Lifestyle changes due to gas prices

[SHpepperKat]

I'm wondering what lifestyle changes people have made due to rising gas prices. This was refrenced in another thread but I thought I'd give it it's own.

We just bought new bicycles for Greg and I. We have decided that we are parking the cars and riding bicycles until things start to come down again or at least level out. We can't afford to go buy new cars that are more feul efficient. I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee that gets about 17 mpg (it needs a new exhaust mainfold but I can't do that right now either.) and since Greg traded the Samurai for a pickup truck that just eats up gas too. I work a mile of so from home and he works 2.5 miles. We just took the last trip in a car for awhile today. The added benefit is that Greg told me that if I can lose the weight that I want to, he will buy me either a Ravenswood leathers dress or a MFM corset. I've got 14 months to try and lose 50 or so pounds. I figure that by going from driving everwhere and not exercising at all to riding a bike everywhere, I should be able to do it.



So what are you doing different in your life?

[littlekitty381]

Hello..We use a motercycle when we can.

What is a MFM corset?

[SHpepperKat]

Hello..We use a motercycle when we can.

What is a MFM corset?
May Fair Moon.. Made by our own Beautiful and Talented Ysobelle.

Her web site is .... www.MayFaireMoon.com (http://www.MayFaireMoon.com)

They are just beautiful.


I'd love to ride motorcycles but even that right now just isn't possible. But they are a great idea to save on fuel costs.

[Ysobelle]

Blink! Wow, am I ever flattered. Thank you! (blush)


Personally, it's made me completely neurotic. I've been sick for over three weeks, now, so I haven't had to drive much, but I also haven't been able to do the last weekends at VARF. I didn't make the money I might have had I been there, but then, I didn't have to pay for the gas to drive to Fredericksburg and back. My shipping costs have gone up, since FedEx has obligingly passed its fuel costs on to me. Surly's costs for coming to help me have gone up. While I've heard other faires are knocking a bit off their gate prices, PARF is resolutely remaining at near $30-- so yeah, we may have the crowds, but they're not going to spend once they get inside.

Sigh. So that's my lifestyle change. More worrying.

[surlywench]

SH, biking is awesome!! you can even do your grocery shopping, if there's a store close enough - and believe me, junk food looks waaaaay less tempting when you know you've got to peddle all that stuff home :)


uhm..my lifestyle changes...well, i now freak out about having to drive to Yso and school, and any errands only get run once a week and i'm way more efficient about route planning, that's for damn sure.

and if anyone wants to start carpooling to and/or from PARF, now would be the time to speak up.

[LissaRoisin]

Lots more walking and not as many faire visits:wah:

[Ravin' Raven]

Ironically we bought a huge honking super duty diesel truck for hubby just as diesel has become the most outrageously priced stuff out there. I also drive a diesel but I get the mileage at 45 mpg. His truck gets about 20% more mileage than the same truck without the diesel. We are motorcycle-less right now but we'll probably get one next year anyway regardless of what prices do.

I guess we're lucky that we haven't felt much of an impact yet. We did talk about driving to work together - he could drop me off and head one to work - but we haven't done it yet.

[Buxom Wench]

With Barry traveling all over the world for work, our bill for gas for the cars goes down about $300 a month.

[WenchLadyKate]

My BF doesn't drive so I haven't been seeing him as much. It sucks, but he's 35 miles from me and that's like a gallon and a half of gas. At $3.90 a gallon, it works out to be just about 20 cents per mile.

I've stopped using the air conditioning around town. If I can stand it, the windows are down. On the highway, the AC is on 1 instead of 2 or 3, Consumer Reports says that it's more fuel efficient to run the AC instead of windows down at more than 40mph, something about the aerodynamics of the car are better wtih the windows up, you get more drag with the windows open.

I've also started staying at work for lunch or walking to the deli across the street instead of driving to Dunkin Donuts for coffee. Id walk to DD, but it's not really the best neighborhood. I also no longer wait to fill up. It just seems better to be spending 30 bucks twice a week than 60 bucks once. Just in my head it seems better...

Other than that, yea, just stressing.

