How many people here have actually had to alter their lives because of high gas prices?

Question

My Professor in my finance class noticed that Walmart stock was down. She theorized that the stock was down because people can't afford to go to Walmart as much now because of the gas prices. I looked at her like she was crazy and she changed to a new topic. Even if the price of gas rose .50 and you bought 20 gallons in a week's time, that would be an additional cost for that week of $10. Yeah, I know most of us only have $10 a week to buy the things we need, right? You don't think because my professor is a liberal she wants to influence young people to think a certain way, do you?

Pancakes- Yeah I don't really notice it either. My professor's an idiot.

mymadsky- What's the series 6 license?

rwl_is_taken- I'm sorry you only have $10 a week for groceries. Hope I didn't offend you with my question.

coragryph- That is a lot of driving though isn't it. Even if gas prices went down, with that much driving you'd still be spending a lot of money per week in gas.

MEL T- Good point. People seem to have no problem buying $40,000 SUV's that get less than 15mpg, but god forbid if gas prices go up by a quarter. Is it the gas prices that are the problem? It can't be their $500+ a month car payment.

g- Very funny. Actually I did grow up poor due to poor financial planning by my parents and because they didn't go to college. I made sure to learn from their mistakes. The point is, if $10 a week is a matter of life and death, you couldn't afford to go to walmart even if the prices had never gone up. My rich daddy, what a joke? He was unemployed most of the time. I was so disgusted by the way he approached life that I went the other way and became a conservative.

Your Best Fiend- She is a liberal. I mentioned it because she's always complaining about the "administration". People having longer commutes than before is a separate problem. Also, if you're short on money, where are you going to shop cheaper than walmart?

Kit- Show me a valid source that shows that gas cost $1.50 3 years ago. Inflation has been relatively low, and speaking of inflation, gas prices were more expensive 20-30 years ago with inflation factored in. I do agree with you on one point. We do need to find alternative energy sources. If you can afford the payments on a new SUV, certainly you can afford the gas.

Answer 1

Well, it's been said before, but if she's such a crack stock analyst, what's she doing teaching?

I've cut out some needless trips across town, and maybe picked a movie at the nearby theater rather than 30 miles away, but other than that, it really hasn't affected my shopping or spending.

Does this head-in-the-sand teacher know that Wal-Marts sell gasoline in many places? And at usually the best price?

Answer 2

First, you don't think that the comment about your prof being a liberal was a little off base?

Some people commute a hour each way. They drive a gas guzzling SUV that gets 25 mpg. Gas prices have nearly doubled in the last couple years. So, they pay twice as much for gas as before. Real wages are flat - not even keeping pace with inflation. So, if you are spending more of your income on gas, then it is reasonable that you would have less money to spend on things.

When you are at the low end of the wage scale, small changes like you $10 a week have a big effect. If you have $200 of disposable income (not towards basic necessities), then $10 a week may not be a big deal. But, if you have $20 of disposable income a week, then that $10 is a big deal. Ultimately, it is all relative. Basing your view of the world only on your particular situation or upbringing is incredibly naive.

Use your brain to reason this out. Getting caught up in political rhetoric is not critical thinking.

I, personally, haven't altered much. But, I hate to drive, and I prefer to ride my bike into work. Plus, I drive a relatively fuel efficient car (32+ mpg in mixed driving). And, I am not in the lower income brackets.

Answer 3

That is the reason Walmart stock is down.

1 out of 6 Walmart customers own neither a checking or savings account. Do you think higher gas prices effect these people? Gas has doubled in the last three years. People on a shoe string budget had their lives definitely affected.

I have also felt changes in my life due to gas prices. I find myself making lists so that I take care of everything I need to take care of on one trip instead of multiple trips.

Gas prices are affecting my decision on the purchase of my next car. I will not buy a SUV as I had previously planned. I'm looking into cars with much better gas mileage which will hurt the company from which I was a loyal customer (Jeep-Chrysler).

The price of transportation goes up, the price of everything also goes up. We are currently in an inflation period being caused by sky-rocketing energy costs.

It costs extra money to ship anyone and anything. The consumer bares the brunt.

Its going to get much worse before it gets better. (sanctions on Iran will be tightened) But this country needs a major energy crisis in order to break into an alternative fuels revolution. We have the technology, we just need a kick in the pants, and we will get it.

Answer 4

Higher gas prices have definitely effected my life and the lives of my friends. I try to do all of my shopping close to home, and I don't go out and do as much fun stuff as I did a few years ago when gas was under $2 a gallon. I think your professor is right-- people are still shopping at Walmart, but they're cutting back on the impulse purchases, especially in areas like mine where gas and housing costs have risen while wages have stayed about the same.

Answer 5

50 cents? more like a dollar. and generally i would say that wal-mart customers tend to drive trucks and suv's,(they do here in Lousiana anyways, and i'll bet the same is true for Texas) and if you figure a 30 gallon tank every week, that's an extra $30. i drive a civic(10 gallons) with great gas mileage, so i only fill up every two weeks. the higher price of gas has not affected me at all yet.
i would say that your prof is wrong about the wal-mart stock though, with higher gas prices and less money to spend, i think ppl would be more likely to shop where it is cheaper(wal-mart).

think about this though, many of my co-workers want truck and larger suv's, but say they won't buy them until gas prices go down. now that has not altered their lives, but it has altered the way they would like to live.

Answer 6

apparently you, or several others that have answered this question, have never been poor...

I'll excuse your ignorance...

but the fact is that for some people $10 can make a huge difference... and that's $40 a month... again can make a huge difference...

not everyone is lucky enough to not know what it's like to be rich...

it doesn't hurt me personally, but there have been times in my life where it would have... I was lucky enough for that to not have been an issue though...

just go cry to daddy and get a few thousand more dollars to go on the alpine vacation this winter and leave the political talk to those who live life...

Answer 7

Gas had been costing me about $50 a week to commute from where I had living to work and school. So, I moved to save the $200 a month.

Answer 8

By reading this question i see ur an American. So instead of asking this question here, u can just ask urself why have the gas prices become high and spend ur time and energy trying to make the ones responsible for it actually pay, and try to impose the so-called "justice" in the world !!!

Answer 9

Between my wife and I, we go through 70 gallons of gas in a week to the tune of $1,800/year for your little gas hike. I'm getting a more fuel efficient car because of the gas prices. It's actually cheaper for me to buy a brand new car that gets more miles to the gallon than to keep driving my paid-for car.

Answer 10

50 cents? I wish. Not too long ago, gas was $1.79, now,
it's $2.89. That's more than a dollar a gal.
Yes, my other half works 2 jobs & I wonder if it's worth the
price of gas to go to 2 separate places of employment.