[MYOB]

Originally Posted by Dubit10

I earned more in 1999 than i do now. I'd say given the downturn in the economy others are in the same position.

Extremely unlikely except in very certain circumstances.

Even basic entry level wages are up about 30% or more after conversion to euro since 1999.

The mimimum wage in 2000 was £4.40 and its now €8.65.

[skelliser]

Originally Posted by Blut2

Thats an 80km commute each way. Why in gods name would you live 80km away from your job? He's got nobody to blame but himself in that situation - either move house or move jobs. Driving 160km a day (plus any leisure driving) is madness.

they bought because thanks to speculators and banksters driving up the price of houses closer to there place of work.

Remember people believed all the hype and where seriously scared that if they didnt buy a house soon they would never be able to afford one.
This was the mentality of the peak boom years.

[Agent_47]

Remember in 2003 trying to get a gaffe close to work in Sandyford, not a chance, Luas and M50 works along with Dundrum shopping centre drove prices above where we wanted to be. Not to mention house price changes from morning enquiry to evening veiwing in far off places such as Celbridge and Maynooth.
Stayed where we were and do the commute. Anyway, less crime here housewise.

[johnbobtheslob]

is there any specific reason why the price of fuel continues to rise?

[-Corkie-]

Originally Posted by MYOB

Extremely unlikely except in very certain circumstances.

Even basic entry level wages are up about 30% or more after conversion to euro since 1999.

The mimimum wage in 2000 was £4.40 and its now €8.65.

I was too taking home nearly 700 pound a week and I was only in my early twenties.... If I earned 700 a week now I would be laughing.

[Blut2]

Originally Posted by skelliser

they bought because thanks to speculators and banksters driving up the price of houses closer to there place of work.

Remember people believed all the hype and where seriously scared that if they didnt buy a house soon they would never be able to afford one.
This was the mentality of the peak boom years.

1) Nobody held a gun to anyones head and forced them to buy a house, personal responsibility is rather key here. "they made me do it" doesnt cut it with 5 year olds so certainly shouldnt with 35 year olds.
2) I'm fairly sure that an affordable house could have been bought less than 80km away from Dublin, thats a tad excessive even for the boom era commuter towns.

Either way petrol prices are only going one way in the long term, up. Commutes of that distance arent going to be sustainable. The guy with the 160km daily commute can moan all he likes but realistically hes going to have to either suck it up and spend the money on petrol, get a new job or move house. Petrol prices in five years and ten years time from now are not going to be any lower than today.

[RoverJames]

In fairness taking home £IR700/week wasn't typical for your average early 20s dude back in 1999

I remember working in Atlantic Homecare in the summer of 1998, IR£3.20/hour was the rate, I believe the full timers were on a small bit more, nothing major though. Video shops, petrol stations, betting offices etc were all paying about that.

In Summer 1999 I worked 6 days for £IR150/week, there were some other benefits.

At the time the dole was less than £IR120/week for a single person iirc.

[Sobanek]

Originally Posted by Blut2

Petrol prices in five years and ten years time from now are not going to be any lower than today.

I disagree. Every now and then we have an energy crisis. It's not a matter of "if", it's a matter of "when". They will surely fall, but we don't know when.

[Seweryn]

Originally Posted by Sobanek

I disagree. Every now and then we have an energy crisis. It's not a matter of "if", it's a matter of "when". They will surely fall, but we don't know when.

I really wish you are right about the falling prices, but you are not. There may be some few cent drops every so often, but in the long term fossil fuel prices will continue to rise.

[Blut2]

Originally Posted by Sobanek

I disagree. Every now and then we have an energy crisis. It's not a matter of "if", it's a matter of "when". They will surely fall, but we don't know when.

Oil is a finite resource that will, sooner rather than later, run out. As cheap to obtain sources of it dry up the price will inevitably rise.

http://www.aaireland.ie/AA/Motoring-...ch%202012.ashx

A quick google gives this, showing fuel prices going back to 1991. Theres a fairly obvious trend in that 21 year time period...

[yer man!]