[BronxGirl]

Honestly, it hasn't effected me all that much. I take mass transit to work, so during the week I'll only drive to the station if it's too hot out. Otherwise, the car basically sits in front of the house.

[Pearl_Fox]

Since I am no longer at school I have to use the car a bit more than I did. Especially since trying to search for a job. Fortunately most places offer online applications now. I am trying to find a job much closer to the house but, due to where I live, anywhere I get a job I would still have to drive.
Thankfully though my car gets around 30mpg. It's a little 97 Ford escort, and I love it to death. (Even though it has over 100,000 miles.)

Other than that, I am talking to my friends online more, and face to face less. And I don't get to see my bf as much, who lives about 2 hours from me.

[FairieTink]

I car pool 2 days a week, and I tend to drive less other places. I have my kids walk up to the store rather than me drive. Because of gas though I still haven't gotten to see Peaches' house. :unamused:

[WenchLadyKate]

This whole gas thing stinks.

[Bean]

I'm not working right now so it's not too bad, but driving all over for interviews will start killing me. I have to go 50 miles one way today for a job interview; luckily it's for a job in Leesburg but the store isn't built yet.

[Buxom Wench]

This whole gas thing stinks.

Barry just left for overseas (again) a few minutes ago.
The cab ride to the airport from our house.... $85+!
Good thing the company pays for that.

[Capt. Stamina]

Could be worse. Petrol in the UK is now running around $10 per gallon.

[Winifred Baskerville]

Could be worse. Petrol in the UK is now running around $10 per gallon.

That does help put it into perspective... kinda. IIRC, the UK doesn't have as much sprawl as the US does.

Me, I drive to work and from work (16 miles round trip), and I take back roads as there are fewer stops and much less traffic. I shop near where I work so I'm not running around all over town, and I make an auxiliary trip once a week or so to the mall and/or library.

It helps right now that I'm living with a friend and (all) her family, so I don't have to do much shopping... :)

[Ariel]

I need my car for work or else I'd be tempted to bicycle there. Right now my commute to my office isn't so bad, maybe 15 minutes, but eventually my little satellite office will be closing and my commute will increase to 45 minutes. Add to that, my company is stingy with mileage reimbursement for on the job use of our vehicles. Being a reporter, the car is a necessity for work so the company kind of has us locked into a no-win situation.

Recently I wrote an article about how locals were dealing with the rising gasoline costs. I'm getting set to do another on how people are handling rising utility costs and such, especially what their concerns regarding fuel oil are since winter will be here eventually. Living in the northeast, you kind of need to heat your home somehow and I know a lot of household budgets are going to be strained trying to pay these ridiculous costs. I've already started saving extra money for my fuel oil. :ow:

[WenchLadyKate]

...snip...Living in the northeast, you kind of need to heat your home somehow and I know a lot of household budgets are going to be strained trying to pay these ridiculous costs. I've already started saving extra money for my fuel oil. :ow:

I almost fell over when my neighbor told me what he had to pay LAST winter to heat her home. And it's a small little cape cod type house! I'd hate to think of what it's going to cost them this year, especially since her husband had to leave his job to focus on his cancer treatment.

Do fixed income households and households with sick people get any kind of government subsidation? (Is that the right word?)

[rosefaeries]

Each time I go to the valley, my trip is a minimum 100 miles round trip. I have been trying to find a place down there. I have cut out all the fun trips I may have done with Hunter. There just instead a lot left over for extras. We have been hiking and biking more. But you can only do so much of that without driving to get to someplace new to explore.

[Ariel]

Do fixed income households and households with sick people get any kind of government subsidation? (Is that the right word?)

It depends on where they live, but a lot of government operations giving out such assistance just don't have enough money to meet the increasing demand. You can have them try calling their local Department of Social Services for information. There are also some community assitance programs, but those vary depending on where you live. Check the phone book or call a local lawmaker.

[Mistress Morigianna]

my mom and i and friends started using thier phones more- "i'm driving to target/grocery/whatever do you want to go or want me to pick you up something?"

