Canadian Personal Finance Blog

So the full farce that is the price of gasoline in Ottawa is driving me insane these days. The Ottawa Gas prices web site tells me that this morning (Wednesday) the price of gas is between 98 cents and $1.02 a litre, yet I know tonight as I come home from work (in less than 12 hours) the price will be down to 92 cents a litre (or liter if you prefer). I drive a ‘94 Accord, so I need about 25 litres a week to get around and do what I need to do, so depending on when I buy my gas, I could “save” up to $2.50 on my purchase.

Am I the only person that thinks this is freaking insane. The gasoline is IN THE GROUND, it hasn’t changed (well chemically it may have reacted in some fashion, but that is being picky), yet the price of it waivers over 10 cents in a DAY. What can be done about this? Buy a hybrid? Well, you have to watch for the “Smug” factor there. Buy a smart car? I am 6′3″ tall, I guess I might fit in one of those, but I drive on a highway a lot, and might feel a little exposed. I could ride my bike to work, and that is starting to become a real possibility, if I can’t drag my sorry ass to the gym, maybe biking is the answer, but it is dangerous too.

Not sure if our friends in the U.S. have to live with this kind of price swings (if I had mood swings like this, I’d be on Prozac at least), but this is driving me NUTS!!! –C8j