Cape Town - On April Fool's Day South African motorists were hit with the highest single fuel-price increase in SA history, hefty enough to have a significant effect on most commuters' monthly budget.
But just how much difference does it make? Unless you you're a certified maths geek the answer, as with bank charges, is likely to be “too much” and you won't find out how badly you've underestimated your fuel costs until the last weekend of the month.
Obviously, if the car isn't yours - a company car or, especially, a rental - knowing just how much extra you need to budget is even more important (renting a car can bring with it too many nasty cost surprises without adding a scary fuel bill to the mix!).
DOING THE MATH FOR YOU
So car-rental portal Drive South Africa has added a smart fuel cost calculator to its site that'll tell you with a few clicks of the mouse (or taps of the fingertip on your smartphone or tablet) just how much extra you need to put aside this month - and every month, because it'll be updated as the fuel price changes.
It will work out your monthly fuel spend (at the current fuel price) and how much more you'll spend on fuel compared to last month, based on either your vehicle's fuel consumption, how often you filled up last month or how much your previous fuel spend was, so you really don't need to be a maths geek to figure it out.
Then when the price goes down, you can use the overflow to reduce your debt or boost your savings, and when it goes up you'll know how much extra you'll need to budget to feed your wheels.
What you spend less on to provide the extra petrol money is, however, up to you; computers, no matter how advanced, can't perform those kinds of calculations - yet.