I never go to the other end of town unless i have 3 people in the car and a list of errends

[Artemisia]

I used to visit friends who live 3 hours away every 6-8 weeks. I've had to cut that down to nothing because of gas prices. My faire weekends are also being cut down drastically. My husband didn't purchase a new Jeep. We've also cut down on dining out. All this just to break even. :irked:

[LdyJhawk]

Drives to San Francisco and Santa Cruz are pretty rationed at this point. It costs around 75-80 dollars to fill the tank in my Aztek at this point with gas at 4.60 a gallon.

I'm even looking at a Mini. Talk about internal space change. From being able to put a 6.5' bookcase in the back to being under 6' all together! WOO..ugh.


and really? You know what? yeah it's more in the UK. Their mass transit also blows most in the US out of the water and you can drive across their entire damn country in about 6-8 hours. I can't even get from San Jose to southern california in less than 7. They also have the european emissions standards which allow for greater fuel economy.

[Branwen]

As I had mentioned before. I'll be getting a bicycle so I can start to commute to & from work. I'll also purchase a bus pass. $25 a month for a pass is a heck of a lot cheaper than $200 in gas. San Antonio is starting to put in bike lanes on more of their surface streets and the streets around my apartment have them. I know that it is going to be a rough couple of weeks when I start riding. I haven't rode over 2 miles since I was in HS. Then I didn't think about the cost of getting where I needed/wanted to go. We had 1 vehicle & Dad used it to get to & from work every day. If I wanted to run up to the store & get something, I either had to hoof it, peddle myself there or go without.

I make my lunch just about every day. I haven't gone out to eat at a resturant since May 31st when Mom, Dad & I had free dinner coupons at Spaghetti Warehouse here in S.A.
I also am using more coupons when I shop. I managed to get about 10lbs of cat food for about $1.50. I called into the Purina One Challenge (http://www.purinaone.com/30DayChallenge/Default.aspx)& received a coupon for a free bag (3.4lb) or $7.99 off a larger bag of cat food. My mom had aother coupon that took off another $1.50 and the store itself had a deal on the cat food that took off another $2.00. I also found a coupon for another brand of catfood that ended up costing me $0.69 after all of the discounts. In all I bought my cats about 10lbs of cat food for less than a cup of coffee.
Since I have most of the items here in my apartment I'm making more of my food items such as bread, cookies, brownies... Since I need to watch my sugar & cholesterol I will know what I put into the foods that I will eat. Most of the foods that I cook are made with 1% milk (can NOT stand the taste of whole milk), Splenda instead or in conjunction with sugar.
I'm also freezing any leftovers that I have. I make a pot of spaghetti, I have my dinner for that evening & then freeze the rest & can have it later instead of throwing it out. I've also frozen my fruit. If I let it stay in the fridge too long it starts to spoil & I'll end up tossing it out. Once I realize that I'm not eating it as quickly as I should, I will portion it out into freezer bags or containers & in the freezer it goes. Lasts much longer & I don't waste my food.
Regarding my electricity bills. Since I am not here most of the day, I end up turning up the theromstat to about 89-90 degrees, turn off all of the lights & leave a box fan & the ceiling fan on when I leave. The cats do well during the day. The frogs are okay as well. If it isn't too hot when I get home I open up the patio door for awhile & let the cats lounge out there for abit longer before retiring for the evening.

Now that my A/C has been fixed I can tell a big difference with the A/C during the day & night. Last month's bill was $90 the month prior was $75. I'm afraid what this month is going to look like. Winter doesn't have me all that concerned here in S.A. It's the Summer months that will kill you. Both with the heat & the cost.

[DangerousCurves]

Just under 50 miles round trip every day. I have a smaller SUV. Running around $350 per month right now for gas. I am beginning to not love the country so much.

[Ravin' Raven]

Yeah I'm glad my commute went from 75 miles each way to just under 10. And at 45 mpg it's been great.

As far as the heating thing - check with your company if you use propane, oil, or natural gas. Most will let you lock in a rate that it can't go above (this time of year) but it can go down if costs decrease (yeah right!). AND mine also let's you pay every month. I usually only get deliveries monthly from October through March and then once in the summer (just got it - I also use propane for hot water and cooking hence the extra delivery) so it's only six month's worth of deliveries but they let you pay out over the 12 months.

