I wasn’t able to use my car for several days so was nudged into investigating the excellent bus service in my city. I downloaded the bus timetable app onto my phone which tells me how many minutes away the next bus is. I can pretty well get to most of my activities & regular destinations using 2 bus routes – and of course, it’s free using my GoldPlus Card between 9am & 4 pm. The buses are clean, air conditioned and it’s so relaxing to be driven for a change and also not worry about finding parking. I use buses several times a week now & thoroughly enjoy the scenery instead of focusing on traffic. I realise I’m lucky to live in a city (Hamilton) that has a great bus service.

The good news is that the cost of an electric vehicle has gone down 5 cents a km over the last year to 76 cents, but the cost of a conventional petrol vehicle is up 3 cents a km, also to 76 cents. The convergence of the costs has for the first time brought electric vehicles costs on a par with petrol.

It is highly likely that the running cost of electric vehicles will continue to come down, relative to petrol, as the production of electric vehicles increases and the price per unit falls. Given the simplicity of an electric engine, we believe there is potential for transport costs to be reduced significantly in the future. For most of us, the up-front cost of owning an electric is still too much of a hurdle so it looks like we will be still filling up at the petrol station for a while yet.

Paul has a tip for frugal motorists. “There is an app for mobile phones for this called ‘Gaspy’. It’s a kiwi bit of software using the GPS on your phone it shows the cheapest petrol stations near you and the distance from your current position to it.”

Gaspy is well worth a look if you want to get the best deal on 91, diesel, and 95 fuels. This is how they describe themselves: “The prices on Gaspy are crowd-sourced which means we rely on like-minded consumers to locate and share the best fuel prices in NZ for shared benefit. By working together we can all enjoy cheaper gas and put pressure on Big Oil to maintain competitive pricing.”

While the data does not come from service stations directly and may not include all outlets, a look around the site shows crowd-power is providing sufficient data to achieve the objective – which is to show users where they can buy the cheapest fuel. In the Bay of Plenty and Auckland areas, for example, they say savings typically are about 13 cents a litre. In Northland and the Waikato, it’s 10 cents.

It’s easy to use. Just put in the location you wish to search. The APP will then list the outlets ranked by price. Select the location and it will take you to Google maps to so the location. Click directions and the navigation will take you there. Simple. Money saved.

Not only is the APP great for those who want to save money, but also for those who want to do their bit to bring greater competition to the fuel retail industry. There is no question competition results in better pricing for the consumer, and that’s a great thing. Consumer power is market democracy in action.

We use the APP, and find it especially useful when we are visiting a town and we don’t already know where the best deals are, or filling the tank on a long trip. By thinking ahead a hundred kilometres or so, we can plan the pit stop and get the best economy from the refill. As a general rule, we have found Gull is typically the cheapest place to fuel-up – their self-service stations in particular.

While on the subject of fuel prices, something to think about when you are replacing your vehicle is the type of fuel it uses. Most cars run on 91 octane, but some run on the higher 95 octane fuel. These are generally higher performance cars with higher compression. There is no benefit in using 95 petrol in a car where the manufacturers recommend using 91.

The higher octane fuel costs anywhere between 10 and 20 cents more a litre, depending on where you shop. That’s significant money over the life of the vehicle. We recall the case of a motorist who was bragging about how frugal they were because they shop around for the lowest fuel. They were less effusive when it was pointed out that having a vehicle that ran on 95 octane fuel instead of 91 was adding at least 10 cents a litre to their fuel bill.

Did you know that tyre pressure affects fuel consumption because when under-inflated their rolling resistance increases? According to one tyre company, every 10% under the vehicle manufacturer’s recommended pressure costs about 2.5% in fuel consumption. So if a tyre is running at 27 PSI instead of 30 the extra fuel consumption will cost about six cents a litre based on today’s pump price. To find out what tyre pressures are recommended for your vehicle, go to energywise.govt.nz/tools/tyre-pressure, or look for a sticker in your car’s door jam – or check your owner’s manual. The recommended pressure for most cars is usually between 30 and 35 PSI.

It’s amazing how many money saving and money making opportunities are springing up from the IT revolution. The buzzword is “connectivity”. It’s now so much easier to connect with folk without moving our lips, which is a remarkable thing! Here’s an example.

Harriet from Brisbane writes, “Use the Kerb app to park or lease a space to save money on parking or earn money renting a space you don’t use!”

This Kerb app is new to us, so we did some snooping on www.kerb.works.

Essentially it works like any market that brings buyers and sellers together. In this case, the “product” is a parking space. Usually, it’s somewhere to park a car or motorbike, but it could also be a marina berth, or a helicopter pad – no doubt many oily raggers will be either looking for space to park their helicopters or have helipads available to rent!!

The way it works is very similar to AirBnB, but for parking spaces rather than living spaces. It’s a great idea. It will be of particular interest to those with a parking space but no vehicle, as well as businesses that may have surplus car parks as part of their office lease. We know of one company for example that was committed to taking six car parks as part of their lease, but after changing the nature of their work only needed two.

Kerb started in Australia but now operates in a bunch of cities, including Auckland. Their website shows that in downtown Auckland there are car parking spaces available from $10 a day. Bookings may be for one or more days, with discounts for the longer term.

It’s a great idea and shows how developed the “sharing” economy has now become.

The big players in this economy are, of course, Uber and AirBnB.

Although Uber was the first ride-sharing cab off the rank there are now a number of companies operating this type of service, so those wanting to earn some extra money as a driver have options. Zoomy is already operating in Auckland and Wellington, and a company called Ola is about to enter the market offering a lower per-ride commission rate.

