Someone Please tell me how we are supposed to live with the gas prices?

Question

I do not understand gas prices? I do not understand how people can stand by and keep paying these prices? The American people who live average lives cannot afford to work, pay child care and expect to pay upwards of $50 dollars or more a week in gas! I have started working from home which allows me to not have to drive, so we only fill up one vehicle each week while the other sits. Thats ok with me, but how are people making it who cannot do this?

I have read some answers that are great! But I was not asking what I need to do, just asking how others are adapting?

The answer to a question below also... NO one of our vehicles is not an SUV, it is a 5spd 4cyl Ford Ranger! It is a 96, so it is paid off... We have adapted well.. Was just curious as to how others felt...

Answer 1

Gas prices are a relative bargain in the US. In Canada, which exports millions of barrels tof its oil to the US, gasoline prices are 20 to 25% higher than in the US. In Europe, prices are over $6 a gallon (largely due to taxes intended to curb consumption).

If you want to live with the prices, consider including a dividend paying oil or gas producer in your investment portfolio. The higher prices at the pump sometimes translates into more dividends that you can use to pay for the fuel.

Higher prices are probably the best way to get people to buy more fuel efficient vehicles, thereby saving themselves some money and maybe reducing the US fuel import bill.

Answer 2

You find alternatives to using so much gas.

We weren't born with a gas habit, we acquired it. So now acquire habits that involve using less gas. Improvise, adapt and overcome.

Try some of these:
1. Move closer to work / school
2. Try biking, walking or public transit
3. Car Pool
4. Find work closer to home
5. Make your next vehicle a very fuel efficient one
6. Combine and plan errands all at once in an efficient route.
7. Keep your car well maintained, running efficiently, and tire pressure up.
8. Telecommute, which you now do. Good way to adapt.
9. Join the secret society Order of the Stone Cutters. They have secret gas credit cards that allow them to pump at any brand name gas for $1 a gallon.

We all made choices along the way that involved increasing the amount of gas we use. I bet one of those 2 vehicles you have is an SUV, isn't it? Nobody forced you to buy an SUV. Very few families actually need one when a more fuel efficient mid-size or even compact sedan would fulfill our needs.

Update: Ok, so I was wrong on the SUV. I had a good chance given 50% of vehicles on the road are SUVs or trucks, and you had 2 vehicles. Just a guess.

Answer 3

Gas isn't under price controls by the government. A car is a luxury. People get creative. They use their feet and public transportation. They might carpool. They might use 4 day work weeks. They might work from home.

Oil is at near peak production, yet China, India, and other countries are growing their usage of oil. American's are no better as they buy SUV's. As demand goes up, and oil is peaked, prices must go up. Pretty soon, oil won't be so easy to get out of the ground. Extraction prices will sore, and production will decline; all while demand keeps going up.

You think $3 or $4 is a lot? You need to plan on $10 per gallon very soon (e.g. 3 to 4 years). If you can't afford that, you need to look seriously at alternatives.

Answer 4

You cut back on how much you drive. You ride a bike for errands. You cut back on eating out at restaurants, you grow more of your own food in a garden, you disconnect the cable and the DSL, you make your own clothes, you fix things instead of replace them. Oh, yeah like everybody did fifty years ago.
Ask a European what they do. They have been paying upward of 5-6 dollars per gallon for a long time.
Americans are supposed to be the most adaptable people.
If you really want to stop global warming and live in a green environment then you are going to have to adjust. The gas prices are the quickest way to reduce foreign dependence on oil and to reduce the carbon emissions we spew into the atmosphere.

Answer 5

Well before i got a good paying job i found me a second job that was the best thing that ever happened to me.. working PROMOTIONS.. i would get paid like between $12-20hr and get a check in a few weeks and if u work alof of them like every week, back to back, then a month later... Woo you will get paid every week checks flying in the mail I use it to take care of what I have to do, GAS, good, clothes.. I even found one where u work 6 days for 13.50/hr for 8 hours and i got paid like 3-400 dollars and received it in 2 weeks it was great and I used it for rent. I recommend promotions lots of people do it, college students, models, moms that need a side job..etc!! I highly recommend this and you should too. Those young girls and ladies u see at walmart passing out samples and brochures do u even realize how much they get paid to do that for 6 hours.. $100! Go to talentpoolinc.com fusion marketing, encore nation wide and they will email u events in your area that u can work! Also go to craigslist.. and guess what.. u might have to drive but guess what.. some even PAY GAS!!! And pick whaterer dyas you want to work! This is the solution for u, ok now where is my 10 points!!

Answer 6

It's unethical to use garish amounts of gas due to the environmental effects. If people have a long commute to work, I'm sorry, but the gas they use to make that trek will affect my children and grandchildren. We will eventually run out of oil someday and there is currently no solution for this impending crisis. Also, if the undeveloped world used as much gas/oil as the West does, Earth would almost become uninhabitable. Furthermore, the US pays the least for gas among nations who use high amounts of gas. People need to stop whining.

Answer 7

Best option is get a Toyota Prius. I traded in my 17 MPG US domestic for a 2007 Prius. Now getting average 57 MPG. At $3 mpg saving average $460 monthly on gas. As prices go higher, and bet on $5 per gallon after the elections, the savings are much highr.

Answer 8

Down size your life in other areas (eat out less, fewer movies, etc....) . Next car you purchase, down size also, and go for a more fuel efficient vehicle, even if prices drop signifcantly. Find a job closer to home, if you can. I drive a Toyota Echo and live within 3 miles from my employer, and get gas every 2 weeks. Yesterday I got gas after 17 days, and got 9.4 gallons and it cost me 30.02. I realize for most people, some of the above is not possible, but even one or two of them can help.

Answer 9

A lot of people are carpooling now. I know it cuts down on the gas you use. I think this gas & oil stuff is getting out of hand.The president thinks that we should all quit driving & find other ways of getting to work.
Summer hasn't even arrived yet & it's already up over 3.15.:-(
iknow how you feel. It's a no win situation. Good luck to you. guess walking or riding a bike will be welcome for those who don't drive!!

Answer 10

heck my parents now (im 12) and my bro (hes 17) they have to try to at least tempt to put money in the bank for gas the price of gas by the time im driving is said to be around 10 to 12 dollars a gallon my parents and my bro now all have 2 jobs just to keep up with gas and nothing else bills are ok its just the gay gas prices