How are you coping with the HIGH GASOLINE PRICES?

Question

It is being said that today's prices are "worse than the 1981 oil shock".

Gas now at it's highest level, even adjusted for inflation; AAA's reading of nearly $3.20 a gallon marks ninth straight record high.

As of yesterday (late Sunday) a price of unleaded was $3.18 per gallon, up more than 11 cents from two weeks ago.

Is this a "budget buster" for you yet.?
or are you just taking this "all in stride"?

THE STORY:
http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/21/news/economy/record_gas_monday/index.htm?cnn=yes

@ Venus
The $3.18 is according to the news report and is an "average" for REGULAR gas.
It will certainly vary around the country.
For many that have to use PREMIUM gas, it's running around $3.67 or more per gallon.
$4.00 per gallon is not too far away for many folks!

Answer 1

Where I live, the prices vary a great deal from station to station. In fact, Saturday, when I filled up, (I live in central PA) after filling at a Hess Station, I drove 100 yards, and there was a Rutter's gas station selling regular unleaded for $2.89. Exactly two miles down the road there was another Rutter's selling regular for $2.95. Another 4 miles from there, at my exit off of Interstate 83, a third Rutter's had gas for $2.99. Seems to me that if what the oil companies is true, then the price would be the same for all stations, especially from the same companies, but it is not, which makes me believe that it's all a game to get profits up for the oil companies.

Answer 2

I live in a rural area and I have no options such as public transportation. I drive about 50 miles a day, round trip. Even though my car gets decent mileage (about 24 mpg) it's put a serious strain on my single income, single mother budget.

I have limited all trips that are not absolutely necessary. I don't travel the extra 20 miles to the nearest "city" to shop anymore, I do my shopping at the local stores now. The selection is not as good and the prices are a little higher, but overall it's still cheaper than travelling.

The gas increase has been a budget buster for me. I don't use credit cards for gas, I don't have a huge savings to draw from. I survive week to week, and barely at that. The extra $20 or so that it takes me now to get back and forth to work is really hurting an already seriously strained budget.

Answer 3

Wow, where to begin... First lets look at a couple factors..... I just got a bid for a price change based on gas going up. They wanted an additional 25 dollars due to gas going up by 35 cents a gallon since our last bid talk. By the end of our conversation I received 50 dollars off of our bid. Thats right I shot down their increase and let them know that I would pull the plug totaly if they didnt drop the price. Why? At 35 cents extra per gallon I made them prove to me that they would be using more than 70 gallons. Remember they wanted 25 dollars, do the math, thats 71+ gallons. Most places have already had increases or changes. Milk has gone up a lot due to the cost of delivery Buy a car lately? check out the delivery charge, used to be only 300 but has shot up a LOT lately. Ozarka charges 2 dollars a delivery no matter what the order. Me, my prices stayed the same. I just moved my percentages for profit and cost. I make less money but I can say that my prices have not changed due to gas... Im a photographer who does on location shots so a LOT of my time is driving to different locations.

Answer 4

Honestly, I've only began to monitor how much I spend on gas. Before, I just charged it to my credit card and paid it off when the bill came. BUT now that prices are so high, I've found that my bills are becoming more difficult to pay, so I've began to monitor the $$ I spend on gas each month (which is a pretty sick amount of coin if you keep track for a month or two).

This is going to lead to a COMPLETE collapse of the economy... And sooner than you would think.

Once people have to budget for gas, they stop spending so much money on activities like sporting events, night clubs, and any other entertainment activity you need to spend money on... Those businesses will struggle and raise their prices. In an effort to make money back from the 'entertainment' businesses, other businesses will raise prices too... Eventually leading to less spending all around, less cash flow, a weak economy, and an increase in debt, stress, and poverty.

Answer 5

It is getting to the point where I am going to have to evaluate my budget again and start shifting money around. I find if I only make one trip for everything in a day and walk when I can it helps. I recently went from an SUV to a Pontiac Vibe also so it's not so painful at the pump. I live in a state where it snows a lot and everything is either up or down a hill but this Vibe runs well even in the snow you just have to get studded tires.

Answer 6

It's only $3.18 by you? It's around $3.50 by me!

I'm driving less, consolidating my trips, riding my bike more, etc. I might start carpooling, too! I think if people really start calculating it out more, like say, "hey, it's going to cost me $5 in gas each day to go to work" they will think on whether it is worth it or not and what the alternatives are. It's costing me about $10 extra at the pump, but that is not really a huge sacrifice to make if you think about it. Especially since I've been saving money in other areas.

Answer 7

Well, there's nothing you can do about the gasoline prices.... I mean with all the crude oil resources going scarce and all that. So the best way to deal with it is to make use of the public transport system as much as possible.
Or you could get a medium size car, because they don't use as much gas as SUVs. There are these chemical fluids which can added with gas to your car and they're supposed to save the fuel. You could purchase them at your local gas station
A better alternative would be to purchase a hybrid car, then you'd have the option of hydrogen gas as fuel for your car.

Answer 8

No possible way to just take that in stride. Here, gas is higher than $3.20 per gallon! I believe, as of yesterday, it was .19 higher. Can't do much more than cut way down on going places. Definitely a budget buster!

Answer 9

I really can't do much---I commute an hour to work everyday---that means that I spend about $50 on gas per week...well, that was at $3.18/gallon.

And I am not sure how this can be fixed...I know in Venezuela they just pay about forty eight cents/gallon of gas...and here in the States we gotta "help" oil companies get 50% increase profits per yr---


where's my water powered car I asked for last week! :-)

Answer 10

I'm considering it to be another bill. I can't minimize my travel by much. Right now my gas usage is up to ~$350 a month. Besides bringing my son to school and me going to work, I am in the house more.
I used to go to the gym 5x a wk. I only go twice now b/c the commute is too much so I do basic exercises at home.
I now make sure I clip coupons for grocery shopping. I used to think it was too time consuming for the few dollars I save. Now every penny counts.
I used to take my son to a park that I loved as a kid that is 20min away from our home. Now I walk him around the corner to the school playground.
Etc......
Gas is definitely a "budget buster" for me.