I've Got Gas!

See? I kid you not!

I was down to 3 bars on my fuel gauge and gas went below $1.20/litre on Friday so

I decided to grab some.

I added $30.00 worth of gas to the tank and now have about 3/4

of a tank. 

I wonder how long that will last.

I also wonder when was the last time I bought gas.

So I just checked my credit card online and the last time I

purchased gas was April 6th 

and I purchased $45.00 worth. 

That was 6 weeks ago!!

(Both purchases were on Fridays)

Not bad...not bad at all! 

😊

I've Got Gas!...

....or maybe I should say my car has been gassed up :)

I managed to hang in there until gas went down at 3 or 4 stations in London on Friday.  As someone who shops around for the best gas price Fridays seem to be a good day to top up the tank. I was on my last "bar" of gas in the tank so things were getting a little desperate but this past Friday I wasn't disappointed. Prices dropped briefly from weeks of $1.26 per litre to $1.17 per litre saving me a couple of bucks.

$45.00 filled up the Honda's tank and should last me into the month of May. Lowering my gas budget line from $60 per month to $45 per month seems completely doable.

This photo does not reflect today's prices.

BUT...I have a question. A reader who lives north of me, but still in Ontario, says their gas prices have been around $1.18 most of the time.  Why is there such variance in the price of gas? Why isn't gas the same price everywhere in Ontario or anywhere else for that matter? I do understand different places have different taxes applied to gasoline but that wouldn't affect sellers in the same province...would it?

*($1.18 per litre = $4.46 per gallon for those in the U.S. as there are 3.78 litres in a liquid gallon.)

With warmer weather hopefully making an appearance soon I won't worry about the price of gas as much, as I'll use my bicycle at lot, though of course summer activities like beach days will require more gas. 

There is a movement here in Canada pushing for people NOT to buy any gas on April 15th. This has been done before, quite successfully, with gas prices dropping for a period of time after the boycott. I hope it's successful again this year.

**On a more sombre note - I'm sure most of you have heard about the Junior Hockey team in Humboldt, Saskatchewan that occurred this past Friday. It was a horrific accident involving the team bus and a transport truck with 15 players, coaches, media being killed and the other 14 injured, some seriously. The outpouring of support from around the world has been incredible with $4.4 million dollars raised for families through a GoFundMe page. More than 60,000 people representing almost 60 countries around the world have donated.  It's not the dollar amount that is so amazing as it is how many people worldwide have shown how much they care. I feel very humbled by this and it gives me faith that the majority of people in this tiny world of ours are truly decent, kind and caring. 

Solidarity in the hockey world was also shown by NHL teams (Chicago Blackhawks and Winnipeg Jets shown above) with players wearing the Junior Team's team name (Broncos) instead of their own names. 

In the words of our Prime Minister Justin Trudeau:

Tonight we pay tribute. To the team, to the families, to the community: The whole country is behind you. You are loved, and you will be remembered.

Dougie the Dodge

I want to thank those folks who commented on my previous post about going "car-free" for their well-thought out remarks. It's not an easy decision and no option is perfect. You've given me a lot to think about.

London has a transit system which I used when I was in university. I had sold my orange mini in order to cut back on expenses while in school. The reasons I disliked city transit then was because of grocery shopping and doing laundry. Those are no longer issues as I can walk/bike to several grocery stores and now I have a washer and dryer. I tend to shop several times a week once I decide what to have for supper. Within 20 minutes I can make my list, walk to the store, buy a few things and walk home. I would have to plan to buy all the heavy stuff (cat litter, laundry detergent etc) when I either rented a car or used Car Share or Zipcar.

To travel further I don't mind taking a bus or the train. In fact, I prefer either of those options to driving myself. And there's Robert Q if I'm going to the airport.

I've done the math as to how much I would save over the course of a year.  My insurance is going to change a bit as Kazi is buying a car and is going to get her own policy. But not sure how much my outlay would be for renting/sharing per year.

My biggest concern is "spontaneous" outings, convenience, visiting friends/family and getting to places across the city. I would have to plan everything out and I don't really like to do that. Trying to get to volleyball on Friday nights would take at least an hour, likely more as there is no direct route. And, if I take a notion to go somewhere I don't really want to take 2 buses just to get to the rental place.

Rats. I don't think I would really like being car-free. But I am going to continue to think about it. Most rental places will pick me up and drop me off after. There is a Zipcar location just a few blocks from me. For a good portion of the year I barely use Dougie the Dodge - instead I walk or cycle and pay very little for gas. Unfortunately I don't think you can get insurance on a part-time basis. Too bad. That would suit me very well - have insurance from November to April. Bike or walk the rest of the time.

There's a business idea for somebody!!