Petrol Prices Melbourne price hike alert. Petrol prices at 166.9 spotted.

Checking petrol prices tonight I noticed a number of petrol stations around Melbourne have increased their unleaded price to 166.9 cents per litre. With the current gate price at 137.9 cents per litre, and then adding the usual 25-30 cents per litre when prices hike, we could expect to see the unlead petrol price to hike to somewhere in the range of 162.9 to 167.9. I would expect the price to hike to 164.9 as the price looks better and makes the price appear to be in the lower half of the 160-170 range. However at 166.9 this is still within the expected range.

I'll continue to watch the petrol prices as I usually like to wait until I see three or more Woolworths Petrol station increase their prices. Sometimes some petrol stations break from the pack just to later reduce their prices. Once I'm confident the petrol price hike cycle has started I'll notify those on the Alert mailing list.

Let's see what happens tomorrow.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.PetrolPricesMelbourne.com.au
Petrol Prices Melbourne

Update: 1/05/2019
A few more petrol stations have increased their prices to 166.9. Looks like 166.9 is the new price hike price.

Update: 9/05/2019
The hiking of petrol prices has occurred quite slowly this time. It's 9 days since the first signs of the price hike started and still an estimated 20% of petrol station have not increased their prices. That's great for drivers as it means cheaper prices are still relatively easy to find.

A second unusual situation is the average gate price (think wholesale) has dropped a couple of cents so we're seeing a second group now raise their prices to 159.9, meaning even if you miss out on the cheaper prices there's still a 7 cents per litre saving that can be found.

As we approach the weekend it's probably safe to assume most prices will have gone up by Monday and perhaps prices might quickly drop to around the high 150 mark.

Early voting centre for Menzies

For those looking for the early voting centres for Menzies, the following page provides details of candidates and the locations of early voting centres.

https://www.aec.gov.au/election/vic/menzies.htm

Kelvin Eldridge

Alert: Your Optus bill for account xxxxx.

Sometimes timing can be everything, even for scammers.

Today I activated a new Optus prepaid service, so when I received an email bill from Optus, my first thought is what has Optus done. I've seen this happens to others. Rather than knowing the email's a scam, because the person has done something very recently with the same company, this leads a person to think the email is from the company. Timing. No this email isn't from Optus.

This is a scam email designed to trick people to click on the link (Vew your bill now). If you check the link it has nothing to do with Optus. Most likely it's a hacked website where the scammer has loaded their code onto the site without the site owner knowing. This is extremely common.

Next time you receive an email from one of your suppliers do pause for a moment. It's easy to be tricked by scammers when you're under pressure, or perhaps just not thinking clearly.

Discard these emails for the junk they are.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
IT support.

Active April upsell much stronger this year.

The Premier's Active April is marketed around people getting out and getting fit. Almost a feel good campaign for the community. Last year we joined the local Aquarena and took advantage of the free offers. Ten free sessions including full use of the pool, spa and classes.

This year the offer from Aquarena wasn't as generous. What is also different is the follow-up marketing. Two phones calls and a text message and April isn't over.

This year it feels more like The Premier's Active April upsell. Gone is the feeling the promotion is good for the community, but more like a corporate marketing strategy to get people to use the facilities so they can be marketed to.

I haven't activated the membership this year and next year I'll probably just give it a miss.

I'm always reminded when things like this happen that government is just a business, just like every other business.

Kelvin

Can we really trust the weather temperature reporting and thus record temperatures and thus global warming.

Today I learned something that almost had me in disbelief. This was purely by accident. I wrote a convenience web app that showed yesterday's temperature. But sometimes the data isn't available for the maximum from the previous day at 9am in the morning. So I thought, what about the daily readings from the weather stations. The didn't match. Two lots of data where the high and low from the previous day's data didn't match. How could this be?

I can explain this away since one lot of data is reported every 30 minutes. If these are spot measurements then the temperature at each minute, or even every second, could be higher or lower but we wouldn't know. So yes, it's easy for there to be a difference.

