Petrol, tampons and other life necessities that should be free.

By LUCY ORMONDE

I once read a story about a woman who got the ultimate revenge on city councils charging her for parking in the city.

The machine she parked near wouldn’t accept credit and she didn’t have a lot of change on on her – so she raided the cavities in her car searching for coins.

When she’d finally rummaged together enough for to pay for the hourly fee, she headed towards the parking metre.

Just as an FYI, you should know that this post is sponsored by Nissan. But all opinions expressed by the author are 100% authentic and written in her own words.

The only issue was the machine didn’t take 5c coins.

Basically she was screwed. Late for a meeting and with no time to move her car, she decided to live life dangerously and leave her car ticket-less on the street.

You won’t be surprised to hear that the woman returned from the meeting to find a a parking ticket placed on the windshield of her car.

And you probably won’t be surprise to hear that the woman wasn’t happy.

So instead of picking up the phone and paying her fine like everyone else (this was the 90s when paying bills by phone was still a thing) she decided to go into the council offices and pay the fine in person.

The best part? She paid the fine entirely in 5c coins.

You see, there are certain situations in life where giving over money doesn’t seem like such a bad thing. You hand over the notes, change (or credit card) and in return you get a shiny car, a new addition to your wardrobe, a delicious dinner or maybe a sneaky holiday to Fiji.

Even handing over those couple of dollars for the morning latte is relatively painless when compared to some of the boring things we’re forced to fork over money for – like parking, tampons and bathroom cleaners.

Those kind of necessities are so incredibly dull they should be free in many people’s minds.

For me it’s petrol. I hate paying for it. It’s the one monthly expense that I just don’t want to have to deal with – and that’s probably why I’ve run out of petrol twice in the past year and had to call road side assist begging for help.

This is a video of Mamamia’s food blogger test driving the Nissan Pulsar. One of the most impressive features of the car that Phoodie comments on is the fuel efficiency of the car – after filling her car up with petrol and driving around for a whole day, she said the fuel gauge hardly moved.

I did a quick scan around the Mamamia office and asked the girl what things they think should be free.

For Mamamia Editor Jamila it’s doctors and dentists.

For Editorial Assistant Rosie it’s toilet paper.

For Mary it’s taxi fares of less than $15. “What’s that?” she says. “It’s 1am and the place we’re going to is over a kilometre away? I don’t care. We’re walking.”

For writer Natalia it’s “tampons and sanitary products in general. Pads and liners are so boring they should be free. Also clothing basics (t-shirts, black tights, socks. They’re all necessities but KILL ME).”

And for Melissa? “I hate spending money on body wash, shampoo, and conditioner. It’s an essential, obviously – but such an expensive essential. I don’t like having to pay so much, just to look vaguely presentable and clean!”

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So what about you? What everyday essentials do you avoid buying?