It still seems like yesterday that I paid 62.9 for super in Toowoomba... That was July 1999. 8 years feels like yesterday - I must be getting old... Whatever may be said about the CPI, fuel, housing and groceries are running well above everything else.
I'm one of those people who complains about fuel prices, and, if I still lived in Toowoomba, my wife and I would still be using under 20L/week between us. So it's not just people who are high users who get cranky! In fact, I know people who drive constantly who never complain...
That said, as has been mentioned, everything is at least partially driven by the market. Sure, there's intervention from the governments here and there - they control how much crown land is offered up for sale (look at housing price rises in Perth - there's very little land being sold for people to build on), how much they tax us on fuel, etc, and undoubtedly there are some companies paying very nice divedends where they've either achieved or come close to achieving every business's true goal - a monopoly (or alternately a cartel). So, if you want to avoid getting caught by all this, you have to think through your priorities and plan.
Unfortunately, being members of a car forum, we are petrol addicts. Thankfully, being a Mini forum, we have it good compared to most!
However, not everyone on here can have a Mini as their only vehicle. So you've got to think about your priorities. We did when we bought our main vehicle (Mini is for fun!
). Seven seats (not all filled - thankfully. We just have family who don't drive
). I refuse FWD in anything bigger than an Astra (even an Astra is pushing it - maybe only in Minis
) - I can see how it's cheaper to manufacture and has space benefits, but I can't see the cost benefits for the owner. I wanted as much performance as I could get, but I wanted something cheap to run (so LPG or diesel), So we ended up with a diesel 4WD. I'd spent years complaining about 4WD's (usually about how I couldn't see past them from a Mini!). But it suited our needs, the 4WD bit was just an aside. So we can move 7 people in comfort and cheaply (2200kg and as cheap to run as my old Pulsar!
) and I don't have to worry about CV's/front tyres wear/etc (it's part time 4WD). I haven't beaten the system - I still buy fuel - but I've minimized the damage as much as I can.
Diesels have improved a long way - 50% of all new VW's are diesels, and VW sales have gone through the roof this past year or two...
Diesel's not the only way, though, and it won't last forever either. We need a Mini powered by a "Mr Fusion"!
The problem for many people with housing is the availability of work. There are still some cheap places to live, and not all of them are holes!
But there isn't much work there. So, for someone starting out in life, don't just think about how cool your career will be - think about where you've got to live to do it. Don't bother becoming an F1 Race Engineer or Nuclear Physicist if you want to live in Gulgong - no offence Mike! Figure out something that you'll be able to earn a living from wherever you go. Or something that you'll be able to do where you want to live. Or something that you'll be able to do that will get you where you want to live!
One advantage that Toowoomba, Gulgong and similar places have, as Mike hinted at, is ease of travel. But it's not just the lack of Gridlock, it's that, if you're in town, you're never more than 10-15 minutes from anything, and it's only a few sets of lights holding you up. In a major city, it's nothing to drive an hour to work...
So, if you don't want to spend a fortune on fuel, get a job you can do from home or very close by, and a home located where you want to live!
Thus endeth another novel...
