Let's Talk About Gas!

No, not the farty kind that comes along after WLS!    I'm talking about the kind that, pretty soon, only Bill Gates and Steven Spielberg will be able to afford at eleventy billion dollars per gallon. I paid 4.02 per gallon in Denver yesterday to put gas in my Honda Civic.  30 years ago in 1978, I was living in Washington D.C. (having moved there from San Francisco) and was horrified to see that instead of the 51 cents per gallon I paid in CA, gas in D.C. cost 62 cents/gallon!  I was so indignant!  I'd be thrilled to pay 62 cents per gallon today! I'm curious, how badly is everyone being gouged for fuel these days?  Have the high gas prices seriously impacted you and your families?  How is everyone adjusting to the high prices?  Call me curious, or call me nosy, but I'm interested in hearing how others are fairng/coping/enduring. Kix

It all depends on which brand/station you go to here...  Talking only regular 87 octane stuff, Shell is the most expensive at $4.07, others range from $3.95 to $3.88 and Sam's Club (if you have a membership) is usually 5 to 6 cents lower than that... That's not enough of a savings to drive out of my way for..... yet..... So I'm paying the $3.88 for now.....

Well a Swede  like me think that gas is REALLY CHEAP in the US.  We pay over $8 per gallon. Most of it is taxes.

Vacation by car this year... Naaaaaah I don't think so...

HOLLLLLLY CRAP!  That just put my paying $3.95 in perspective.  WOW!

We're around $4.25.  Thankfully I work less than 5 minutes away.  My husband has a 25 minute commute.  If the housing market wasn't so bad, we'd consider moving closer to his job.   I've always been good about combining errands in the same part of town but that's become more important now.  I take his car (Toyota) on the weekends.  Not going for "joy" rides anymore.  For our vacation in the fall we are considering taking the Matrix.  I have a Taurus (that I inherited from him since I have the short commute) that we've used for long trips for comfort.  Now that I'm losing weight the Toyota isn't quite as bad.   The situation is completely out of control and is wrong on so many levels, but I won't get on my soapbox. -Dawn

Here in Mississippi, it's $4.09/gallon.  I remember when I purchased my Toyota Camry in 1995, it cost me $15 to fill 'er up.  Now, it's costing $62...talk about inflation!!!!  Being off this summer I thought was going to be great, but it seems like I'm on the go much more.  Looking into buying a horse and buggy LOL!!  Ree Ree

I've seen gas prices here in Cleveland between $3.99-$4.05 for regular unleaded, so our prices seem comparable to what you're paying in Denver.   The high gas and energy prices (natural gas, electricity), combined with the increased cost for groceries, have caused us to cut out most of our discretionary spending.  If it's not gas for the cars or food for our bellies, for the most part we are doing without.  Not, of course, that we're really "doing without" anything:  we have a roof over our heads and clothes on our backs, and we all have our own cars.  We're (fingers crossed) not at risk of losing our home, and we're able to pay all our bills, for now.  We have postponed plans for any more vacations this year, but may doing some camping in Ohio later in the summer.   We've got room for a few more cuts in our budget if it becomes necessary, but for now we're taking a "wait and see" approach.  If things don't improve before the end of the year, we'll probably cut back in some additional areas.   I'll be interested to see how others are affected.  I know we're very fortunate as we all have pretty good jobs, and two of us are attorneys, so we make a decent living.  But even that just doesn't go as far w/ the significant jump in gas and food costs.... Thanks for starting an interesting post, Kix -  Kellie

Right around $4 a gallon here.  My husband commutes to the base 50 miles each way every day and it's really taking a bite out of our budget but while he's active duty we make about $1,000 more a month and I'll get a raise in October.  We've actually paid all of our credit cards off this year and only have our house and one car payment so we are ok.

Wow, you're all lucky! Well, except for you in Sweden. I paid $4.33 a gallon this weekend, and this next day it went up to $4.42.  I think for sure it will be $5.00 by July 4th. Gas prices have gotten so high that hubby traded in his Ford F150 truck this past weekend and bought a new VW Rabbit! Talk about stepping down to something smaller. The good news was VW had 1% finance rates, so for 3 years of financing we're paying out $174.00 in interest instead of thousands. One thing that amazes me is that even with gas prices going up daily, the gas stations around here are always full. I wonder if people just aren't getting full tanks because they can't afford it, or is it that people don't care about the price and just keep driving? I feel very fortunate that we have a roof over our heads, good jobs and that we've been able help our kids out when they are struggling. Every so often I'll send a case or two of diapers and snacks their way and they are very greatful. I'm very thankful for what we have.

Its just under $4.00 here.  We are definitely making budgetary adjustments for the higher price of gas, food, and electricity.  The AC does not go below 85 during the day, but we turn it down to 78 at night.  We've dropped little luxuries like XM and blockbuster by mail, nice soap, etc.  We are going to limit restaurants to twice per week, one lunch and one dinner, and I'm working from home on Tues and Thurs for sure, but sometimes on other days.  We share a car that gets OK gas mileage, and we live close to both work and school, but we are limiting our driving quite a bit.  I could handle it if it was JUST gas prices, but the price of everything is going up.  We ge****er delivered once a month, and they've raised the price and added a fuel surcharge.  We considered dropping the water but decided it was still cheaper than all the bottled water we'd end up buying.  That's why we got the delivery in the first place.  Oh, and I only get Starbucks once a week.  I wish we had better public transportation - the 10 minute drive to Ryan's job would require an hour on the bus with two bus changes.  Its kind of ridiculous. I have enough debt to be very nervous right now.  I am also very worried about finding a good job after I graduate.  I am considering skipping a post-doc (which is only about 35,000 per year) and going straight into industry for the paycheck.  So yeah, the economy is affecting me greatly, I am changing my entire career path.  I was still toying with the idea of medical school but that's out now, I can't afford to be a student any longer.