And shop if you can - my tank was owned by my company when I bought house so I'm lucky that they are one of the cheapest around. Someone Hawkins works with added a small tank for a tankless water heater only and got charged nearly $6 a gallon PLUS a surcharge because he needed so little. Mine was only $3.50 at the time.

[WenchLadyKate]

Ah, he rate adjustment for the electricity has been a life saver! Basically they take your previous year's average (previous tenant if you live in an apartment or recently moved, average for the neighborhood if new construction) and space it out over 12 months. So, in april and may when the heat isn't on, and the air isnt' eigher and the bill is usually practically nothing, it's like 70 bucks. But, months like this (been brutal here in NJ) when the AC is going all the time, and the bill would be crazy, it's still like 70 bucks. Been a life saver really.

[Bronya]

and really? You know what? yeah it's more in the UK. Their mass transit also blows most in the US out of the water and you can drive across their entire damn country in about 6-8 hours. I can't even get from San Jose to southern california in less than 7. They also have the european emissions standards which allow for greater fuel economy.

I live in the Central Valley in Cal. There is basically no mass transit. Yes we have buses but where they stop are no where near where you need to go. In So Cal, you can not travel from Los Angeles to the OC because they are two different counties and nothing connects! Now that sucks! We make it harder on ourselves then any other country. I am getting a little scooter to go back and for to work and the store. Because most of Cal if Freeways, it is hard to go anywhere without being on a freeway. It will be a longer commute to go side streets but save in the long run. I will just park my pride and joy, totally modeified tricked out PT Cruiser and just drive it to car shows!

[LdyJhawk]

I live in the Central Valley in Cal. There is basically no mass transit. Yes we have buses but where they stop are no where near where you need to go. In So Cal, you can not travel from Los Angeles to the OC because they are two different counties and nothing connects! Now that sucks! We make it harder on ourselves then any other country. I am getting a little scooter to go back and for to work and the store. Because most of Cal if Freeways, it is hard to go anywhere without being on a freeway. It will be a longer commute to go side streets but save in the long run. I will just park my pride and joy, totally modeified tricked out PT Cruiser and just drive it to car shows!

Truer words, never spoken. Cali's mass transit is awful.

I love my Aztek. I do. It's exactly the car I wanted and I adore it. I just can't afford 19 mpg at this point when in theory I could be getting 37-40 in a smaller car. It will take lots of adjusting to but there it is. From 280 miles per tank to 480-500? I can totally suffer through lack of cargo space. But damn if I won't miss that Aztek. Bubbles has been a great car. Camping package, great stereo..*sigh*really love my car

[DangerousCurves]

I just have to laugh. In PA, when gas was creeping up on $2.50 per gallon, people started freaking out and they raised minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 and many companies were talking about temporary raises to cover travel expenses until the prices came down. Now, at over $4.00, there is no help in sight. Most folks up here have oil heat. We have very old homes in the area (my mom's was built in 1818) and it is costing amazing amounts of money to re-insulate, fill the oil tanks (becuase even in the summer you have to have oil or you have no hot water). This is a disgrace. But if you look overseas, oil has been ridiculously expensive for a long time. The U.K. has great mass transit probably due to gas being $6.00/gallon or more. *sigh*

[Adriana Rose]

Mom and I ride togeather. But we work 40 miles away, its running us about 500 a month for gas and that is not including fair! ( we manage our shop)

But mom uses cruise control when ever she can and we put the STP stuff in the gas ya know the stuff in the red bottle?
We get 19.7 miles to the gallon in our Jeep but we keep up on oil changes so that helps alot!

[Phoenix McHeit]

Artos has a 45-mile commute... One Way.

Yeah, let's talk about gas budgeting, shall we? :unamused:

Hell, this past week when he stayed home for 3 days, we saved over $70 in fuel... just for those 3 days.

[Buxom Wench]

Artos has a 45-mile commute... One Way.

Yeah, let's talk about gas budgeting, shall we? :unamused:

Hell, this past week when he stayed home for 3 days, we saved over $70 in fuel... just for those 3 days.

