Is $4.00+ gas really affecting you??

I live near a small airport. Hardly any planes are heard droning overhead now. That's one good thing to come of all this for me. And while a noisy small private jet used to take off from the airport a few times a week, I can't remember now when was the last time the sound of it disturbed my idylic solitude here outside tiny town.

reply to post by speaknoevil07


I liked your post. Re the 4 wheeler, maybe the wii will come out with something off road so we can at least sit on our quads and pretend to ride.
Oh, and the poop. When my husband cleans out the cat box, we keep thinking of how to turn it into some sort of fuel.

As for me, I refuse to pay those high prices and we have cut back on driving. We participate in motorsports and will either go out less or cut back somewhere else to pay for the fuel. (Already families have told us they will not stop for fast food, so they can afford to participate.)

The rise in fuel is definitely affecting America's "way of life". The posts that mentioned the effect on small businesses and musicians. The long commute to work, the maybe even longer commute in order to have affordable housing. The resort area where we're currently on vacation looks to be down about 10-15% in tourists. For the July 4th holiday weekend, hotels normally full had vacancies. If the war in Iraq was to preserve our "way of life", then the war has already been lost.

Originally posted by marg6043
Also some states schools are making the week shorter 4 days to save on the school buses fuel.

I am surprise that they are not trying to start making the parents pay for the school buses ride.

marg, schools have become a de facto babysitter. The 4 day school week will definitely impact families who must pay for child care, for children who might have been the latch key kids but now have to have care all day for one day.

Also, my sister has had to pay for public school busing for years. It was all part of a way to pay less taxes and instead have "fees" and "user fee". That's what people don't understand about the Republican mantra of "less taxes"; services still have to be funded, so instead of a "tax", it's a "fee". We're paying less "taxes" and more "fees".

reply to post by desert


I always thought that "fees" system would be awesome.

I mean, then only people who decided to have children would have to fund the schools.

Only people who use the public transportation had to fund it.

Only people who use the Gay and Lesbian recreation center in San Diego would have to pay for it.....

Awesome.

But then, police and fire stations come into mind, as something that couldn't really be funded by only people who use such services.... As it would suck to get denied services from a fire department...

Oh well. Back to the drawing board.

Yes, the gas has taken a toll on my pocketbook.
I drive a SUV and I was paying more for gas in a week than I paid for groceries. Me and my husband grows a large garden every year. But this year it is bigger.

I have always been a penny pincher, and am very good about saving money. But Ive been telling everyone lately, "If you ever come across a penny and lincolns head is gone, well I was the one who pinched it off"!!

Me and my husband are going to put up a greenhouse and raise vegetables to sell. I thought I could work at home and make some money and save on gas this way. And still make a living.

And food has gotten outrageous. At a Amish fruit stand here, green beans are $85 a bushel. 1 dozen ears of corn $8. How can people afford this?
Gas prices is putting a squeeze on everybody. There are alot of small shops, restaurants going out in the area and it is because of the gas. We are in for hard road ahead I'm afraid..........Already depressed and can't afford Prozac>

I live pretty close to where I work so the daily drive really is not what concerns me. What I'm worried about is the ripple effect that these fuel prices are having on the economy. As the cost of fuel rises, so does the cost of everything else. And that creates a domino effect that leads to failing businesses, loss of jobs, and eventually to mass starvation.

I would say to anyone who is not very concerned about all of this...You need to check yourself for a pulse!!! I would also advise you all to ask yourself some serious questions. How secure is your job? Do you have job security in a failing economy? If you lose your job, what makes you think you will be able to just go down the street and find another one? I hate to tell you all this, but it does not work that way in a failing economy. It will be too many people applying for too few jobs. What then?

I can just hear the cliches now...."Well thats why we need alternative energy sources"...... bla bla bla .
Okay...thats great. But what makes you think the transition will be easy or quick? I hate to say it, but it won't be. And we can't sustain another ten to fifteen years with these prices the way they are. We need to have cheap fuel in the mean time. We need to take advantage of our resources. It would be foolish not to.

Originally posted by wolf241e
Is it just me or has everybody else noticed that nothing has really changed due to gasoline and the price that it commands now.

Granted I don’t live on a fixed income and I have the disposable income to let my gas consumption not be a bother.

Seriously.......o.O.......o.O

I ride my friggin bicycle everywhere now and let me tell you, I hate riding my bicycle! Granted I don't have money growing on trees and never have enough money in the bank to fill my tank.

But I still HAVE to drive and at $4.65 a gallon, 20 bucks use to damn near fill up my tank, now all it gets me is 4 gallons, thats like in between a quarter and half on my car. Between $900 rent for a crappy place, $125 insurance, $100 electricity, Fooooood! and whatevr else I HAVE to have, living is no longer an option as it is and now this gasoline is adding insult to injury. I was breaking even before, now I'm falling behind every month, my savings are drained, I've tried to get a better job but I suck for some reason cause I can't get one.