Then I read an article where a retired head master has an obvious special interest in the weather and followed through on why temperatures can spike quite a bit minute to minute. We're now in an age where we're using different measuring devices. Devices that can accurately measure temperature at a particular point in time. Ever walked through water at the beach an noticed how there's warmer spots and even areas that seem to flow with different temperatures. What's the temperature of the water? What's to say this isn't happening with measuring the air temperature. Instantaneous fluctuations. Yes the measurement isn't wrong, but to compare this type of measure with historical records where equipment by its nature averaged out the reading due to slower response times, can make for significant apparent changes that make the headlines.

The hottest overnight temperature on record. Or was it just because we're now measuring it differently? The headline grabbers don't highlight that we may be talking about a fraction of a degree. That doesn't make it as sensational.

This really plays into the hands of the climate change sceptics. If we can't trust the weather reporting then how can we trust what's being reported about climate change. Any scientist (or politician) going against climate change right now won't be treated seriously, or worse, they'll be treated very poorly.

This is one person's story I found interesting.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2017/10/19/in-australia-faulty-bom-temperature-sensors-contribute-to-hottest-year-ever/

The issue isn't about whether the temperature is being measured correctly, but the time the measurements are averaged over. It appears the Bureau of Meteorology in Australia uses a single spot measurement each minute, whereas in the UK it is the average of the 60 measurements in the minute (one per second) and in the USA, it is the average over 5 minutes. There's nothing wrong with any of the approaches, but what is wrong is you can't compare if you measure things differently.

Another article I thought worth reading was how the historical temperatures in Darwin have been reduced using different approaches. Few people are experts in this area but for us laypeople, it just doesn't feel right to go back and reduce historical temperature values which then helps argue that global warming is occurring. That just puts doubt into people's mind. Doubt is all the climate change sceptics need to convince people climate change isn't happening. No science. Just doubt.

https://jennifermarohasy.com/2019/02/changes-to-darwins-climate-history-are-not-logical/

In this case, removing the earlier hot period from the data so it is outside the range for the trend just doesn't make sense. So often we see people who wish to prove their point only use a selection of data which proves their point, but ignores other data which does not help their case.

Now when I hear news items about the highest or lowest temperature for a day, month, period, I need to be aware of  how much the change is. If that's not reported it's just sensationalist reporting designed to grab headlines and capture viewers attention.

The real sadness here is I do believe we are having a negative impact on our world. Just living, eating, consuming, travelling, all use resources. The more people the more resources. There has to be an impact and that impact just feels like it will be devastating. To not have a global standard by which all countries agree means it's far more difficult to do something globally and be in agreement.

What started as what appeared to be a very simple personal project, of what was yesterday's temperature, became far more complex. The good outcome however is if we just chill and relax, all that is really needed from yesterday's weather is a rough guide. A few degrees here or there doesn't really matter. We just want to know what yesterday's weather is so we can compare it to today. Is it going to be similar, hotter, or cooler? The answer doesn't need high precision.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.WeatherYesterday.com.au

PS. Unlike some sites this post is not meant to be a criticism of the Bureau of Meteorology. Weather is not an exact science. The resources provided by the BOM are used by most of us most days of the year and are appreciated. I have no idea if the actual historical raw data is being modified and I certainly hope it isn't. Modelling isn't the raw data, just someone's interpretation of the raw data, and that can and will change over time as technology and knowledge changes.

Points Calculator for Points, kilojoules and Calories now available.

Need to work out the kilojoules, Calories or Points for a food item, the Points Calculator now makes it easier.

Just enter the serving size and energy per 100g and you can calculate the kilojoules and Calories. For those using Points, enter the protein, saturated fat and sugars content to get the number of points for the serving size.

A new feature which will appear on the Points Calculator will be the ability to scan a barcode and if the food item's details are already stored, the details will be loaded for you. Since it's only me loading the food items we use, it may take a while before this feature is available to others.

If you need to calculate kilojoules, Calories or Points for a food item, visit https://www.PointsCalculator.com.au.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.PointsCalculator.com.au

Weather Yesterday Melbourne web app now live.

Weather Yesterday web app came about because a person said it's very difficult to find yesterday's weather. If you search for Weather Yesterday Melbourne you can't easily find the information from the Bureau of Meteorology. When checking a site tonight, the weather for Melbourne was nothing like the actual weather. Lots of information but nothing that seemed correct.