Is there a reason to why fuel seems to be more expensive in Galway compared to Cork or Dublin? saw quite a lot of stations in the two cities selling fuel about 4c cheaper than any station in Galway.

[johnos1984]

Originally Posted by yer man!

Is there a reason to why fuel seems to be more expensive in Galway compared to Cork or Dublin? saw quite a lot of stations in the two cities selling fuel about 4c cheaper than any station in Galway.

Cute whores know you won't drive anywhere else for a fill up

[dr.fuzzenstein]

Originally Posted by Blut2

1) Nobody held a gun to anyones head and forced them to buy a house, personal responsibility is rather key here. "they made me do it" doesnt cut it with 5 year olds so certainly shouldnt with 35 year olds.
2) I'm fairly sure that an affordable house could have been bought less than 80km away from Dublin, thats a tad excessive even for the boom era commuter towns.

Either way petrol prices are only going one way in the long term, up. Commutes of that distance arent going to be sustainable. The guy with the 160km daily commute can moan all he likes but realistically hes going to have to either suck it up and spend the money on petrol, get a new job or move house. Petrol prices in five years and ten years time from now are not going to be any lower than today.

OK, so options are spend the money on petrol, find a new job or move house.
There are a lot of people however for whom that is quite difficult.
1: There is a limit on how much one can spend, once that is reached, something will have to go unpaid, electricity, mortgage, heating bill, food, car tax, etc...
2: Find a new job. Not always easy, there may be some hope on that front, but the day of hopping from one high paid job to another are over. Salaries will continue to go down, as employers are exploiting the labor market.
3: Move house. Well, that is the tricky part right there. A lot of people are stuck where they are, be it their fault or not.
But you forget option 4:
Default on mortgage or other bills. This will drive hundreds of thousand of people into bankruptcy. Now you can say "huh, serves 'em right", but the problem is that this will simply add pressure to the banks. That means more money for the banks from the government, higher taxes, etc...
We are looking at up to half a million mortgages that people might default on, this will cost more money than can ever be pumped in from the government or even Europe.
When people saw the crash coming, they where laughed at. Now it is being warned that it could get even worse in the future and Ireland is heading for a gigantic financial black hole.
Then it won't matter whose fault it is, because we are heading for the dark ages. Saying "Ah, I'm grand and why is everyone else so stupid" won't help. It wasn't the stoker's fault that the Titanic sank, they went with it anyway.

[keithclancy]

Originally Posted by dr.fuzzenstein

OK, so options are spend the money on petrol, find a new job or move house.
There are a lot of people however for whom that is quite difficult.
1: There is a limit on how much one can spend, once that is reached, something will have to go unpaid, electricity, mortgage, heating bill, food, car tax, etc...
2: Find a new job. Not always easy, there may be some hope on that front, but the day of hopping from one high paid job to another are over. Salaries will continue to go down, as employers are exploiting the labor market.
3: Move house. Well, that is the tricky part right there. A lot of people are stuck where they are, be it their fault or not.
But you forget option 4:
Default on mortgage or other bills. This will drive hundreds of thousand of people into bankruptcy. Now you can say "huh, serves 'em right", but the problem is that this will simply add pressure to the banks. That means more money for the banks from the government, higher taxes, etc...
We are looking at up to half a million mortgages that people might default on, this will cost more money than can ever be pumped in from the government or even Europe.
When people saw the crash coming, they where laughed at. Now it is being warned that it could get even worse in the future and Ireland is heading for a gigantic financial black hole.
Then it won't matter whose fault it is, because we are heading for the dark ages. Saying "Ah, I'm grand and why is everyone else so stupid" won't help. It wasn't the stoker's fault that the Titanic sank, they went with it anyway.

Option 4, default on Mortage hand house back to bank and go rent someplace.

Or Option 5, sell house at a loss, get a personal loan for the Balance.

Buying a house as an investment was never a sure thing no matter what people said.

[NinjaK]

Originally Posted by johnbobtheslob

is there any specific reason why the price of fuel continues to rise?

Israel and the US threatening to invade Iran might have something to do with it