| # | Author | Message |
1
| DAR
Tue 5/6/2008 7:48a | I'm driving the other day past the station I frequent and I noticed that it went from $3.65 to $3.75. I didn't have any reaction like this is ridiculous. I sort of shrugged my shoulders as if this isn't a big deal. I know it's not the right reaction but really what else is there. |
2
| davewasbaloo
Tue 5/6/2008 8:01a | Agreed DAR. We are now paying $11 a gallon. I have just simply come to accept it. Supply and demand. Still annoyed at how much money the oil companies are making though!!! |
3
| DAR
Tue 5/6/2008 8:05a | <<Still annoyed at how much money the oil companies are making though!!!>>
Hey I get annoyed that there's people I work with who do nothing that get paid more then me. Yes I realize the irony of me posting when I should be working but we have a few systems not working right now. |
4
| fkurucz
Tue 5/6/2008 8:08a | <<what else is there?>>
Conservation? I am already planning on trading in my V6 25-30 mpg sedan for a VW Diesel (50 mpg) within the next year.
I am currently spending about $200 a month on gas. Every time I see someone driving a big V8 powered pickup truck as a commuter car I cringe at the thought of how much it must cost to feed that beast. Even at todays prices the difference bewteen a VW Diesel and mongo Ford F-150 (based on my commute) would be $300 a month. Fast forward to $7 a gallon and we are talking a $600 per month gap! That would just about pay the monthly payments, insurance and fuel cost for the VW!
Anyway, while we middle to upper middle class folk might shrug at increasing fuel costs, it must be terrifying for the lower middle class. If the household gas bill jumps another $200+ per month, where will they get the money to pay for it? |
5
| WilliamK99
Tue 5/6/2008 8:12a | No, because my wife only fills up every 4 months. I am sure when I get home and we travel throughout Europe I'll be annoyed, but one time we had to fill up a 12 gallon tank in France and paid 99 dollars, so that makes me put the American prices into perspective a bit... |
6
| WilliamK99
Tue 5/6/2008 8:14a | Oh btw that was 99 euros not dollars so about 130 bucks for a fill up in France... |
7
| davewasbaloo
Tue 5/6/2008 8:17a | Indeed William. The increases in the US have been in line with the increases in Europe. The difference is that we have paid much more, so I do not cry the blues so much for our fellow Americans. Yes, there are more roads to cover, but not really, we import most of our food over here too. We use ships and rails to transport most of it though.
Once you start paying $140 to fill your tank every few days, and pay $12 a day to park somewhere, and have congestion charging in cities that is $20 a day. Well, that's expensive.
I will admit though, Europe is a place where people walk, or use public transport. And it is safe to do so. The same we know cannot be said about many places in the US. |
8
| davewasbaloo
Tue 5/6/2008 8:18a | Oh, and parking in London and other major cities - $50 a day. |
9
| mele
Tue 5/6/2008 8:19a | Gas prices don't make me smile but I don't get too upset because there isn't anything I can do about lowering the cost. I'm trying to drive less, that's about all I can do.
I'm more upset about the fact that they are turning a local bridge into a toll bridge. The charge may be $9-12 EACH WAY to use it. I live right by this bridge and have to take 4 days a week to get to work. To avoid it would add *hours* to my commute so going around the lake is not really an option. Add that to the $50-70 I spend on gas each week and it's easy to get a little annoyed.
Just seems like more and more money is draning out of my bank account. |
10
| jasmine7
Tue 5/6/2008 8:44a | <<Just seems like more and more money is draning out of my bank account<<
I hear ya! I'm not quite so annoyed at the gas prices (though I am so tired of them jumping up and down worse than a bullfrog on a hot day), but when you combine that with the increasing prices of food & other essentials, it's really frustrating. My salary doesn't keep pace with the increasing cost of living and I'm having to cut more and more corners to get by. |