Really all the person wanted was the max, min and rainfall for yesterday in Melbourne.

The Weather Yesterday web app shows the weather yesterday in Melbourne. Just the min, max and rainfall. Simple and easy to read. Quick to access.

You can find Weather Yesterday at www.WeatherYesterday.com.au.

Kelvin

Intagrammers taking huge risks, sometimes with the worst of outcomes.

Yesterday's news headlines on Bing are a reminder just how crazy our world can get. Most days we read about social media influencers and users affecting areas, taking huge risks and even dying for those special pictures.

Yesterday the following news items appeared on Bing. Two out of the first three items were about intagrammers. One who had died, and another couple who took pictures of what look like a very dangerous situation. One woman dangling over the edge of a large drop being held by a man in a swimming pool. All for the sake of that "perfect" instagrammable picture.

Because these people seem to be successful at what they do, others who may not be as prepared or experienced, may attempt to copy or better their pictures.

It's a real concern. Perhaps some money is made by these people, but certainly the most money is made by those running the social media services.

Please, please, do take care capturing that intragrammable moment. Consider others around you and those that will be impacted if something doesn't go to plan. It's really not worth it.

Be safe.

Kelvin

Alert: Your account has been hacked! You need to unlock.

If you receive emails with the subject: "Your account has been hacked! You need to unlock." don't be too concerned. This is a scam.

The email goes on to say you've been watching porn. They've recorded you using your web cam and if you don't pay up, they'll post the video to your contacts or the internet. Pretty scary. However it is most likely a scam and they have no recording of you.

I receive multiple emails of this form to multiple email address most days. The email addresses for which they say they've hacked my account in many cases, don't actually have an account. They are just forwarded email address. So no account, so it's just a bluff.

OK. So what about the future. That webcam on your computer really is an exposure. Should you get an infected computer that can really use the webcam, that's a concern. Anyone could check out you, your family, your home.

A quick and easy solution to this is a bandaid. Yes a bandaid. Since the padding part has no sticky substance, you can place the bandaid over the web cam and you can easily remove the bandaid if you need to.

Chances are you probably rarely if ever use the webcam. If you don't use the webcam like many people also don't, then a bandaid can remove this potential issue and give you peace of mind.

I hope others find this tip useful.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
IT support.

Adsense: Valuable inventory: Under construction

As mentioned previously something has changed with Google Adsense whereby sites are being rejected more. The exact reason unfortunately is difficult to work out.

In the case of the site https://www.CarRunningCostCalculator.com.au trying to add the site to Google Adsense resulted in the message "Valuable inventory: Under construction". The site isn't under construction and has been live now for a few months.

The site https://www.Mapz.com.au likewise also returned the message "Valuable inventory: Under construction". This site has been live for years, but recently I updated the site to be responsive rather than separate mobile and desktop pages. One suspicion I have is Mapz is largely map sites with not too much text. That may get the site rejected, but the message certainly doesn't indicate this would be the reason.

As suggested in the earlier post when you receive messages like this there's probably not much you can do about. In this case it's best to find another ad provider, or at least it's much easier and you'll have live ads displaying in less time.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
IT support.

HelloFresh discount code.

Received an invitation from a friend recently who tried and enjoyed using HelloFresh. It was a free trial so I had nothing to lose unless I miss the pause/cancel date. Signed up tonight as I thought I'd give it a go.

Whilst I can't pass on the same trial to others, I did notice they had a refer a friend offer where both parties get a $50 credit. The person using the code gets $50 off their first order. If this interests anyone the following is the link HelloFresh provided for me.

Visit HelloFresh for more information. Discount code should be applied.

As always make sure you read the terms. Also be careful with the automatic ordering. You can pause the automatic order and cancel the automatic orders.

Kelvin Eldridge

Petrol prices in Melbourne starting to go up to 159.9.

Today I was a little surprised when I noticed a number of Woolworths Petrol stations had increased their price of unleaded petrol to 159.9. Surprised because today's gate price (think wholesale) is 131.6 and prices don't normally jump until prices drop below the gate price.

