.

Funny, how it was people that invented the radio, television, telephone, automobile, airplane, typewriter, computer, and on and on, the list is long. If there is money to be made in it, than people will do it. If there isn't, then the technology is not worth pursuing for some reason (it is too expensive, or it is not efficient enough, or whatever else). Your lack of faith in humanity is irrelevant. People have proven themselves to be ingenious, productive, adaptive and capable of change. You think going from the horseless carriage to the car or train was a change? It happened. And it made the world a better, more efficient and more productive place. And technology will continue to evolve. The solution is not to have some central authority deciding what energy sources we should be using, but to let the resources be allocated by the market, as that is the most efficient way. I don't have faith in government, as they have demonstrated time and time again complete ineptitude in allocating resources.

they were slow changes. People were initially afraid to go on trains as they though going over 30mph would cause you to die. Eventually they realised it didn't.

Again, you've missed the point. What if green technology is not profitable until the oil actually runs out? Then it won't have been developed to any decent standard before then necessarily. Thus we'll have a time when people cannot move around efficiently/whatever. What if green technology for cars will never be affordable for the ordinary person (not saying it won't, but what if)?

[Sominis]

Reasonable? Really? How is matching outrageous prices in other countries by definition reasonable? If my whole family has a high fever and I don't is it reasonable for me to be purposefully infected with a virus? Typical socialist thinking.....
I am sick and tired of euro trash whining about how much better they are than Americans. Oh... we deal with $7 gas prices, so why can't you? We're so much more cultured and open.... yeah, that's easy when you have another centuries old culture sitting on your back door step. Get a map people! Look at how much larger the US is than any european country.
According to a recent BBC report, the UK lead the EU with longest daily commutes of 8.5 miles. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I drive 15 miles a day to work. Several people I know live 30-45 miles away from their job. And this is in a metro area. As another poster stated... people in rural US would be f*ked. I know you're mindless socialism is gaining ground here in America, but we are still at heart capitalists. If we can get something cheaper than you then that's just the way it is. If your countries had the clout that we did, then you would be taking the same advantages that we are.
End of line......

This is hugely fail. Not only do high gas prices have absolutely jack shit to do with socialism. And you just come accross as arrogant with the last comment.

My (devils advocate) stance was that you choose to drive so far, or that by your choice of driving so far you remove your other choices.

So, wait..... socialism ISN'T about people who have it worse off whining and trying to force those who have it better to equalize? could have fooled me!
and as far as choosing to drive farther.... again.... get a map. note the great difference in distances between places in EU and US. I didn't choose the size or populations of our cities, so.... fail on you buddy.

[Galloism]

Ok, time for a visit from the math people. I'm tired of "move into the city, then", so I'm going to explain why that doesn't help.

My brother bought a small town house in the suburb of a major city for him and his family. It cost him $65,000. Because of the way mortgages work, he will wind up paying about $120,000 when he's finished.

A similar sized house in the city served by the city bus system would cost approximately $450,000. That's about $870,000 with interest.

He uses ~3 gallons of gas per day to drive into the city and back. Let's assume gas is $7 per gallon (ouch, ouch, OUCH). That's $21 a day. Let's assume six days a week, in case he wants to go into the city on Saturday. That's about 300 days per year. 300 days multiplied by 21 dollars a day would be $6,300 per year.

Now, let's do some math. $870,000 (inner city house) - $120,000 (suburb) = $750,000. Dividing $750,000 by $6,300, we find out that he would have to live in that house for over 119 years before it paid for itself, at $7 per gallon.

(Note, these figures do NOT include using the city's transportation, as I have no idea what a bus ticket would cost him in the city, and it would likely depend on where the city house was compared to his work. The cost of public transport would lengthen the recovery period.)

[Brickistan]

Ok, time for a visit from the math people. I'm tired of "move into the city, then", so I'm going to explain why that doesn't help.

My brother bought a small town house in the suburb of a major city for him and his family. It cost him $65,000. Because of the way mortgages work, he will wind up paying about $120,000 when he's finished.

A similar sized house in the city served by the city bus system would cost approximately $450,000. That's about $870,000 with interest.

He uses ~3 gallons of gas per day to drive into the city and back. Let's assume gas is $7 per gallon (ouch, ouch, OUCH). That's $21 a day. Let's assume six days a week, in case he wants to go into the city on Saturday. That's about 300 days per year. 300 days multiplied by 21 dollars a day would be $6,300 per year.

Now, let's do some math. $870,000 (inner city house) - $120,000 (suburb) = $750,000. Dividing $750,000 by $6,300, we find out that he would have to live in that house for over 119 years before it paid for itself, at $7 per gallon.

(Note, these figures do NOT include using the city's transportation, as I have no idea what a bus ticket would cost him in the city, and it would likely depend on where the city house was compared to his work. The cost of public transport would lengthen the recovery period.)

