dwot (99.55)

Cost of Living Way Down....

January 31, 2009 – Comments (3)

.... here in the north.

High oil was weaving its way into costs big time here last year.  I just got my propane bill and it would be about 35% based on prices just two months ago.  As it is, the two month bill is $750, and additionally, a $25 fuel surcharge has disappeared, so my $750 bill would have been $1027. 

Milk is back down to $9 for about a gallon (4 liters) and it was up to $11 or $12.  The cost of driving is down 35-40%.  

Here in the north we were hit exceptionally hard by high gas and oil prices. Unlike the south, housing is not necessarily the single highest cost you face.  The utilities up here are enormous compared to down south.  Electricity for a single month was $175, and probably half of that goes to keeping the pipes from freezing, and that $175 is subsidized to the tune of $388. That full price is about 10 times the price I paid in Vancouver, so even with the subsidy you pay about 3 times the rate as you do in the south.  They convert oil to electricity here.  I have not yet noticed the price of oil coming down resulting in lower electric prices, but I suspect the the subsidy took the price increase hit, as our rate has been fixed.

Anyway, last year was exceptionally hard on families around here and now the cost is coming back down.

Unfortunately for families that bought houses in a high market it is not the same.  They will struggle for years.