OK. I totally forgot that school holidays in Victoria start this weekend. Now it makes sense. Prices are being hiked just in time for the school holidays.

Currently there's not too many petrol stations that have increased the price of unleaded petrol, so it is always possible the petrol stations have made a jump on the pack.

Time to keep an eye on petrol prices.

Kelvin Eldridge
Petrol Prices Melbourne

Days Between Dates Calculator now using SSL.

I personally don't consider a need for using SSL (secure sockets layer) on sites like www.DaysBetweenDates.com.au, but if you're using Google Chrome, you will receive information that the site is not secure.

Does it really matter if you're typing in a couple of dates. I don't think so. But of course Google Chrome can't tell what you're typing in so they flag the site as not secure. As a result, as a developer I need to then revisit each site and perform changes taking time and sometimes money that offers no additional value to users. That's a huge cost to the community when you consider how many sites need to do the same.

But as they say, if you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen. A more secure internet really is better for everyone. As time and resources permit I'll be revisiting sites that don't use SSL and migrate them to SSL.

Yesterday I migrated www.DaysBetweenDates.com.au. There's no visible changes for users, but now if you go to the site, the site will be secured using SSL and a lock symbol will appear in the address bar of the browser.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.DaysBetweenDates.com.au

Cruise Travel Insurance - 1Travel, Cover-More, Medicare, RACV, Bupa, Woolworths Insurance

When travelling overseas I consider it always to be a good idea to get travel insurance. The main reason is you hear horror stories with medical costs. Travel insurance provides peace of mind, and in some cases, is necessary to visit some locations.

If you purchase travel insurance through a travel agency or your cruise company, you may end paying hundreds of dollars more. It really is a case of checking around which can be easily done online.

Recently I checked the following. There's others I don't have confidence in and there's companies I'd never heard of. Perhaps there's an even better deal but whilst you may not get the absolute minimum shopping around, at least you can make some good savings.

1Travel
Cover-More
Medicare
RACV
Bupa
Woolworths Insurance

Make sure you get the cover you need. For example read the PDS (Product Disclosure Statement). Use the search function Control+F and search for "cruise" to help find the sections relating to cruises.

It's not really difficult work, but it is tedious, but it can also save hundreds of dollars.

Medicare travel insurance was the most expensive costing up to three times more than others. 1Travel had a huge $3,000 for one quote and not great prices. Cover-More the one listed by P &O Cruises is hundreds of dollars more expensive. Looks good until you add the price for your cruise fare which adds hundreds. Cancellation of the cruise fare is probably one of things you'd expect in the Cover-More policy by default, but it's not there.

What did surprise me was Bupa's travel insurance was quite reasonable. RACV travel insurance was quite reasonable and both Bupa and RACV give members a 15% discount. Not a member though.

The cheapest was Woolworths insurance. I've used them before. However there don't cover people over 80.

In the end the RACV insurance was clear and specifically had an option for cruises. Medical evacuation was included. For $30 more went for the highest cover. Usually I'm prudent, but I've heard of friends and contacts getting hurt travelling so peace of mind is important.

Really I'd recommend shopping around. For a two week cruise the savings from shopping around could easily be as much as $300-$400.

Kelvin Eldridge

Emergency Phone, spare phone, uses for an old mobile phone.

Recently I announced the GPS Tracker For Car site. The GPS Tracker for Car site shares information on using an older mobile as a GPS tracker which can be placed on or in equipment such as cars, so if the car is stolen, there may be a chance to tracker and locate the car.

Sometimes however when creating one project you learn something you didn't previously know.

I often see EMERGENCY CALL on my mobile's lock screen. Never really thought about this, but it's there if needed. There's a number of features of mobile phones I never really thought about or knew.

No SIM is required to make an emergency call.

WOW.

It appears all mobile phone have the ability to call emergency services without a SIM card installed. Just turn on the mobile and call the emergency number. Even if the mobile is locked.

That means if you have an old mobile phone without a SIM, keep it turned off, but charge it every now and again, you have a mobile phone ready for an emergency and it doesn't cost a cent.

Lock screen can have emergency information text displayed.

