The Dropping Oil Price from the Consumers' Point of View

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The dropping price of crude oil is a big thing in the news these days. It has countries like Venezuela and Russia teetering on the edge of complete crisis because their economies count on a much larger income from the sale of crude, and the lower oil goes, the farther they drift from making any ends meet.

While these are big news on the global scene, the drop in oil prices does have an unexpected effect for the everyday person. Here in Finland, land of uber taxation, gas prices at the pump started dropping about a month ago and have continued their steady decline. In the United States you will have noticed an even sharper decline as the U.S. is now the world’s largest producer of oil after surpassing Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Oil price in the past 12 months.
Source: nasdaq.com

In the latest report from the Energy Department, the average household will save $550 in 2015 from the currently low oil prices. If the price continues to drop, savings will increase.

I think that by now everyone has noticed the drop in price when filling up at the pump. But even I had not thought of the over-time savings involved in this. And it’s downright nice.

If you want to know specifically how much you’re saving per month, and you pay with your card at the pump, just go to your online banking and check how much you spent on December 2013 and January 2014, and compare those figures to what you spent last month and how much you spend this month. That should give you an idea how much you save each month now.

So now I’ll take advantage of the opportunity to suggest ways in which you could put that extra cash a month to work for you.

Pay up loans

Yes, this is a way of negatively saving money. By using the bit you save on gas on making extra payments towards the principal of your loans, you will not only pay up your loans faster, you will also end up paying less on those loans, and making a nice impression on your credit report.

Savings

We should all have savings for a rainy day.

I have said it before and I’ll say it again, remember to set money aside every month. On an article about budgeting last year I spoke about the importance of savings and the various accounts that are good to have. Do you have a rainy day fund, a vacation savings account, or a generic regular share where you stash away cash? Well now you can add a bit more and now that it will be there when you need it.

Holiday Club

It isn’t too late to start a Holiday Club account. Set up a monthly transfer to this account; forget about it, and the week before Thanksgiving the Credit Union will transfer the balance, including interest, to your account, just in time to start shopping for the holidays.

Charity

If you have never donated to charity and you are making ends meet nicely, maybe it would be nice to make a donation to a charity of your choice. You can make donations personally by check or,, if you are like me and want to donate and be left alone afterwards, you can go online to websites like Network For Good, which process anonymous donations to non-profits via a credit or debit card, and which will provide you the proper tax form to deduct the donations from your taxes next year.

Do you want to invest? Consider socially responsible crowdfunding efforts

There are many socially responsible
and environmentally friendly
crowdfunding projects that need funding.

If you think that the little bit of money that you save each month can help others more than you, maybe consider investing on an environmental or socially responsible crowdfunding project. Here’s the list of the most successful crowdfunding sites Pick one, and then look for something that piques your interest, and go for it. It will help create jobs, and make you feel like you’ve made a difference.

Remember to take that vitamin D daily to keep the winter blues away!

Have I missed anything? Use the comments section below!