[tcharged]

this is ridiculous!!

[cloakster]

Its insane how much time people waste waiting in line just to save $3-4.

[MrPig]

Originally Posted by 1lyfe

i just syphoned gas from someones e70
hope its not anyone here

Reserve right to laugh if it's an x5d

[achien]

when I started driving, it was $0.36/L, sometimes as low as $0.33/L.

this is highway robbery from the oil industry.

Originally Posted by jim.e.

I don't understand why people go crazy when gas prices go up...It use to cost $0.65/L when I got my G2, but now I noticed, it's one of those things you need. You don't have a choice, fill up and call it a day. Even if it does go to $1.40, you spend what, an extra $5 at the most?

[esc]

Originally Posted by achien

when I started driving, it was $0.36/L, sometimes as low as $0.33/L.

this is highway robbery from the oil industry.

How much did a house in Toronto cost at that time?

[achien]

simple question, but the answers are very complicated.

During the 3-year-span, I've seen house prices going up from '86 to '88 at crazy pace (just like today), and then fell back to earth for the next 7 years.

House prices today are even more crazy than back in the '88 (when it peaked), and the "quality" of buyers are much worse than that in '88 (you don't see anyone putting less than 20% down). Things are going to get very ugly (much worse than the early 90's) here in Canada.

back to your original question:

a detached bungalow back then (before the up-and-downs of the late 80s and early 90s) was +$300k on a good neighborhood. the same house with proper maintenance will be +$700k today. we are talking about a 2.5-fold increase in house prices, not the more than 4-fold increase in gas prices.

in terms of purchasing power, an average middle-class salary back then was $36k per year. according to the latest census published in 2008, the median income for Toronto residents is $26,754 per year, with men in the Toronto region typically earned $51,235 compared to $41,284 for women.

the average Joe is really worse off now than 25 years ago.

Originally Posted by esc

How much did a house in Toronto cost at that time?

[BenTrovato]

Originally Posted by achien

the average Joe is really worse off now than 25 years ago.

Great post! I just quoted this part - The average Joe is definitely worse off but that's the design of the paper backed system. As inflation increases, purchasing power decreases. It'll be interesting to observe how this falls apart over the next few months or years.

[esc]

Originally Posted by achien

simple question, but the answers are very complicated.

During the 3-year-span, I've seen house prices going up from '86 to '88 at crazy pace (just like today), and then fell back to earth for the next 7 years.

House prices today are even more crazy than back in the '88 (when it peaked), and the "quality" of buyers are much worse than that in '88 (you don't see anyone putting less than 20% down). Things are going to get very ugly (much worse than the early 90's) here in Canada.

back to your original question:

a detached bungalow back then (before the up-and-downs of the late 80s and early 90s) was +$300k on a good neighborhood. the same house with proper maintenance will be +$700k today. we are talking about a 2.5-fold increase in house prices, not the more than 4-fold increase in gas prices.

in terms of purchasing power, an average middle-class salary back then was $36k per year. according to the latest census published in 2008, the median income for Toronto residents is $26,754 per year, with men in the Toronto region typically earned $51,235 compared to $41,284 for women.

the average Joe is really worse off now than 25 years ago.

Ah, my apologies, I thought you were talking about the pre-crisis 1970s gas prices. Gas has always been at least $0.50 per litre since I started driving in the 90s.

I agree with you on the housing situation; and it's not just the average Joe, even above average income will find an incredibly competitive buying market.

[c416]

Originally Posted by BenTrovato

Great post! I just quoted this part - The average Joe is definitely worse off but that's the design of the paper backed system. As inflation increases, purchasing power decreases. It'll be interesting to observe how this falls apart over the next few months or years.

not just that, but our current generation, probably first time in history, will look to at our parents and ask ourselves, how did they do better than me?

[Fozzy]

Originally Posted by jacewong

not just that, but our current generation, probably first time in history, will look to at our parents and ask ourselves, how did they do better than me?

Mine never drove a BMW that was expensive to buy & takes premium gas (my dad pdrives a prius and laughs at me, but is still envious)
They also didn't wear $300 jeans.

I actually think most people do really well, it's more the allocation of the money that is the issue, but to get philosophical living for today is as important as well as saving for tomorrow.

[sheerin]

A lot of people are living on credit right now with minimal savings.

The housing bubble is frightening, but what's worse is that a good chunk of people who are loving the insanely low mortgage rates probably also have line of credits based their home equity. These people are going to get raped once interest rates return to more normal levels in the coming years.

A few days ago I saw on the news that a gas station was selling gas for 50 cents a litre, and the line up for it was several hours long, with people getting there as early as 5 in the morning just to get the fuel. Personally my time is far more valuable than the few bucks i may save at the pump. And realistically speaking, i'm sure by this time next week gas will be back to the 135 level. It's just getting bumped for the long weekend.

[TehKhy]

I pay nearly $1.60/L for Chevron 94.
Thanks Vancouver :/.

[Bimmer Al]

Makes you wonder....I typically put about 50L of gas in when I am empty so a 3 cent increase is a whopping $1.50! And people line up while idiling their car wasting even more fuel to get "savings". These must be the same people who used to drive all over town to pay their bills to save on stamps.

[c416]

Originally Posted by Fozzy

Mine never drove a BMW that was expensive to buy & takes premium gas (my dad pdrives a prius and laughs at me, but is still envious)
They also didn't wear $300 jeans.

I actually think most people do really well, it's more the allocation of the money that is the issue, but to get philosophical living for today is as important as well as saving for tomorrow.

Im sure alot of us on this forum can say we're done just fine, but i was referring to the masses, the representing body of canada. This may not be as apparent here, but in the states, i've read somewhere close to 1/2 the population don't pay taxes b/c their income is so low. The amount of people with car, house, CC debit which they can never repay is a clear issue. House hold debt is at the highest ever in canadian history.

in respect to how we are doing compared to our previous generation/parents, how many of canadians or americans can, with all things equal ( inflationary, salary base and cost of living, etc) say what our parents were able to own or financial assets at what age, our generations have achieved the same or done better. Keep in mind, as the human race progresses, so should we in this department. Not remain stagnant, nor decline.

IMO, the separation btw the upper and lower class has gone buck wild and the middle class(which really represent the country) is in deep sh*et.

[GAM3OVR85]

Originally Posted by TehKhy

I pay nearly $1.60/L for Chevron 94.
Thanks Vancouver :/.

not that bad considering 91 was $1.56/L 2 days ago in MTL lol

[RNE90]

Love makeing the trip to school now in Oshawa from Markham.... save those few cents per litre...what has the world come too

[DMafia46]

The line ups are fucking stupid because it would only be saving a little but wasting alot more unless they have a completely empty tank. And for the people who are out of gas have to suck it up and have to wait

[kaws]

Has another used Costco gas before? Their price is cheaper by 10cents/L but I wonder who their supplier is and if there's any ethanol additives..

[Saintor]

1.569$ for premium today. Regular was 1.479$. I was just driving from 200km in regions (where distributors have to pay more to bring gas there!) and it was 1.389$.

We get screwed big time.

[adriang]

rising prices suck...

diesel was 80 cents 2 years ago........