Lost your phone or in an accident and someone picks up your phone. You can place text on the lock screen which provides others a means of contacting an emergency contact. This could be very useful in the case you're incapacitated, or you lose your mobile.

ICE

This was recently suggested to me by a nurse. ICE which stands for In Case of Emergency is a standard that's gaining some traction world wide. Add a contact in your contact for the contact ICE. You can provide a number or in my case I added notes as well. Often however your mobile will be locked. However some mobiles will allow you to associate a contact with an emergency call.

In the case of my Samsung S7 if I press the EMERGENCY CALL I get the option to place a call to emergency services or to add emergency contacts. If I select add emergency contacts I am shown my favourites. With ICE added as a favourite, ICE is available to then add to your emergency call list. Now if someone finds your mobile, or needs to use it because you can't, all they need to do is swipe the screen, press on EMERGENCY CALL and then they can select the ICE contact and call them.

I suspect the ICE contact can't be contacted if you don't have a SIM card installed, current, or activated, but it's an option available for others to help you if required.

Lock a mobile so only listed contacts can be called

Based on the EMERGENCY CALL feature and the idea that you can add a list of contacts to the emergency screen, this also means you could set up your mobile for one of your children with just the numbers you want them to be able to call. Lock the mobile so it can't be used for any other purpose. Then if your child needs to call you, they swipe the screen, select EMERGENCY CALL, then select you as the contact and call you.

That's certainly a feature I never knew existed and means a mobile phone with limited functionality, could be provided to children in their bags in case of an emergency. If the mobile is left off the battery will retain it's charge for some time. If the mobile is on, and it's OK with the child, the parent could also locate their child using the same approach GPS Track for Car uses. This means parents could see where their children are when using public transport. Particularly useful if they need to pick them up from the station or bus or tram stop.

Spare phone

Separate from the use of the emergency facility built into mobile phones, it also became apparent recently an old phone could be used as a spare phone. Take an old phone, insert a SIM card with a 365 day prepaid plan (these can be found in the plans section of GPS Tracker For Car) and leave it turned off in your car or bag, and you have a back-up phone if it's needed.

I recently left home to meet someone in the shopping centre but left my mobile behind. Let's just say it did not go well. The help desk helped get in contact will someone who could call the person I was meeting and let them know where to meet. A spare phone in the car would have solved this problem instantly.

I read recently of hikers wanting a spare phone and thought that was such a good idea. A mobile turned off, with a 365 day prepaid plan, sealed in ziplock bags and an old phone could make a good emergency back-up phone.

Hopefully some of these ideas may be useful for others.

Kelvin Eldridge
GPS Tracker For Car
www.GPSTrackerForCar.com.au

Update: 8/04/2019
Just set up an Amaysim SIM using $10 starter pack for a mobile to stay in the car as an emergency or back-up phone. The mobile will be off and should keeps its charge for many months. Also disabled data so no charges when mobile turned on. Amaysim offer a refer a friend link where both parties get a $10 credit. Use this link (http://amaysi.ms/r/Ovi8BWsU) and it means a back-up mobile can cost very little to have available. Remember this approach uses the AS YOU GO payment option. The AS YOU GO lasts 365 days. If the mobile is off no credit is being used.

Mini GF-07 Car GPS Tracker

I've been working on a GPS Track For Car approach using an old mobile an inexpensive mobile plan. Basically the hardware's free because you already have a suitable old mobile phone sitting in a drawer and all that's required is a suitable plan.

The GPS Tracker For Car approach is now documented and available at www.justlocal.com.au/clients/gpstrackerforcar/.

One friend recently purchased a Mini GF-07 Car GPS Tracker. The device is inexpensive and very compact. My friend couldn't get the Mini GF-07 to work so they gave it to me to test. On reading the manual it is apparent the Mini GF007 uses GSM which is the 2G network. All 2G networks in Australia have been switched off, so any device that uses 2G will not work. 

I've also seen Mini GF-07 devices promoted as 3G on eBay. Given the product has the same code and similar price, the product is highly likely to be a fake and not use 3G.