That's why I really don't mind Barry traveling.
He's got a 96 mile round trip commute.
Him being out of country saves us a fortune, especially with his lead foot. :roll:

[Ysobelle]

Hmmmm.

Anyone wanna set up a carpool exchange for faire this summer?

[Buxom Wench]

Hmmmm.

Anyone wanna set up a carpool exchange for faire this summer?

:wink: I'm already doing that with a Texas Wench for Labor Day weekend.

[LitlePepito]

I’m looking at moving, or more acutely my husband is putting in for a transfer to move back to MD and stop being a floater . We’re going to be moving close to his workplace. Currently we’re paying over $600 a month. :ow:That’s so he can go to work. He’s suppose to get gas reimbursement, but we’ll go 4 months before he sees a check. The checks only come then because I start calling their payroll office, write to their Vice President for the region, and basically complain to anybody with any authority. I’ve had people ask me to have only him call since he’s actually employed the company. Which I explain that he has, and gotten no where, never mind the fact he’s working when the offices he needs to call are open. When he’s at home their closed, so they get me. This has been going on for over a year. I am sooo looking forward to his transfer.

BTW, the company he works for is Labcorp. They have supervisors in the VA/WV area who treat their phlebotomist like shit. We’ve gone through 4 regional managers and 7 supervisors in a year. The V.P for the region is great, but he’s new and I think its going to take him years to fix all of the problems. I know that a global company can’t be completely screwed up, so hubbies really really hopping that the new region will have better people in it.

I have no cable/sitalite tv. No monthly cell phones (triphone), no car payments. About the only extra we’ve got is internet, and we still have problems with bills. My in-laws have even commented that we don’t have any extras to cut from our budget, and while their grandson will be further away the move will be better for us.

I walk, or at least walk as much as I can. Work is only 4-6 miles away on the other side of town. So that’s at least a quick trip. Do as much shopping at Costco as I can, and buy everything I need for a month in one trip. This ‘stimulus” check is being used to pay off debt. If the government wants me to spend it on stuff they need to send more.

[WenchLadyKate]

I just figured out I'm paying roughly $.20 a mile to drive. Give or take a penny. That's $3.00 each way to work, $6.20 to see the boyfriend, $34.00 to PARF, $5.20 to my home faire and a whopping $59.80 to Sterling. Good thing I'm camping up there...

[Buxom Wench]

I just figured out I'm paying roughly $.20 a mile to drive. Give or take a penny. That's $3.00 each way to work, $6.20 to see the boyfriend, $34.00 to PARF, $5.20 to my home faire and a whopping $59.80 to Sterling. Good thing I'm camping up there...

If I take the car to Sterling, I'll be doing ok.
If I have to take the truck.....

[Ariel]

I just figured out I'm paying roughly $.20 a mile to drive. Give or take a penny. That's $3.00 each way to work, $6.20 to see the boyfriend, $34.00 to PARF, $5.20 to my home faire and a whopping $59.80 to Sterling. Good thing I'm camping up there...

Where do you camp when you go to Sterling? I'm hoping to make my first trip up there this year, but I'd like to do it as cheaply as possible.

[SHpepperKat]

I love my idea of riding a bicycle to work but today when I did it for the frst time, the @^%%&%^&#^%@#$)($#^*)(^ pedal broke. I got the thing on Saturday and now I have to call Walmart that is over 45 miles away to complain about this bike. We had to take Greg's back yesterday since the sprocket bent. I hope that they will send me the part or something I don't know what.

[Jamianne]

We're lucky that Dave's office is only about 2 miles from home and he takes the bus in the morning. And he gets a car when he's at work. We go grocery shopping at the Shop N Stop that I park in when I go to pick him up so we don't have to make an extra trip for groceries. He wanted a new bicycle for Father's Day (we haven't gotten to go look yet, hopefully this week), so he can start riding to and from work - added benefit of getting in shape. :-D If we can swing it, I'm going to get a bike, too and a baby-trailer so we can go bike-riding around the park by us in the afternoons with Gwydion.

It looks like we're going to cut MDRF out this year and just go to Sterling instead. We're looking at possibly renting a more efficient car for the trip, too. Our CRV isn't too bad on gas, but it could be a lot better, too.

