Budgeting the cost of fuel

I find myself frequently picking up a calculator and crunching numbers figuring out how much it’ll cost me to drive to and from work. I spend my weekends in Manila with my family, and on weekdays, live and work a hundred-plus kilometers up north, in Clark.

Based on the current market price of unleaded gasoline and tollway rates, I spend about two thousand pesos a week. A month ago I could go for roughly five or six hundred pesos less, roughly equivalent to the price of a big can of my son’s milk. And a month from now? Add another five, six hundred maybe? Talk about spilled milk, it’s another can down the drain. And where do we go a few months hence? I don’t even want to think about it.

It just makes me wish I had one of those new hybrid cars in the market right now, that could go for 50 or so kilometers per liter. Mine could go for a little over 11 km per liter, which, compared to other vehicles in its class, boasts of being one of the best in terms of fuel consumption. Go Innova! :)

In any case, I’m glad that I’ve even learned a couple of driving tricks and techniques to maximize fuel economy and savings (thanks to the internet and driver’s ed sites!). My experience of crashing 130kph into a racetrack wall did have its benefits after all (it, for one, did bring me closer to Conne, huwudavthot!).

Now, in reality, every price increase in basic goods can be attributed to the increase in fuel price, and vice versa. We’re all caught in a vicious cycle. I just wish these so-called economic think-tanks could figure out a way to stabilize things, and fast!

Which all leads me to think that I better start saving up for these car hybrids (Prius here I come!), or get a job closer to home, or perhaps re-activate my temporarily offline business. To sum it up, fuel-for-milk isn’t exactly my idea of securing my family’s future.

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Related Blog Entry:
Gas Station Blues