Fortunately, in real terms, petrol is still REALLY cheap... Just not quite as stupidly cheap as it was.

Quote from mrodgers :

Consumer products on average are approximately the same cost no matter which country, $150 is £75 in UK.

Lets do a PC Comparison...

Leading US PC Component Retailer (NewEgg) vs Leading UK PC Component Retailer (eBuyer)

Q9450:
US - $329.99 - £164.71
UK - £200.64 - $401.98

UK - 21.8% more.

Zotac 9800GTX (Cheapest 9800GTX in the UK):
US - $184.99 - £92.33 (ignoring the MIR which drops the price by $10 / £5...)
UK - £169.95 - $340.50

UK - 81.4% more.

Moving away from PC Components...

Apple iPod Classic 80GB:
US - $249.00 - £124.29
UK - £159.00 - $318.55

UK - 27.9% more.

Feel free to keep looking but so far you earn a little less on average (the average salary in the UK is £21,90

Lets look at the money facts.

Yearly salary:
US - $26,036 - £12,985.62
UK - £21,900 - $43,880.40]

UK - 68.6% more (which surprised me).

However, if we factor in UK tax thats £3,400 taken before you ever even see your money, then an "NIC" of £1837, that drops the £21,900 down to £16663 - $33,428.50, which is nearer the US figure.

Add the fact that the UK pays more tax, and more for cars etc, and more for fuel, and more for insurance - I don't know what your talking about...

If anyone else has any figures for UK / US cars (i.e. an M5 or whatever) i'd like to hear them.

Quote from Jakg :

Lets do a PC Comparison...

*snip*

Do the US prices include whatever tax they pay over there ?
Do the UK prices include VAT ?

UK prices include VAT, US prices include tax (although I think New York gets charged a few % more as they have extra tax)

Quote from Jakg :

If anyone else has any figures for UK / US cars (i.e. an M5 or whatever) i'd like to hear them.

Range Rover Sport? UK built, of course. So it should be cheaper in the UK as there's no shipping expenses.

Range Rover Sport Supercharged:
In the US... 72,450 USD = ~36,225 GBP
In the UK... 58,500 GPB = ~117,000 USD
(if we take the before tax UK price of 49,235 GBP, that's still ~98,500 USD)

In the US, the car costs 62% of what it does in the UK.

The thing that shocked me when I was shoppign in the US was that sales tax isn't added until you get to the til, so you need to add (I think) about 9.5% on to whatever's written on the labels. I'm not sure if the same thing applies when shopping online though.

Still won't make up the massive defecit though

Here in Hungary fuel prices look like this ATM:

petrol is around $2.2 / litre or $8.32 / gallon,
diesel is around $2.34 / litre or $8.86 / gallon.

These prices are including taxes. Yearly avarage salary is $9500(a lot of people would be happy to earn that much here!).

The published "average" wage figure is a load of bollocks. Like a heuristic is to bar charts, when we can see what the average person earns, not what the average of earnings is, I think you'll see the figure drop to nearer £15k per annum, and a lot less when factoring in unemployment in less developed regions of the UK, as >only< the South East returns a net gain to the treasury, the rest of the country are not >all< sponging.

As for petrol costs, i've already said here about my recent lifestyle change to give up the car and have a bicycle instead. I do not regret the decision at all.

If you want to keep your car to drive down the block to pickup your diet coke then go for it, just dont come whinging about the cost of petrol. I live at the end of a quiet village in the countryside and do just fine without my own wheels.

I need my car to get to work, public or self powered transport is not an option unless I want to spend 3 times as long between work and home. I walk if I need things from the village.

I've always said that petrol duty is the perfect pay-as-you-drive system.

Do more miles - Pay more
Get crap MPG - Pay more

There is no escaping it, or arguing that it is not balanced like there is with CO2 emissions or road pricing.

Quote from Richie Cahill :

if you have an indoor garage you could cut your fuel 50/50 (actually, you might want to double check the ratio if your gonna do it) with veggie oil to cut the costs..

My mates been doing it with his van for a couple of months now says its perfect!

Remember kids, that's illegal

Quote from Becky Rose :

as >only< the South East returns a net gain to the treasury, the rest of the country are not >all< sponging.

So the South-East is bankrolling the rest of the country and the other areas aren't sponging

Has nobody seen this regarding fuel prices?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7518516.stm

The price of oil has dropped in the last 2 weeks, and finally it's having an effect at the pumps!

Quote from duke_toaster :

Remember kids, that's illegal

ah a blind eye be thrown to private use...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Richie Cahill
if you have an indoor garage you could cut your fuel 50/50 (actually, you might want to double check the ratio if your gonna do it) with veggie oil to cut the costs..

My mates been doing it with his van for a couple of months now says its perfect!

Quote from duke_toaster :

Remember kids, that's illegal

actually i think it is legal, you used to have to declare it and keep reciepts for your oil and once a month send off the calculated duty but thats been scrapped now and as far as i know you can just use it. however at our local supermarket i've noticed that cooking oil has risen in price to about £1.30 a lt so unless you can access cheaper in bulk of filter waste i suspect it's not worth it now.

actaully it's strange how the cost of cooking oil went up as the requirement to declare the duty on any used for fuel was scrapped, coincidence ?

Quote from tinvek :

actually i think it is legal, you used to have to declare it and keep reciepts for your oil and once a month send off the calculated duty but thats been scrapped now and as far as i know you can just use it.

I'm not a lawyer but I don't think it has been scrapped. If anyone is or can provide a decent source.

BTW, I'm guessing that van was a diesel. If you own a petrol I doubt it will be useful.

Well i'm from australia and working in one of the Cheapest petrol stations in Australia (United). Petrol here is going around the $1.60-$1.65 per ltr while diesel goes for around $1.85 - $1.90 mark

Quote from brat81 :

Well i'm from australia and working in one of the Cheapest petrol stations in Australia (United). Petrol here is going around the $1.60-$1.65 per ltr while diesel goes for around $1.85 - $1.90 mark

Lol united, they always advertise that on today tonight. But remember, "without independence there will be no competition."

Noticed a 3p per litre drop this morning, shame I put £75 in my car just before the weekend