I have become the coupon queen. I use them for everything I can. I've also been keeping an eye on our stores circulars and stocking up during sales. We've also just cut back on everything in general. The AC doesn't go on unless it's really humid or hot - we use the ceiling fans instead. The lights are usually off until the evening (we have a ton of windows at least!). We try to pack all of our errands into one day so I don't have to run around as much during the week.

Between milk and gas, this just really sucks.

[Lady Anisette]

I am driving the speed limit now. I know it sounds simple, but if I drive the speed limit and use cruise control, I get an extra 50 miles to tank. That is a lot around here. I am also planning all my errands in one outing instead of doing mutiples.

Driving the speed limit is hard for me. I'm a serious lead foot. I love to drive fast, especially on back roads. However, I need to conserve where ever possible. Except for that heat wave we just had, I am not using air conditioning when I drive.

Gas is over 4.30 here and now some stations are charging more if you use a credit card or debit card. I thought this was illegal...

[SHpepperKat]

Gas is over 4.30 here and now some stations are charging more if you use a credit card or debit card. I thought this was illegal...
The way they justify that is that they are passing on the cost from the card company to the consumer. There is a fee charged to the company for each transaction and what the gas stations and other places are doing is instead of taking this into the cost of doing business, they are adding the fee to the customer. Not so nice, yes. Illegal, no.

[Lady Anisette]

Gas is over 4.30 here and now some stations are charging more if you use a credit card or debit card. I thought this was illegal...
The way they justify that is that they are passing on the cost from the card company to the consumer. There is a fee charged to the company for each transaction and what the gas stations and other places are doing is instead of taking this into the cost of doing business, they are adding the fee to the customer. Not so nice, yes. Illegal, no.

I know in NY state some time ago, the gas companies that did this were taken to court. The outcome was that they couldn't charge two different prices. But now I live in CT and I guess here it is different.

I take credit cards and yes the fees are a pain but I don't give the person paying cash a break. Often the person using a credit card is buying more and therefore generating more business for me. I work the fees into the original price. The only break I give is no tax if the person uses cash.

[SHpepperKat]

I only know how it is here in Washington. I might have been hasty to say that it was that way everywhere and I should have clarified this. Thanks so much for pointing this out to me. I know from working grocery and at the hotel that there are credit card fees. We don't charge any different at the hotel for cash or credit. The smoke shops here are also charging the fee. It's really frustrating butI've gone to carrying more cash to take care of things at places that charge the fees.

[SHpepperKat]

So I made the ride to work today as I said in an earlier post. The pedal on the bike broke but I made it to work. Greg went and got me new pedals for the bike so that's all good. But tonight on the way home, I started having an asthma attack. Haven't had one of those in years. So I decided that for the next couple weeks I will just walk to work and back. It takes longer but I know I can make it walking and it's easier to do that then to try it with the bike just yet. I figure that when I can walk it and not be breathless thenI can take the bike again.

[Phoenix McHeit]

Here in Southern PA there are a few stations that charge different for cash vs. credit, too. Must be a per-state-thing. Or maybe a locality thing.

Kinda like in Mass, banks aren't allowed to charge ATM fees if you use one that's 'not yours'. It's your money, not the bank's.

Wish it were like that here.

[Laurensa]

SH, biking is awesome!! you can even do your grocery shopping, if there's a store close enough - and believe me, junk food looks waaaaay less tempting when you know you've got to peddle all that stuff home :)


uhm..my lifestyle changes...well, i now freak out about having to drive to Yso and school, and any errands only get run once a week and i'm way more efficient about route planning, that's for damn sure.

and if anyone wants to start carpooling to and/or from PARF, now would be the time to speak up.


I'd love to carpool to Faire, but I seem to live at least 90 minutes from everyone else..and I don't drive at all.:sigh:

[LdyJhawk]

All of the Arco stations I've ever been to (in Cali, in WA, and Oregon) all have a 45 cent "credit card/atm card" charge. So sometimes it works out to your benefit even WITH that added chunk when they charge 4.41 and everyone else charges 4.60...

[Jayde]

Kinda like in Mass, banks aren't allowed to charge ATM fees if you use one that's 'not yours'. It's your money, not the bank's.