While snooping around the sharing economy we came across a bunch of other not so well known sharing sites, including one called Dog Buddy. It’s a dog minding service where those with pets that need to be minded, connect with those who have the time and desire to mind them. For pet owners it’s a great alternative to kennels (which is a little like a boarding house and you never quite know what your pooch gets up to!) and a great way for people who love pets to spend time with a pooch and get paid for it.

No

www.kerb.works

There is an app for mobile phones for this called “gaspy” its a kiwi bit of software using the GPS on your phone it shows the cheapest people near you and the distance from your current position to it.

Oily Rag Ed’ – Here’s a link here >>>. It’s a great APP!

For those that don’t know, Uber is like a taxi service, but it differs from traditional taxi companies in a number of ways. Most significantly, and strictly speaking, it is not a taxi company – it is more like a broker that brings together those that want a ride with those that want to provide a ride. Like Trademe, it creates a market place for buyers and sellers to exchange goods.

In effect what it has done is tap into the huge pool of car owners who want to make some secondary income on the side – or who want to earn a primary income with total flexibility as to when and where they work. Basically they register with Uber as a driver and receive 75% of the fare. Uber keeps the balance. By mobilising this casual workforce of independent contractors Uber is not restricted by all of the hassles, regulations, and costs, of hiring drivers. That gives them a significant advantage when it comes to pricing, but more on that later.

Uber is also unique in the way it has used technology to enhance service. It really is quite remarkable in its simplicity. Once you have downloaded the APP onto your phone or tablet, all you need to do is enter “Where to?” and it will show you the available Uber cabs and how long it will be to pick up. You then choose the one you want.

At the end of the ride you don’t even have the hassle of making a payment. Your credit card details are preloaded and will be automatically charged. At the end of the ride all you need to do is say goodbye – so simple!

The other game-changing aspect is that at the end of a ride a passenger is asked to rate their experience. This is like providing feedback on Trademe. This instant feedback is such a strong motivator for drivers that they are falling over themselves to be nice to their passengers! We recently had some uber rides in Australia and the drivers were like tour guides. Making a positive impression was clearly important to them because their feedback rating (out of 5 stars) and passenger comments are visible for all to see when selecting a ride. Bad rating, no passengers – it’s a simple equation. That is just so different from traditional businesses where there is no direct feedback loop and no extra incentive to be super nice. The result is clean cars, and pleasant and helpful drivers. Add to that a better price, and it’s not hard to see why uber has disrupted the taxi industry.

On that trip we did a ‘living off the smell of an oily rag’ experiment to see if using Uber did save money, and more importantly how much. We had a party of six people to travel about 14km. One group of three ordered an Uber cab and the other, a convention taxi. Both cabs were ordered at exactly the same time. The Uber cab arrived within 3 minutes and the trip cost $21. The other car arrived 10 minutes later and cost $37. To see if this was a one-off, we replicated the test for the return trip. Again the Uber arrived first, and was about 35% cheaper. This was in Australia and not New Zealand so pricing may be different here, but we are told an Uber ride is cheaper here also. In some parts of the country Uber is not available.

It’s not hard to see why the taxi industry is not happy about Uber, and one can see their point because they say it’s not a level playing field. The reality is Uber has lots of casual workers who are prepared to work for very low pay rates (when calculated on an hourly basis), while the taxi companies have to hire people at minimum pay rates or more, and abide by a multitude of other costly regulations.

Airbnb is another disruptor, quite similar to Uber in the way it does business. In their case they are disrupting the accommodation industry. People with rooms to spare are connecting with travellers via Airbnb, and creating an alternative to motels and hotels. We would be interested to hear from readers if booking an Airbnb has saved them money.

For frugal individuals these disruptors are providing both money making and money saving opportunities. It looks like this may well become the dominant business model in the future.

The tires on a Toyota Corolla might be labelled: P175/65R14 81H

‘P’ stands for passenger vehicle.
175 – The width of the tire is 175 mm at the widest point.
65 – Indicates that the height of the side-wall of the tire is 65% of the width – 114 mm.
R – This is a radial tire.
14 – This tire fits 14 inch diameter rims.
81 – The load index per wheel. The maximum load for an 81 tyre is 462kg (in other words a total weight of 1,848 kg for the entire vehicle).
H – The speed index. The maximum speed for an H tyre is 210 kmh.

Tire speed rating codes

Code  km/h

• N     150
• Q    160
• R    170
• S    180
• T    190
• U    200
• H    210
• V    240
• W   270
• Y    300
• ZR Over 240

Tire load index – weights

Code  kg

• 71   345
• 72   355
• 73   365
• 74   375
• 75   387
• 76   400
• 77   412
• 78   425
• 79   437
• 80   450
• 81   462
• 82   475
• 83   487
• 84   500
• 85   515
• 86   530
• 87   545
• 88   560
• 89   580
• 90   600
• 91   615
• 92   630
• 93   650
• 94   670
• 95   690
• 96   710
• 97   730
• 98   750
• 99   775
• 100 800
• 101 825
• 102 850
• 103 875
• 104 900
• 105 925
• 106 950
• 107 975
• 108 1000
• 109 1030
• 110 1060

There is usually a lot more information on a tyre as well:
The production date, DOT 3214 = 32nd week in 2014
TL – Tubeless
TT – tyre with an inner-tube (tubetype)
Made in – country of production
C (commercial) – tyres for light trucks (eg 185R14C)
XL (extra load) – tyre for heavy loads
rf – reinforced tyre

(Have a look at transfercar.co.nz. – Oily Rag Ed’.)