You forget that there are many different expenses associated with owning a car...

I don’t know about America, but here in Denmark there is the price of the car itself – possibly including interests on a loan, registration and import tax (although only once, when you buy the car), mandatory insurance, voluntary insurance – which you’d be a fool not to have unless your car is a rolling piece of junk, road tax, tool both payment, payment for parking space in town – and possibly at home unless you live in your own house with a garage, payment to have your car safety checked and certified every few years, payment to have your tires replaced regularly, payment to have your car repaired every few years, and of course gas...

I pay $75 each month to be able to use any bus I want within in the three innermost zones of the city at will (which covers the entire town except the outermost suburbs). That wouldn’t even cover the monthly expenses on gas – let along insurance, taxes and whatnot...

[United Dependencies]

My area pays about 2.60 per gallon

[Gun Manufacturers]

Many of the Stop & Shop supermarkets in my area have a Gas Rewards program. For every dollar you spend in the supermarket, you get one gas point. 100 gas points = $0.10 off each gallon of gas you buy at their gas stations (the points expire in one month, or when you get gas). They also have sales where if you buy certain products, you get bonus points. The best I've ever done is build up 800 gas points, which let me fill up my tank for IIRC, $1.94/gallon.

[Galloism]

Ok, time for a visit from the math people. I'm tired of "move into the city, then", so I'm going to explain why that doesn't help.

My brother bought a small town house in the suburb of a major city for him and his family. It cost him $65,000. Because of the way mortgages work, he will wind up paying about $120,000 when he's finished.

A similar sized house in the city served by the city bus system would cost approximately $450,000. That's about $870,000 with interest.

He uses ~3 gallons of gas per day to drive into the city and back. Let's assume gas is $7 per gallon (ouch, ouch, OUCH). That's $21 a day. Let's assume six days a week, in case he wants to go into the city on Saturday. That's about 300 days per year. 300 days multiplied by 21 dollars a day would be $6,300 per year.

Now, let's do some math. $870,000 (inner city house) - $120,000 (suburb) = $750,000. Dividing $750,000 by $6,300, we find out that he would have to live in that house for over 119 years before it paid for itself, at $7 per gallon.

(Note, these figures do NOT include using the city's transportation, as I have no idea what a bus ticket would cost him in the city, and it would likely depend on where the city house was compared to his work. The cost of public transport would lengthen the recovery period.)

You forget that there are many different expenses associated with owning a car...

I don’t know about America, but here in Denmark there is the price of the car itself – possibly including interests on a loan, registration and import tax (although only once, when you buy the car), mandatory insurance, voluntary insurance – which you’d be a fool not to have unless your car is a rolling piece of junk, road tax, tool both payment, payment for parking space in town – and possibly at home unless you live in your own house with a garage, payment to have your car safety checked and certified every few years, payment to have your tires replaced regularly, payment to have your car repaired every few years, and of course gas...

I pay $75 each month to be able to use any bus I want within in the three innermost zones of the city at will (which covers the entire town except the outermost suburbs). That wouldn’t even cover the monthly expenses on gas – let along insurance, taxes and whatnot..

you're absolutely right. I did not include incidental expenses of owning either. Leaving aside that he needs a vehicle so he can visit me on occasion anyway, I will calculate. Most of his figures are lower, given his vehicle is an suv, and mine is a sports car.

Insurance: $830 yr
Tires: $600 / 3yrs = $200/yr
Oil changes: Apporiximately $80yr
Windshield wipers: $40 / 2yrs = $20 yr
Miscellaneous fluids & small parts: $50/yr
Cost of car: $21000 / 7 yrs = $3000 / yr

$4180/yr to maintain a car, if you buy a new one every seven years.

Real estate tax rate in his area is effectively 1.3% (set by county - ranges from 1.1% to 1.6%).

This means $845/yr in the suburb, but $5,850/yr in the city.

Homeowner's insurance would also be higher, but I don't know how much.

Sorry. I underestimated the recovery period.

[Brickistan]

Ok, time for a visit from the math people. I'm tired of "move into the city, then", so I'm going to explain why that doesn't help.

My brother bought a small town house in the suburb of a major city for him and his family. It cost him $65,000. Because of the way mortgages work, he will wind up paying about $120,000 when he's finished.

A similar sized house in the city served by the city bus system would cost approximately $450,000. That's about $870,000 with interest.

He uses ~3 gallons of gas per day to drive into the city and back. Let's assume gas is $7 per gallon (ouch, ouch, OUCH). That's $21 a day. Let's assume six days a week, in case he wants to go into the city on Saturday. That's about 300 days per year. 300 days multiplied by 21 dollars a day would be $6,300 per year.

Now, let's do some math. $870,000 (inner city house) - $120,000 (suburb) = $750,000. Dividing $750,000 by $6,300, we find out that he would have to live in that house for over 119 years before it paid for itself, at $7 per gallon.