To further trick people eBay sellers often have an Australian flag and colours of the Australian flag which may lead people to feel these products are suitable for Australia. They're not. There's even sites with .com.au domains which again give substance to the feeling the product will work in Australia. It's still the same device using the 2G mobile network and will thus not work in Australia.

To double check the GF-07 doesn't work in Australia I inserted a Telstra SIM card that was known to work and sent the code 777 via SMS to get the current location. No response. Whilst this doesn't show 100% it doesn't work, there's no way to know if something doesn't work for certain if there's something you don't know. But there's a very high probability that the GF-07 does not work in Australia. The GF-07 certainly didn't work for me.

The following link has a good table and shows that no Australian telco supports 2G any longer in Australia.

https://www.whistleout.com.au/MobilePhones/Guides/Will-my-phone-work-in-Australia-carrier-network-frequencies

Hopefully this experience will help other people in Australia who are looking at the Mini GF-07 Car GPS Tracker.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
IT support

Update: 18/04/2019
The following is a graphic from eBay for the item purchased. Lots of Australian related images including stock in Australia Australia Post logo. This is surely deceptive as it would lead people in Australia to think the product would work in Australia.

Telstra, Vodafone, Optus unlock fees.

You can often pick up a discounted mobile phone from the supermarkets, but it is usually locked to a network. How much then is the unlock fee?

Telstra

From the Telstra site.

You can unlock your Telstra Pre-Paid mobile, iPhone or mobile broadband devices, so it works on another network - but if you’ve had it activated on the Telstra network for less than two years, we charge:

$80 for devices never activated or only active for six months or less

$25 for devices activated for six months to 2 years.

Good to know
After two years, we don’t charge an unlocking fee.


Optus

From the Optus site

Have you recharged your service to a minimum / accumulated amount of $80.00?

Yes: There is no fee to network unlock your handset

No: How long has your service been active?

Less than 6 months: There is an $80 fee
More than 6 months: There is a $25 fee

Vodafone

From the Vodafone site.

If you purchased your device outright to use with a prepaid service, there'll be a fee to unlock it from the Vodafone network.

If you’ve had your device for less than 6 months there’s a $50 unlocking fee.

If you’ve had your device for over 6 months there’s a $25 unlocking fee.

Other information

The above assumes the mobile is purchased for use on a prepaid plan. If you purchase a mobile on a plan from a telco, it may or may not be locked.

In my experience I've purchased a Optus USB/Wi-Fi on prepaid but the device was not locked. I've had two devices unlocked from Telstra, but a third was too old and they didn't have the unlock information available. They were going to get the information and send it to me but the information never arrived. The lessons here are test your device to see if it is locked, and if it is locked, don't wait too long before unlocking the device.

Overall I feel Vodafone's devices are the worst as you always have to pay an unlocking fee. With Optus and Telstra after two years, you can get the device unlocked. With Optus, if you spend more than $80, you can get the device unlocked earlier.

Overall this would mean the Optus approach is best, Telstra next and Vodafone last.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
IT support.

GPS Tracker For Car web app now available.

For a while I've been working on writing up a hack I've been experimenting with and the results are now available on the GPS Tracker For Car site.

Some time ago I had a thought. A number of people I know had their cars stolen. Why not use an old mobile phone as a GPS tracker. Place the old mobile phone in the car, keep it charged each week, and if the car is stolen, you should be able to find the location of the car.

Since we probably all have old mobile phones sitting around the place, the cost of a GPS tracker for a car would be minimal. Since mobiles based on iOS and Android now include the ability to locate the mobile phone, no extra software is required. All that is required is a suitable mobile plan.

Reviewing the mobile plans available, how much data the GPS tracker would use and my testing is now complete. The GPS Tracker For Car site is now up and running and includes the results of my research.

With an old Apple mobile phone and the right plan, you can now have a GPS tracker in your car for under $20 a year. Android mobiles use more data, but again the cost isn't excessive. One extra benefit is if for some reason your current mobile bites the dust, you have a back-up mobile your can use in an emergency already in your car.

Hopefully the hack will help others locate their stolen cars and give them peace of mind.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Justlocal.com.au/clients/gpstrackerforcar/
GPS Tracker For Car

Melbourne petrol prices starting to hike. Unleaded petrol spotted at 151.9.

