There are things we buy everyday and other things we buy very infrequently. Take things we often buy in gallon containers and consider how much you pay for them- in various sizes. It often amazes me how packaging is an important component, likely one of the main components, in determining the price of an item, even a gallon of “stuff.” The first thing to come to my mind in gallon quantity is gasoline, home heating oil and milk. What are the prices of these things? I regularly see gasoline selling for somewhere between $1.50 and $1.90 a gallon, depending on whether you need jet fuel or basic gasoline. As a kid we used to buy a very high octane gasoline called “Turbo Blue” for our old muscle cars and it sold for about $3.00 a gallon in the 1980’s.
Home heating oil is something that swings in price depending on how much you need it. When the summer is here and we don’t need it much the price is relatively low, somewhere near $1.00. I’ve been told that lately some folks have paid as much as $2.00 a gallon. Consider buying an oil contract where you pay a fixed price that cannot go up but if the price goes down during the winter chill (not likely) you’ll be entitled to the lower price. It has been so cold around here lately that I feel warm when its 30 degrees. That is scary.