Then someone needs to tell our banks that, because they do just that.

[Phoenix McHeit]

Then someone needs to tell our banks that, because they do just that.

REALLY?!? Well, damn. There was a big brouhaha about this ... oh, I wanna say... 10 years ago? Class action suit and all.

Did it get reversed?

[Jayde]

It must have. I know I have Citizens Bank and I believe they have charged me as well as the "foreign" ATM. Iknow quite a few of the "smaller" (Salem Five) have the program where you don't pay any fees, even the one from the "foreign" ATM.....at east that's how I think I read it. But that's something I just noticed.

[Lady Anisette]

What is bad about the whole credit card/cash for gas thing is that so many people are relying on credit to be able to afford gas. I live in the land of the Hummer/big ass SUV's and I haven't seen one of those drivers pay cash yet. It takes some of them over $75 per tank.

I don't use credit cards but I hate carrying cash. This is why I have a cash/check card. It is supposed to make my life easier but it is costing me more at some gas stations now. I am willing to pay the extra cents for the convenience.

I have to pay ATM charges to save credit card charges on gas. They've got people coming and going....... :roll:

[Sorcha Griannon]

Well, here the gas is about $4.59/gal. I fill up every 2.5 days, but I don't let the tank get under 1/8 of a tank. I've not gone to events (belly dance, faire, beach, aquariums, ect) on the weekends because of the prices. Just going anywhere takes a 1/4 or a little more of a tank. I've toyed with the idea of getting a bicycle for a while now, but I really think that I need to now. The grocery store is 9/10 mile away (hubby's work) and I'm really trying to get him to start riding to and from work, and if I need groceries, I could aways ride up there to shop (I will need one of those kiddie trailers, not only because of the girls, but it'll make it easier to shop). I don't have a way to work without driving (maybe in a year, I'll be a teleworker, I hope I hope I hope). I would love to take a daytrip to Vegas, but with gas the way it is now, I could go, but not afford to do anything but people watch.


Sorcha

[Sorcha Griannon]

All of the Arco stations I've ever been to (in Cali, in WA, and Oregon) all have a 45 cent "credit card/atm card" charge. So sometimes it works out to your benefit even WITH that added chunk when they charge 4.41 and everyone else charges 4.60...
Yeah, the 45 cent charge is part of the reason I use 76 gas. Once I figure out the charges, it's either the same or less than Arco. Besides, I have issues with the local Arco, and have somewhat boycotted them (I broke that lovely rule yesterday when they were a whole 15 cents less that 76).


Sorcha

[Saucy Ria]

We are riding to work together now........ and looks like trips to PARF will be fewer again this year. Even with gas prices...it may work out cheaper for a weekend at MDRF!
What really upsets me is my son's baseball games.... at least ten miles each way... some over 30! I cannot take this game he loves from him, but it sure costs a pretty penny to get him there! I have two sons that should be getting their drivers licenses this year... but it's almost no use since they wouldn't be able to afford to drive anywhere!!
Hey, I have an idea........ let's elect another oil man/war monger (sp?) to run this great country of ours!!

[Ariel]

I am contemplating getting a motorcycle because of the gas issues. I wouldn't be able to ride it in the winter though. So now I am just trying to figure out if the start-up costs versus the long-term gas savings would be worth it and if I want the possibility of getting hit by some inattentive driver. :unamused:

[Bean]

I used half a tank of gas to drive to 2 interviews this week! Although if I had remembered where one of them was and not gone to the wrong store location it would have been better. I wasn't really interested in the job anyway.....just wanted to work on my interview skills.

[Emma]

Last Fall I traded out my old scooter I've had since I was fifteen, paid $900 and got a new scooter that actually ran. Only now it needs some work on it (sitting for months has gummed up some pieces, wd-40 fixed some of it but I need to make time to fix the rest). The old scooter got 70 miles to a tank of 1.5 gallons. The new one is pretty much the same.

In addition I'm moving five minutes away from where I work, right across the street from a grocery store. I'll start walking to shop until the scooter is working, then I'll ride it everywhere but work because I have to get on a highway to go to the bank for work everyday.