I've resorted to selling my plasma as of 2 days ago, gonna recoup and go back monday. Thank god for this wireless though, I don't got TV but I got free Internet.

Oh and arn't people noticing how groceries are more expensive, restaraunts are rasing there prices. And my brother works as a mechanic at PDX and he says employees are dropping like flies because airlines are are getting hit harder than anyone. Alaska is completely dropping their larger airplanes. Some are completely cutting out all together.

We can't continue snowballing like this.

reply to post by wolf241e


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good homework -- and I guess it depends on the income one has/ $400.00 a month to some is like no food or medicine, myself included,,,

[edit on 13-7-2008 by mental modulator]

Yes it has. Gas is $4.92 where I stay.

The days still goes by as normal, but the prices are increasing because of high gas prices. The only thing I now spend my money on is food and gas...very rare that I buy something for my personal reasons. It is a rut living life paycheck by paycheck. Although I am lucky I don't have much bills to pay besides my car, I am trying to set out a life on my own (still living with mom). It is hard to save money and I don't have support to help get out on my own like most young adults get.

the increase of gas prices also increase the prices of food and anything else...so i think it very much affects a lot of people who aren't so fortunate.

Yes! High gasoline costs have made a major lifestyle change in my houshold. My wife and I live in a paid for home in the foot hills 6 miles inland from the Central Oregon Coast. For many years my wife (she's 13 years younger than I and I am 65) worked here at home via computer. I have my own business (webmaster) and several great clients. A little over a year ago, my wife got a job in Salem Oregon with the State, that is 52 miles from our home. She was commuting the 104 miles every day. Now, she has an apartment in Salem and comes home on weekends. The money we save in gasoline more than pays for the rent on the apartment. The apartment in which she lives is a newly converted assisted living home. The individual who bought the building made some minor improvements and started renting out rooms. The building is all rented up now and the renters are mostly women who used to commute. Our way of life has changed big time! and I fear there are more changes in store for us as everything is 10 to 20 percent higher than it was 6 months ago. I mean everything! And neither congress nor a the candidates are doing anything but pointing fingers. These are anything but the "golden years" now!
The housing market is so bad that we can't even think about moving - we're screwed! I won't be retiring anytime soon, if ever.

Thank you all for your input in the discussion.

I guess that a better way to put it would be to say that the higher prices for everything (including gas) has not affected me….yet.

Upon reading all of your responses I hope you all don’t think that I’m some arrogant a**hole who is laughing at people who are struggling. That is certainly not the case.

I just wanted to get a feel for what’s going on in this country and around the world concerning the price of gas and have a discussion about it.

I’m hoping like the rest of you that things will get better soon in this country.

reply to post by wolf241e


A more Pertanant question would be:

Would the average American be prepared to give up their
gas guzzling Monster Trucks aka: SUV's

My understanding is NO, hell will have to freeze over first.

Yes, yes it is.....

We have moved from a apt two miles from my wife's work to one three blocks away.

I haven't driven my 1996 GMC Yukon for two years. (Don't harp, I need the size for my work) Its been parked, and we got a V6 mini van.

I haven't been on Vacation in at least as long.

All the savings I have been trying to accumulate to get a new cap on my tooth disappears each week with the 4 and 6 cent increase per gallon. Even with the minivan, 80 unexpected cents per fill up keeps screwing up our home budget.

Especially since the price of everything else has gone up.

The ever increasing price of Gasoline is economic form of indentured servitude.

For a self employed individual, or even small businesses, the gas speculation is breaking our backs.
DocMoreau

things will adjust smoothly if we are just left along from meddling, the price of gas in Europe was over $4 a gallon when I was starting driving at 18 and this was years ago, I drove a mini and had a blast. Here the kids drive a monster 4 x 4 pickup - just crazy!

The hole "Peak Oil" thing seems to me to be a massive global Enron type of scam. Ever heard of sustainable oil? This have been mentioned before here on ATS, but i think this article from 2004 should be mentioned again:
worldnetdaily.com...
Its mindboggling and also disturbing if this contains any validity
Old ATS thread discussing the topic:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Gas doesn't hurt me, but I still notice the change...

I've had the same car for years, and back in the late 90s, I could completely fill up for $20 with PREMIUM.

Now, $40 doesn't completely fill the tank with REGULAR.

In summary...

Late 90s: $20 = Filled with Premium

Currently: $40+ = Filled with Regular

It's a huge bummer for me. I'm a sales rep, and on the road most of the day, and my bill has gone from around the $220/month mark to almost $400/month! Pretty nuts considering how much you do with another $150 odd...and the best part about it is...my car allowance remains the same.

reply to post by wolf241e


LOL! Perhaps you should include the statistics on motorcycle sales. Yeah Brother, people are definitely feeling it.