Days Between Dates calculator update to show years, months, day and number of years between dates.

As I was creating the Car Running Cost Calculator I found I also needed to know the number of years between two dates. I decided since this calculation was useful for myself it may be useful to others.

I'd already created the Days Between Dates calculator so adding the years and years, month, days values to the Days Between Dates calculator felt like the appropriate place to display these values.

The Days Between Dates calculator now shows the number of years between two dates as well as the years, months, days between two dates.

Kelvin Eldridge
http://www.daysbetweendates.com.au

Woolworths Petrol prices with discount matching Costco petrol when Costco open.

I must admit I've never really been able to tell if the major petrol stations like Woolworths Petrol and Coles Express match the surrounding petrol stations, or the surrounding petrol stations match Woolworths Petrol and Coles Express.

Then recently I found something unexpected happening with the Woolworths Petrol station in Epping. The Woolworths Petrol station price for unleaded petrol was unexpectedly changing by a considerable amount some days. At first I didn't know what was happening but then a pattern started to appear. When Costco Petrol was open Woolworths Petrol would lower their price to roughly match Costco Petrol price if you had a Woolworths Petrol discount voucher.

The following screen captures show the price change. The first screen capture was taken at 10:24 pm on Monday the 29th of October 2018. The second screen capture was taken on Tuesday the 30th of October 2018 at 9:08 am.

When Costco Petrol was closed on the Thursday night the price for unleaded petrol is 157.9 at Woolworths Petrol and when Costco Petrol is open on the Friday morning the price for unleaded petrol drops to 148.7 at Woolworths Petrol. If you take the Woolworths Petrol discount voucher off Woolworths Petrol price is closely matching the Costco Petrol price. This isn't a once off occurrence as I've watched this price matching occur many times.

Whilst this still doesn't answer the question of which companies match with petrol prices, in this case it's very apparent Woolworths Petrol is matching Costco Petrol's prices.

For consumers who are in the Epping area or passing through, knowing Woolworths Petrol is price matching Costco Petrol during Costco Petrol's opening hours means you know that best times to buy petrol at Woolworths Petrol Epping. It also means there's no need to get a Costco membership just to buy cheaper petrol.

A tip for drivers is if you're driving down the Hume Highway returning from a long trip and need petrol, getting off at Cooper Street, filling up and using Dalton Street to get back onto the Metropolitan Ring Road if heading east, could save a few dollars in petrol whilst not adding overly to the driving distance. It will of course be a slower drive. Getting off the Hume and then back onto the Hume is not such a good saving as it will add around 6 km to the trip and use approximately a dollar of extra petrol. When petrol is at it's peak this still could be a reasonable saving.

Woolworths Petrol in Braeside also appear to change their prices to match Costco Petrol, but the price fluctuation is nowhere as much.

Kelvin Eldridge
http://www.PetrolPricesMelbourne.com.au

New Car Running Cost Calculator web app now available.

For a long time I've wanted to create a web app that would enable me to calculate the cost to run a car per kilometre. I've been recording most of the costs associated with my car since I purchased the car in 2008.

Cars cost money, big money. If you know how much a car costs to run per kilometre you can make informed decisions about your choices. For me it's been very instructional doing what if calculations on different car usage scenarios. I've learned a few things even though I've only been using the Car Running Cost Calculator for less than a day.

If you're interested in working out how much it costs you to run your car per kilometre, or even per year, you can check out the Car Running Cost Calculator at www.CarRunningCostCalculator.com.au.

So what things have I learned?

• Based on my usage the car has cost me around 51 cents per kilometre.
• Surprisingly trying to save money using public transport instead of your car actually increases the cost per kilometre.
• Within reason, the more you use your car the cheaper it gets per kilometre.
• The less you use your car the more it costs per kilometre, which makes the cost of public transport appear more attractive.
• Registration has cost me around 5 cents per kilometre.
• Petrol has cost me around 13 cents per kilometre.

Will I change my behaviour based on what I've learned?

In most cases the Car Running Cost Calculator confirms what I already suspected but couldn't easily prove. In a number of scenarios I compared using public transport to using a car, in the past I've felt public transport had a price advantage. Public transport definitely has a considerable time and convenience disadvantage, often taking two to three times longer for a journey, but if I have time, time's not a cost to me. I'm also quite happy taking public transport. However, now I'll be able to better check the public transport cost versus using the car and often the car will not only be quicker, more convenient, but it will also be cheaper.

I should state for clarity that often when I drive there can be two people in the car. The number of people is important as the cost of using public transport goes up by the number of people, whereas in a car the additional cost per person is likely to be under 10%.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.CarRunningCostCalculator.com.au

New BMI Calculator kg to help calculate BMI (Body Mass Index).

One of the aims I have with the web apps I create is to make sure they're used by as many people as possible. Sometimes it may be necessary to test a new domain to see if the new domain gets better traction.

In this case the BMI formula site has been used as the basis of the BMI Calculator kg site. Both still exist and only time will tell whether it is better to use one site, the other site, or even both sites.

You can find the new web app at http://www.BMICalculatorkg.com.au.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.BMICalculatorkg.com.au

Petrol price alert. Petrol increasing to 169.9.

It looks like that time again when we see the petrol prices in Melbourne hike again. It looks like the new high price will be 169.9, although there's one petrol station that's increased the price to 171.9.

At times like this it's not usual to see some stations still decreasing prices whilst other hike their price You never really know what's going to happen except that over the next few days prices will restore to the high price, most likely around 169.9.

It could have been worse. With the average terminal gate price around 145.5 and the usual price increase of 25-30 cents, the price could have easily reached the mid 170s. The average terminal gate price has been going down lately so hopefully that has been a factor for prices not going over the 170 mark.

As usual if you're using the 7 Eleven fuel app watch the 7 Eleven fuel prices and lock in a good price in the next few days.

Kelvin Eldridge
Petrol Prices Melbourne
https://www.PetrolPricesMelbourne.com.au

PS. If you'd like to receive an email alert to let you know the petrol prices in Melbourne is hiking, you can now subscribe to the mail list on the Petrol Prices Melbourne site.

You can now subscribe to a Petrol Price Alert email.

I keep an eye on the petrol prices in Melbourne for myself, family and friends. When the price is starting to hike I let people know.

So I can let more people know I've decided to add a mailing list to the Petrol Prices Melbourne site. After around five seconds a pop-up form will appear which will let people know they can subscribe to the mailing list of they want to.

Each time the petrol price in Melbourne hikes, I will send out an alert using the mailing list.

Whether or not people will be interested in this option I don't know. Only time will tell. However for me it's great as I save time as only the people who really want to know when the petrol price is hiking in Melbourne will make the effort to subscribe.

Kelvin Eldridge
https://www.PetrolPricesMelbourne.com.au