Posted on 04/02/2004 5:05:36 PM PST by Don Simmons
OK - so now the average price of a gallon of gas is up to $1.75. If you pay attention to our beloved "media", you'd think we were all on the brink of poverty because of higher prices at the pump.
However, if you break it down, the fact is that the cost is probably very, VERY absorbable by average Joe American.
Before anyone even thinks about it - yes...I know there are people who are crunched a lot more than others. There are always exceptions - and the comparison I'm about to make can be refuted and disproven with individual examples also.
Don't bother - please take this at face value. It is a comparison -- it's not a rule of law.
OK, let's say you average driving 1,500 miles monthly. That's more than most people and less than some.
Now, let's say your car averages 20 miles per gallon. Again, more than some and less than others.
1,500 miles divided by 20 mpg equals 75 gallons.
So, on average, you use 75 gallons a month. Fair?
OK...
If the price of a gallon were back down to around $1.50, (Yeah, yeah - it should be lower. blah blah blah...it ain't, so deal with it!), I doubt we'd be hearing all this pissing, moaning and whining.
ANYWAY....that's 25 cents less per gallon multiplied by that 75 gallons.
75 X .25 = 18.75
You save $18.75 a month.
For most people -- BIG FRIGGIN' DEAL!!!!!
If that $18.75 breaks your bank, the price of gas is the least of your worries, I say.
It might not be a bad idea for you to.......(are you ready for this?).......CUT BACK!!!!!
LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS!!!!! You probably spend twice that $18.75 - or more - every month swilling cheap beer.
Lord have mercy on my hard, callous soul for telling it like it is.
Am I alone in my thinking here, or can I get an "Amen"?
You didn't take econ 101 did you? You're supposed to instantly raise your prices, even daily or hourly if you have to, to pass those costs on to your customers...How much simpler could it be.< /sarcasm >
There is enough oil for another two hundred years of current usage. However by that time we will no longer be using gasoline engines.
Got any facts to back this up? I doubt it, as even the experts don't really know what the viable reserves are.
What you don't know, or are ignoring, is that oil companies can't make any money on oil if the prices are at $20 or there about. So they cut back on exploration of new fields, they cut back on just about all aspects of production. Then the supply starts to get thin, and what happens? Demand starts to out do supply. Then you get escalating prices and when the price gets high enough, exploration and production begins again. That is what is happening right now as we speak in the oil service industry.
You really didn't answer the questions though. I'm not suprised. It is much easier to whine about conspiracies to take the little mans money than it is to look at the facts.
Try to answer this question please. How much tax do you pay on a gallon of regular unleaded? Both Federal and State tax please.
In 1960 you went to "the service station".
You didn't have to get out of your car. You got ALL your windows washed, your oil, water, windshield washer fluid and the air in your tires checked. The attendant (sometimes more than one) took your money then brought you the change while you pointed to the spots on the windows he missed....for about $0.25 cents (when there wasn't a gas war) as I recall.
Isn't it funny? We all know we're dealing with cheaters but few here believe WE are being cheated.
It's supposed to be, there's more production now.
In 2004 those very same attendants are inside collecting money for your sodas, your fresh hot coffee, etc.
Then why can't they come out and check my oil?
Someone earning minimum wage in 1960 ($1.00 an hr) paid 25% of an hours pay for a gallon of gas (plus they got full serve).
Someone today earning minimum wage ($5.15 an hr) pays 33%+ of an hours pay for a gallon of gas and NO service.
I used minimum wage because it's the only wage factor available to me.
Bwahahahahahaha!!! Your lack of knowledge is showing again. OPEC doesn't set prices. The commodities market does. Got any other clueless statements?
You need to get your noses out of the text books. In a real market with real competition, the companies would eat some of the increased costs and lower profit so that their competitiors don't take their customers. In a real market their wouldn't be international cabals, limited produtcion capability, and monopoly conditions on product. Go back to your ivory towers and pretend everything is just natural the way the book intended.
HUH??? I'm not the one crying about oil prices and claiming conspiracies, you are. Where the hell is your head?
You didn't answer my questions either?
You haven't asked any that made any sense.
But I did answer your question you just chose not to see it.
No, you continue to make idiotic statements that are not based in fact.
Is your opinion the only valid one?
No, but your lack of knowledge invalidates yours.
Check oil co profits and see if they are just getting by.
I don't have to check, I know. Oil companies usually deal in profits in the single digits as far as profits go. In other words, Exxon may have made a profit of $1,000,000,000 (hypothetical), but as a precentage to their cost, it would be in the 1 to 5% range. That is operating on a slim margin.
Tax here is 44 cents a gallon but that is the same when gas was $1.00 a gallon a while ago so what does that prove?
It proves that the government is making more profit off of a barrel of oil than the companies that explored for it, produced it, refined it and sell it. But that is OK with a socialist such as yourself, right?
I feed 2 vehicles(Dad & Mom mobiles). These are in the "Bills" spreadsheet split to pay periods(1st/15th). Speadsheet auto-calculates $$$ per pay period based on vehicles mpgs, miles driven/half month, and the number keyed in for price of fuel. I ALWAYS KEEP THE FUEL PRICE ten cents HIGHER per gallon than actual to prevent "surprises"(i.e. Be prepared for oil company profit-harvests).
Example: my October 03 price was at $1.90. With our "overhead", a ten cent/gallon swing gives about a $10/month swing.
The other option(?) is to trade safety(big, heavy, vehicle) for economy(light, small, usually loser in accidents).
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