SO PETROL prices have risen to more than $1.60 a litre, and that's generally seen as a bad news story, but personally I'm looking for a bright side to this headline because I'm sick of these petrol-heads causing us consumers all this doom and gloom.

For a start it's a good news story for Mr Shell and Mr BP — 'cause let's face it, like Mr Coles or Mr Safeway, they always seem to need more cash. Like a young woman married to a tyre millionaire, they just can't get enough dollars to fill their purse.

They'll try to say it's the international pricing that's forcing the price up; despite the fact most of our petrol is actually Australian-produced, we have to do what our overseas oil "friends" tell us to do.

Sounds sensible — that's like buying a doughnut at Croydon Market and, on asking about the 10-cent price increase, the bloke saying: "Well there's a guy in Ballarat who sells doughnuts and he just put his price up, so yeah sorry about that, we just follow his lead."

Anyway I digress. Let's not forget I'm looking for the good news story in this petrol price hike.

All right, here goes. Surely it's going to encourage people to save money in other areas and get creative. Like saving on entertainment. Like going to the movies, for example. I'd personally like to see the new Indiana Jones movie, as would my family, but what's say we can only afford one ticket?

Here's how it would work: one person goes to the movie, returns home and acts out the whole film for the family in the lounge room. It would be a return to parlour games in charade-like style. Probably best to send Granddad, as he would do the best Harrison Ford.

Commuting is where a lot of the budget cutbacks could be made. Let's learn from the local primary school and form our very own "walking bus".

Commuters would meet at the start of the West Gate Freeway — say, near Werribee — and all walk in together in formation as a bus. Of course everyone would take turns to be the "driver". Sure, it would take a few hours and you might get stuck next to the smelly guy who goes on about whether the new Doctor Who is better than the old one, but think of the dollars you'd save.

Surely if we're going to drive less, there's an opportunity to "rediscover" our local community. Instead of driving to the supermarket, why not challenge yourself to whip up a meal from ingredients bought at your local milk bar? Who knows what you can make with a can of three-bean mix, some out-of-date yoghurt and a pack of Twisties.

And what about all those places you normally rush past, like the Freemasons lodge, the cafe with the old Greek blokes playing cards, or one of those empty churches? All of these places offer different degrees of entertainment that could easily replace a night out.

You go to the pub for a Friday night drink? Well the church offers you wine; all you have to do is just take communion quite a few times. Best to take a couple of hats or wigs to fool the priest. But don't worry, they're normally oldish and they'd probably just appreciate the boost in the congregation.

Maybe things like eating, drinking and heating are simply overrated.

What about a game called "Live like a pensioner for a week" — where for seven days the whole family abstains from all internet, Foxtel, mobile phones and pizza. I know it would be tough and there's a good chance it could turn into a suburban version of Survivor, where family members fight not for immunity but for one hour on Facebook.

All this could be fun but maybe it's time we had a protest. What would happen if we all took a pact not to buy petrol for a whole week?

Petrol stations would be empty except for the lone staff members, who would occasionally say "Cherry Ripe: two for three dollars" just out of sheer habit. We could play hard to get and Messrs BP and Shell might start to think "maybe they're never coming back". Suddenly they'd try to attract us with offers, like three Cherry Ripes for two dollars and maybe, just maybe, they'd drop the price of petrol.

I've tried to be positive but I feel I've failed. I just hate it how these guys have got something we all want. And we want it bad. You could say they've got us over a barrel — a barrel that keeps getting more and more expensive.

So will someone please get moving and invent that car that runs on water?

Actually, water's quite scarce. Maybe invent a car that runs on Cherry Ripes. I hear they're two for three dollars at the BP.

Dave O'Neil can be heard on Vega 91.5FM.