I also started cooking at home more, bought a crock pot and shop at Aldi whenever I can, and buy in bulk when I get a chance.

And I've started really focusing on paying off my credit cards these last few months, if the economy keeps stretching me thin I'd rather get them paid off now when I still have some expendable income than later when I have to sacrifice necessities to pay just the min. payment.

~Emma

[MaidenFaeSnow]

My commute one way to work is almost 70 miles. Fortunately, Freebird and I carpool for about 55 of those miles or we'd be working just to go to that gas station!

We've actually been very fortunate and haven't had to make any changes. We have made changes in the past year because we wanted to as we've just grown to be more Earth and energy concious. We have a heat pump (no gas or oil) and to help with the cost efficiency of our home we've had all new entry doors as well as garage doors installed and we have new high efficiency windows being installed in a couple of weeks. Big cost at the start but they'll pay for themselves soon enough.

Nothing is going to keep us from PARF save extremely hot days when it just makes more sense to skip it than make the trip only to come home after a couple of hours.

Reading everyone's posts certainly does put things into perspective in a variety of ways. I'm very thankful for what I have and I wish the best to everyone finding it difficult to get by at the moment.

[Tink]

I'd need to google to verify the where and how of this, but I was told by two different people in the last few days that there is a place where they went to a 4 day work week just so folks could save a bit on gas by staying home an extra day. I'd be willing to do that. My commute is 2 hours round-trip. My car gets maybe 20 MPG. I've thought about trading in for something more fuel efficient, BUT I'm not going to rush into that just yet.

I do feel that as gas prices go up, we are going to do less and less car traveling. We try to go out on the bike as often as possible, but sometimes the weather doesn't cooperate. Also looking into taking the MC safety course and getting my own bike to commute with. Sputty's big Harley gets 60 mpg!! I mean how can ya beat that?

[WenchLadyKate]

I'd need to google to verify the where and how of this, but I was told by two different people in the last few days that there is a place where they went to a 4 day work week just so folks could save a bit on gas by staying home an extra day. I'd be willing to do that. My commute is 2 hours round-trip. My car gets maybe 20 MPG. I've thought about trading in for something more fuel efficient, BUT I'm not going to rush into that just yet.

I do feel that as gas prices go up, we are going to do less and less car traveling. We try to go out on the bike as often as possible, but sometimes the weather doesn't cooperate. Also looking into taking the MC safety course and getting my own bike to commute with. Sputty's big Harley gets 60 mpg!! I mean how can ya beat that?

A friend of mine has a bike that he's willing to let me ride for the summer so I can quit bitching about not coming to see him because of the gas. If I didn't think I'd kill myself within a week, I'd totally do it. Becuase yea, his Harley Dyna gets close to 70mpg.

[MaidenFaeSnow]

I'd need to google to verify the where and how of this, but I was told by two different people in the last few days that there is a place where they went to a 4 day work week just so folks could save a bit on gas by staying home an extra day. I'd be willing to do that. My commute is 2 hours round-trip. My car gets maybe 20 MPG. I've thought about trading in for something more fuel efficient, BUT I'm not going to rush into that just yet.

I do feel that as gas prices go up, we are going to do less and less car traveling. We try to go out on the bike as often as possible, but sometimes the weather doesn't cooperate. Also looking into taking the MC safety course and getting my own bike to commute with. Sputty's big Harley gets 60 mpg!! I mean how can ya beat that?

My husbands company is offering the 4 day week. We're seriously considering it as I know it's something I can do.

[Tink]

My husbands company is offering the 4 day week. We're seriously considering it as I know it's something I can do.

If we went to scanned docs (like we're *supposed* to do...) then I could easily work from home. I'm not holding my breath that this will ever happen though because it's a state job and I don't see them opening that can of worms state-wide.

[Bean]

Some places will let people do 4 10's instead of 5 8's. Although right now being unemployed I'm not too affected. I have been doing alot of e-resumes and online applications.

[Buxom Wench]

The company Barry works for does the 4 day weeks from July 4th through Labor Day weekend.
Although when he travels, like now, it really doesn't matter since he usually ends up working 6 18 hour days and sometimes 7. :roll: