For the non-Malaysians reading this : In Malaysia, pumped-gasoline are controlled commodity where the prices at the pump are regulated by the government via a managed float system. That is to say, every week. the prices will be changed according to prevailing global oil prices and the currency exchange rate (It's a bit more complicated than that, but you get the idea).
So every Wednesday, many Malaysians will be waiting with baited breath when the new prices is announced at 6pm sharp. The updated weekly prices will then be updated at all the pumps in Malaysia at 12 midnight sharp.
Image credit : knowyourmeme.com
About 7 hours ago, another weekly price update was announced :
RON95 - increase RM0.03 to RM2.20 per liter
RON97 - increase RM0.04 to RM2.47 per liter
As expected, many drivers RUSHED the petrol stations throughout the night, forming long queues at the pump to get cheaper gas before midnight. This is a recurring pattern every time an increased is announced.
Image credit : themalaymailonline.com
Of course, I understand the economy is far from being rosy, a penny saved is a penny earned, right? So let's see how much you "earned" tonight.
Let's take the average fuel tank capacity found in most popular car models in Malaysia, that is 50 liters. Most Malaysians use RON95 that saw and increase of 3 cents, so let's use that for this example.
50 x 0.03 = RM1.50
So, if your fuel tank is COMPLETELY bone dry and you pushed your car all the way from your home to the petrol station, congratulations you have saved RM1.50. You can't even enjoy a cup of coffee at the mamak for RM1.50.
Fine, let's say we are having a bad week the the fuel prices went up RM0.10.
50 x 0.10 = RM5.00
Cool, enough for a meal or two of Nasi Lemak kosong provided you bring your own beverages. But I don't think this meal have enough calories to replenish the energy you used to push your car to the station.
Image credit : istock
Since you are reading this in Steemit, you are probably a Steemian. How much is RM1.50 and RM5.00 in STEEM at the current exchange rate? 0.11 STEEM and 0.39 STEEM respectively. And that's not counting the value of the time you spent queuing at the pump. So why not just stay at home and use that time to write a good post so you can earn back that difference for this week? instead of getting frustrated sitting in the queue.
What if you're not a STEEMIAN? well you can join up and start blogging. BUT if you are not compelled to write for money, consider this - is it easier to queue at the station for less than RM5 worth of savings, or is it easier to save RM5 from somewhere else in your daily life? bring your own water tumbler instead of ordering coffee perhaps?
The point is - Don't undervalue your time and energy. Spend it on something more worthwhile such as watch TV with your family or hangout with your friends. At least. until we need to pay RM4/liter for gasoline.
Man, If it was me....I would be sitting at the gas station, just shy of the pump when 6PM hit, and if it was good go, if it was not stay. That is just me....Maybe you should take some gas cans with, so fill up the car and pump those cans, that way when price is high, you can sell off your cans for a little less than asking price at the pump.
If your hours are flexible like me that is possible, but 6pm is rush hour, most drivers are either still in the office or stuck in a jam.
Also, it is illegal to sell gasoline without permit so that second suggestion is a bit....outside the law lol.
can do anything, just dont go line up and waste time at petrol station will do. go touge also better than lining up to fill petrol. xD
Let's go, borrow your colleague's JCW :P
Make sense my friend. ^^ Does it increase every week or it goes down as well?
Oh of course it goes up and down depending on the global oil prices and foreign exchange rates.
If it's only up up and up I will be riding a bicycle today lol
Hahahaha. Make sense. I'm amazed that you have an update every week about this.
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Thanks for sharing @dnx. When I lived in Indonesia, the prices of gas were also controlled by the government. But instead of the prices changing every week, they changed about 1-2 a year. When the prices increased (because they never went down) it was hard on a lot of people and it made some people angry.
Now that I am back in the United States, gas prices can change every day. And there are some pumps that have cheaper gas than others.
Actually the original idea was to allow each gas station operator to determine their own prices every week (as long as it is lower than a government-set ceiling price).
Then when the day came to implement the weekly price updates, the plan quietly got swept under and we are back to prices that are uniform across all operators.
do gas prices in the states fluctuate alot every day? What factors affect the prices of individual stations? location? number of pumps? Are some brands generally cheaper than others?
Prices do not usually change a lot during the day but may change from day-to-day. A few days ago the price jumped 5 cents per gallon (3.8 liters). I am guessing that location has a lot to do with price. If the location is bad, you need a good price to attract new customers.
Sometimes a gas station lowers prices to attract new customers, and once those customers start to like that particular gas station then they can raise compared to other stations and people do not care much anymore.
You had some great questions. Sorry that I do not know better answers.
No worries, your answers are very helpful. Thanks!
hahaha! yes that's the common scene when there are reports of increased fuel prices. time for a change ;)
#thesteemengine
What to do, many kiasu Malaysians lol.
doesn't really makes much difference, ppl who complain about expensive petrol but can buy premium coffee. it's still a lot cheaper than beer
People just like to complain.
When increase, complain.
When decrease, complain decrease too little.
All the while burning gas waiting in queue at Starbucks drive thru.
that is what happening now
Wah like this you already earn your petrol money for another few weeks without worrrying it goes up or go down. Kudos to you. Lunch on you later?
I belanja but you bayar.
Your fuel is cheap, ours is almost 3 times what you pay per litre!
That is true, but our national average salary is only RM5,750 or $1,465 USD.
If our fuel prices are the same as yours, most of us will be walking hahaha.
OR! You could queue at the gas station and write a post on steemit about how bad the queue is. I was waiting for you to say that at the end of the post hehe. I hear you though, we have an increase every 2 months +- and people tend to queue up most of the night.
I couldn't be bothered to do this, however my father will fill up his van and 6-8 20ltr containers lol. Sometimes he donates one to me just for fun and I dump it into the GTR with some octane booster :)
OR! I could make a post pretending I'm queueing at the gas station! WIN!
Wow your gas prices go up 6 times a year? does it ever go down?
I think we had about 5 increases last year and 1 decrease, it was a bad year for us
Sorry to hear that, here's to hoping this year would be better for all of us!