(Note, these figures do NOT include using the city's transportation, as I have no idea what a bus ticket would cost him in the city, and it would likely depend on where the city house was compared to his work. The cost of public transport would lengthen the recovery period.)

You forget that there are many different expenses associated with owning a car...

I don’t know about America, but here in Denmark there is the price of the car itself – possibly including interests on a loan, registration and import tax (although only once, when you buy the car), mandatory insurance, voluntary insurance – which you’d be a fool not to have unless your car is a rolling piece of junk, road tax, tool both payment, payment for parking space in town – and possibly at home unless you live in your own house with a garage, payment to have your car safety checked and certified every few years, payment to have your tires replaced regularly, payment to have your car repaired every few years, and of course gas...

I pay $75 each month to be able to use any bus I want within in the three innermost zones of the city at will (which covers the entire town except the outermost suburbs). That wouldn’t even cover the monthly expenses on gas – let along insurance, taxes and whatnot..

you're absolutely right. I did not include incidental expenses of owning either. Leaving aside that he needs a vehicle so he can visit me on occasion anyway, I will calculate. Most of his figures are lower, given his vehicle is an suv, and mine is a sports car.

Insurance: $830 yr
Tires: $600 / 3yrs = $200/yr
Oil changes: Apporiximately $80yr
Windshield wipers: $40 / 2yrs = $20 yr
Miscellaneous fluids & small parts: $50/yr
Cost of car: $21000 / 7 yrs = $3000 / yr

$4180/yr to maintain a car, if you buy a new one every seven years.

Real estate tax rate in his area is effectively 1.3% (set by county - ranges from 1.1% to 1.6%).

This means $845/yr in the suburb, but $5,850/yr in the city.

Homeowner's insurance would also be higher, but I don't know how much.

Sorry. I underestimated the recovery period.

Thanks for the reply. Just for fun I crunched a few numbers myself. Now, mind you, I haven’t actually owned a car for quite some time since buses are more than adequate for my needs but...

Mandatory insurance is probably somewhere between $1500 and 2500 per year – if I’m lucky. Single male with limited driving experience and all that... No kidding... I’ve heard stories of insurance companies demanding up to $20000 per year, just because the driver was a young male who had bought a big American car...
You can probably add at least another $500 or so per year for the non-mandatory insurance.

The car will cost anywhere between $1000 for an old wreck that I might keep on the road for a year or two, and $40000 for a good new car.

A set of tires would typically cost somewhere between $100 and $500 depending on size and type. And that’s without the rims... And then there’s the cost of having them changed twice a year (summer to winter and back) which might cost $100 each time. Of course, I could do it myself, but I wouldn’t entrust my safety to my own, very limited, mechanical abilities, so that’s out of the question...

Fuel... Well, I need to drive at least 100 km each week, and probably more. With a good fuel economy of 20km/l, that would be 5 litres of fuel each week. At around $2 per litre that would be $100 for fuel each year. But let’s not kid ourselves, I would most likely use the car for more than just driving to and from uni, so we can probably triple that. And since that kind of fuel economy is not really possible for the old cars that are within my price range, we can probably double that again...

The mandatory safety checks will be around $100. How often this has to be done depends on the car. Every two years for an old car. Somewhat less frequent for a new car.

And then there’s the road tax which is between $300 and $1000 per year for an older car. Somewhat less for a newer car with good fuel economy...


So I’ll probably be looking at somewhere around $5000 to $6000 each year just for maintaining the car, pay for fuel, taxes and so on. And then there’s the payment for the car itself (which might be a simple onetime payment for an old wreck that must be replaced each year or several thousand dollars per year for a new car that will last a lot longer) and the various other expenses associated with owning a car...

Comparing that to the cost of living in the city... Well... I’m currently paying $650 each month, all expenses included, for a small rented flat with 52 m². Getting a comparable flat within the innermost zone of the city would probably cost double, if not triple that. Considering the expenses associated with owning a car, moving into the centre of the city would allow me to pay double my current rent and still break even – as long as I can live within walking distance of my work...

Ironically, my insurance might go down a bit if I moved into the city. The area I live in now is by no means the worst in the city and suburbs, but I’m still paying $400 per year for up to $20000 worth of insured valuables. Ha! Valuables... At $200, my computer is by far the most valuable thing I currently own. Sigh, being a poor student sucks... But anyway, I might actually get by on $100 less than now if I moved since the city centre is considered a more calm area to live in...

[Caninope]

Quite honestly, it's just cheaper for one to live in the suburbs and drive.

[Valkenburg aan de Geul]

I had no idea gasoline was that cheap in the U.S, In Scandinavia it costs 8-9 usd for a so called "gallon"

[Sibirsky]

I had no idea gasoline was that cheap in the U.S, In Scandinavia it costs 8-9 usd for a so called "gallon"

That's because we don't tax the shit out of it.

[Katganistan]

2 month gravedig.