A detour from personal finance to something more macro:
Isn’t it amazing (sarcasm intended) that the price of a barrel of oil has dropped from $ 72 to $ 59 over the past month, yet “shockingly” – sarcasm intended, again – the price of gasoline hasn’t budged in my area. It seems that the oil companies have no problem raising the price of gas IMMEDIATELY, whenever there is a hiccup in the Middle East, but they FORGET how to lower prices when the price of oil goes down !
Just revisiting some favorite MMM articles, and I stumbled on this.
This was in 2011, 14 years ago, so gas is even cheaper today than it was then without adjusting for inflation.
And here’s the full article for anyone interested: Mustache on the Move: Gas Prices Still Too Low
Funny article, and so true. And yes, we are spoiled. FYI, I just paid $2.55 in Toledo for a gallon.
It is so hard to keep one’s perspective these days. Costs are going up for many products and services and we all feel a bit adrift as we are generally powerless to do anything about what stuff costs. Somehow though, we have to try to maintain some level of equanimity. Otherwise, we will be outraged all the time.
For all who are outraged at the cost of auto fuel of what ever variety you need, I invite you to calculate your cost of operation of your vehicle on a per mile basis. Be sure to include depreciation, insurance, parking, tolls, and maintenance. For many people, the cost of fuel is a small portion of the total.
I also find it helpful to rank our spending categories in decreasing order of amount spent. With two old cars our cost for getting around is tiny compared to what we pay in taxes, and most everything else.
Personally, I am appalled by the costs for produce and other food items. I mean, c’mon $2.79/lb for Honeycrisp apples is outrageous!!! And what about eggs? I heard this am that the price per dozen is falling down to only $5. Wow, what a bargain……..not.
Same forces that push equity prices higher push food prices higher. I know exactly how you feel about the spending side but we have to accept that as we benefit from the investment side we have costs on the pricing side.
(why I don’t like fixed income so much, I fear inflation more than I fear deflation)