Gas Prices & YouFollow

Hubby's work is only about 5 miles away so his gas tank can last him a couple of weeks. I work about 18 miles away, so I pay a bit more in gas than he does. We have noticed thought that if we go out into town off the base, we'll make sure it's a worthwhile trip as opposed to the "Let's go to see what's going on." Since we both use small cars for our daily traveling, the gas cost hasn't been significant. But the first time we had to fill up our van's gas tank was a sticker shock (I think it was around $50). Then again, at least I don't have these huge trucks that my coworkers drive. One of them complained about how they had to pay almost $90 so I don't feel too bad.

The cost of fuel at the pump is not changing my habits directly, however indirectly it has made a HUGE difference. My electric and gas bills have been ever climbing. They are now both over 350% higher than when I bought my house 8 years ago. That's quite the inflation if you ask me.

Frankie Smith said it all.

Bus fare trans-pass
That's the way my money lasts
Ain't got no car to get around
When I go to work I've gotta go downtown
Now I've missed my train
That's a darn shame
When I'm running late no sleep's to blame
If you've gotta wife you know I'm right
Gotta special man well I can understand
Uptown, downtown everybody's getting down
Say uptown say downtown
Well I've missed my bus I know I'm late
I've gotta do something I know I hate
I'm gonna walk to work fifteen blocks
I already got a hole in my socks
Go ahead and laugh that's okay
Cause what I really wanna say
I got bad feet my corns hurt
To top it off I'm late for work
Let me tell you what I say
When I'm dealing with the funky sidewalk
Let me show you how to walk
When I gotta do my funky walk
Let me tell you what I say
When I'm dealing with the funky sidewalk
I say sssssssss-sugar

(ghetto 1337)

Bip, bomp, bam alakazam
But only when you're grooving
With the Double Dutch Man
Put on your skates don't forget your rope
Cause I know I'm gonna see you
At my Double Dutch Show
Rebecca, Lolita, Veshawn and Dawn
Everytime you do the Double Dutch you really turn it on '
Bilzarbra, Mitzery, Milzetty, Kilsan
Titzommy, Kitzerrance, Kilzommy that's my man
Come on get on my Double Dutch Bus
(The Double Dutch Bus)

I've noticed that the periods in which I lose my car or my driving priviledges usually coincide with spikes in gas prices. In this particular case, it's not a "spike" since it's not going back down any time soon...which is when I can start driving again. Thankfully I'm back in Westchester where there's actual public transportation.

Uhhh....

Yeah.

I would guess DUIs.

Minimal impact here. It's a 5 minute drive to work at most, and I typically don't do a whole lot of serious traveling otherwise. My wallet took a little bit of a hit recently when I drove from philly-area pennsylvania to michigan, but other than that, it hasn't been too bad.

WTF is a "debt repayment fee" anyway? I'm not in any bobdamn debt to the hydro company.

I feel your pain. My school that I'm taking classes at is 54 miles away, for 108 mile round trip. My class is a bit longer though, 3 hours and it's twice a week. Still, at $3 a gallon for the cheap stuff it adds up. I picked somewhat as, like Flea, I have to make sure I've got enough green to get me to class every week.

I remember when I was 17 I planned on getting a Pontiac Firebird as my first new car. A couple years ago, it changed to Honda Civic Hybrid.


Right now, the commute to my new job is about 31 miles until I move halfway closer next month. :( Getting about 25 miles to the gallon, so that's $39.06 / week. I guess that's not too bad...if I pack my lunch every day instead of eating Subway I'd save $20 / week. So I guess thinking about that means it does affect my spending habits.



Edited, Aug 16th 2006 at 7:36pm EDT by trickybeck

Put me down for "not at all". But then, I don't drive much anyway. I live about 5 miles from work. I don't tend to travel around the city much (most of my recreation involves either going somewhere nearby, or hanging out with friends/family, none of which is "far"). I also drive a relatively fuel efficient car instead of a stupidly moronic and utterly unecessary SUV or truck.

I haven't noticed any significant increase in other costs, but then I already live in an area where everything is expensive. I'm also not so sure about the whole "it might be cheaper to fly" idea. If you've got one person in the car. Maybe (actually, I'm still pretty sure it's cheaper to drive). More then one, and there's no way it's cheaper. Recently headed out to Vegas with a couple friends. Gas for the trip cost us about $150 total (both ways). That's less then a single one way ticket. By a good margin.

Sure. It takes about 6 hours to drive, but when you add up the time getting to the airport, the time checking in and going through security, and then the time getting out, getting a taxi or hotel bus, that one hour flight just turned into 4 hours. And if you drive, you don't have to arrange for transport to the airport (or pay to park your car there), your luggage is far less likely to disappear, and you can do things like stop somewhere along the way if you feel like it (ok. There's not much between San Diego and Vegas except for desert, but you *could*).

Flyings still only something I do if I need to be somewhere quickly (or it's a *really* long drive like the other side of the country). It's still vastly cheaper to drive.

You actually use that thing properly, I hope? Meaning that you're carting around more than yourself and some fat squealing kidlets around town?

.

Edited, Aug 17th 2006 at 1:00am EDT by paulsol