Last night I noticed two Woolworths Petrol stations in Preston had increased their petrol price for unleaded to 151.9. Today I checked and around five petrol stations had increased their prices to 151.9. All are Caltex or Caltex/Woolworths petrol stations.

The average gate price (think wholesale price) today is 126.3. In February on the 3rd, the gate price dropped to a low of 115.2. When unleaded retail prices started to hike around the 13th of February the gate price had increased to 118.4, At the moment we are seeing a gradual increase in the gate price and thus we can expect unleaded prices to also continue to increase.

The usual pattern for unleaded petrol price increases is for the retail price to hike to around 25 to 30 cents per litre above the gate price. Thus the next price hike is expected to be around 151.9 to 156.9, so 151.9 is at the low end. The price of 151.9 is a little unusual as most prices appear to end in 4.9 or 9.9. It's likely the price may quickly drop to 149.9 and then the discount cycle for the next three to four weeks will continue the price drop.

Since the first signs of the price hike have occurred on a Monday, and there is no period of peak usage like school holidays, it's likely the rest of the market will follow slowly with prices at most petrol stations being restored to the peak later in the week or over the weekend.

Watch the prices carefully and if you're using the 7 Eleven Fuel app, wait until prices have started to increase at 7 Eleven to lock in a low price for another week. Too early and you may have locked in a low price whilst there's still low prices around at other petrol stations.

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

PS. Whilst it is possible the five petrol stations are a false indication of the price hike, the price hike is still expected soon as the retail price is now near or below the gate price for many petrol stations.

Update: 13/03/2019
The Caltex/Woolworths petrol stations have flipped and dropped their prices back to the current low prices today. The Caltex petrol stations that had hiked their price kept their prices high. Some additional BP services stations have increased their prices taking the number to around 10 petrol stations in the Melbourne area that have hiked their prices. This is still a relatively small number, but is indicative of prices still dropping in some areas whilst the price hike is just around the corner. In other words there's no rush to fill up our tanks, but we do have to watch the prices.

Update: 14/03/2019
The number of petrol stations that have hiked their prices has roughly doubled. Still not a large number though. The maximum price hike however has now moved to 153.9 cents per litre for unleaded.

Car insurance quote - Coles, Woolworths, AAMI, RACV

It's time again to renew the car insurance for our 2016 Honda HR-V. It really is a good idea to shop around. Don't believe those ads on TV about one insurance company saving you money as we got a quote them once and they were much, much higher. Also don't fall for the ads on Google offering cheaper car insurance. Chances are you can get better by getting quotes direct from the company sites.

We're currently with AAMI. We've been long time customers of AAMI but at some point, AAMI was sold to Suncorp so really, it's now just a name. Plus we've had a very bad experience with a Suncorp repair. Two companies cover 80% of the market so also don't think because you're buying from another brand you're buying from another company.

I decided to visit the sites for Coles, Woolworths and RACV. We have a renewal from AAMI so no need to visit their site. The agree value was around $18,700 and the excess around $800. The following are the prices we found.

Coles - $1,224.17 (Agreed value $18,125 maximum allowed, excess $850)
Woolworths - $680.04 (agree value $18,700, excess $800)
RACV - $757.36 (Agreed value $18,900, excess $825)
AAMI - $770.91 (With discount, Agreed value $18,900, excess $800)

The winner this year appears to be Woolworths Car Insurance.

Car insurance changes all the time so each year when you get your renewal notice, it's prudent to shop around. As you can see from the prices above the range is considerable. I've seen one well advertised company quote roughly three times the price of another well known company so take the advertising with a grain of salt.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

PS. Web apps I've written which may interest you are: Petrol Cost Calculator, Petrol Prices Melbourne, Nearest Petrol Station and Car Running Cost Calculator

Update: 1/3/2019
As this is a second car driving around 7,000 km per year, decided to change to usage rather than unlimited kms. Used 9,000 as usage so plenty of room for increased usage. The price was reduced to around $541. Interestingly if I took of the older second driver (that's me) the price increased around $60. So if there's an older second driver include them and the price is reduced.