The Terrible Cost of Commuting

Here's how we Australians are literally wasting our lives in traffic

Our capital cities are becoming ridiculously congested. It’s taking its toll – in both literal and metaphoric terms.

If you spend one hour commuting – each way – to work and back (and plenty of people do) you’re not driving any more; you’re wasting about 480 hours a year in traffic.

At the end of a year, you will have spent the same amount of time simply commuting to and from work as most people spend awake in one month.

In other words, commuting to and from work is taking many parents out of play as far as their families are concerned for one month every year, in total. An alternative way to process this information is that if you are lucky enough to take four weeks’ annual leave every year – four weeks doing nothing, soaking up rays at the beach, whatever – this is exactly the same period of time that you will spend commuting for the rest of the year.

The number of motor vehicles on Australian roads has increased

drivingJohn Cadogan6 November 2011Cars, commute, commuting, transport, travel, workComment

Petrol Price Saver

Capitalizing on downward swings in petrol price is simple - but only if you refuel smarter

Petrol companies paint the picture that petrol price is both logical and cheap, but the reality appears quite different

This post is about petrol price and how to drive so you can re-fuel more often when petrol prices are comparatively low, thereby saving money.

Petrol price fluctuations

Petrol price fluctuations at the service station are inevitable and unpredictable – but there is a very simple driving and refueling strategy that will allow you to save whenever the petrol price drops. It’s an easy, no-compromise way for any driver to cut the cost of motoring.

Cut Your Fuel Consumption Using Better Planning

You can cut your fuel consumption by 10 per cent (or more) just by planning your trips better.

THE PROBLEM

Most people don’t plan their transport too well – either in business or in their domestic lives. This means they use their cars inefficiently – in other words they end up driving too far, too often, which wastes fuel and therefore money.

This means you can cut your fuel consumption just by planning ahead. It’s easy to cut your fuel consumption like this, but you do have to make an effort.

THE RESULT

For an average driver, spending $50-$100 a week on fuel, cutting your fuel consumption in this way will save you $250-$500 annually.

Degree of difficulty? A politician could do it. (Except they are generally disinclined to cut their fuel consumption because taxpayers fund much of their transport expenditure…)

HOW TO CUT YOUR FUEL CONSUMPTION

Cutting your fuel consumption in this way involves doing two things:

First, you cut your fuel consumption by doing

fuel, drivingJohn Cadogan20 October 2011driving, efficient driving, fuel consumption, fuel economy, petrolComment

E10 Fuel

Verdict: Don’t bother

E10 petrol – a 10 per cent mix of ethanol in petrol – is a nice idea … but E10 petrol will not save you any money.

E10 petrol sounds like a smart idea - but unless you watch the price carefully you could easily get ripped offAbove: Typical ethanol marketing fluffNEED TO KNOW

Petrol is derived from crude oil, a fossil fuel. It is a chemical hydrocarbon. (Actually it’s a collection of hydrocarbons.)
Ethanol is manufactured, usually by fermentation, from plant products containing sugars and starches. Ethanol is an alcohol (actually it’s the same alcohol as the stuff in beer, wine and spirits).
When you buy fuel, you’re buying a liquid form of energy. Unfortunately, ethanol

fuel, drivingJohn Cadogan8 October 2011E10, E10 petrol, cheap fuel, ethanol, fuel consumption, fuel priceComment

How to Buy Tyres

How to Save $300 - or more - on Tyres

Most people don't know this, but tread wear on your tyres accelerates dramatically when your tyres are under-inflated - even if those tyres are just a little bit under-inflated. One in four cars, statistically, has a dangerously under-inflated tyre - so there's a lot of potential cost-saving 'out there' on the road today.

This post is all about maintaining your tyres at the correct pressure: how to do it, what the correct pressures are, when to do it, and where.

tyresJohn Cadogan8 October 2011tire life, tires, tyre life, tyresComment