Are you annoyed with the high gas prices? - Page 5

Macruz19 · 04-28-08, 05:02

stimulus plan = gas money

brwill2005 · 04-28-08, 02:12

Based on the number of views and responses this is definitely a hot topic. I personally am not angry, however, it is definitely increasing my costs of doing business. I use the mileage deduction and it is not necessarily adjusted as soon as the price of gas spikes. The high gas prices are partly our own faults. What I mean is the United States love for big SUV's, trucks, and high performance sports cars. We as a country, consume more oil than any other country by far. Combine this with China and India's surging demand, and a dwindling supply, and you have rising prices. It is like anything else though, when the price rises, smart people economize. That means buying more fuel efficient cars, and driving less. It is funny to me how this only happens when the price gets to a certain point. It should happen all the time. We have it very good here in the U.S because of all the subsidies our government gives the oil companies. Europe's prices are nearly twice that of ours, and they have for years driven fuel efficient cars and used scooters and bikes when possible.

BRODEY1 · 04-28-08, 09:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by paradigm

i can understand the complaints when it comes from businesses, etc that take a considerable hit due to rising gas prices. what i personally have no sympathy for are the people that complain about the costs when they chose to purchase huge SUVs and trucks that use them for nothing more than standard transportation. now, i'm not a tree hugging environmentalist...just a realist. my Z gets pretty bad MPG in town...as in 18-20 (28-30 on the highway), but i knew that going into it...and i also don't complain about it.

when i hear soccermoms or guys at work complain about their F-250 or Denali fuel costs, i just laugh and shake my head. seriously...how wasteful and ridiculous can they be when they NEVER haul anything in them more than groceries? they deserve to pay up for that excess. "oh, i deserve to drive it"...."i'm entitled to it". yes, you are "entitled"...sure...but you're going to start paying a LOT more now.

again, this does not apply to the people that actually NEED a large vehicle...just the ones that got them for show. time to start paying up.

/rant

Exactly! Me and my wife have made life choices that somewhat insulate us from the rising gas prices, on a personal level.
-I bust my butt so my wife can stay at home with my 3 kids, no commuting for her.
-we made sure we had no debt before the kids came (except mortgage).
-we bought a house near our schools, 1 mile round trip.
-I live near my job, by choice. 17 miles round trip.
-I bought a $5k Miata for work and running errands.
-I keep my vehicles tuned up and well maintained.
-paid cash for our used Japanese vehicles, not easy, but important to us.
-"hypermiling" when possible.

So, due to a few decisions we've made in our lives, the cost of gas really doesn't matter to us that much, in our personal finances. Between the two of us, we drive maybe an average of 12-15 miles a day. Obviously, the rising cost of gas effects us in many other areas, just like it does everyone else.

I live in Alabama, one of the poorest states in America, and it drives me nuts to hear co-workers complain about how much it costs to drive their Ford Expedition 70 miles ONE WAY to work. All the while living in a trailer, while their good-ole boy husbands work down at the mill thats 2 minutes from the house making his wife drive off to downtown Birmingham for a night shift because he's too lazy to go to school, get a good job and take care of his family.

At the end of 6 years, they will have spent TENS OF THOUSANDS of dollars keeping that truck on the road, between initial cost, interest, gas, depreciation, tires, oil and general maintainence, hell, they really couldn't afford that vehicle if the gas was free!

Wow, sorry that turned into a mini-rant.

I just pisses me off to hear about these people around here (Alabama) complaining about gas prices when their entire financial picture is crap, like, if it weren't for gas being $3.75 a gallon they'd be millionaires! right.

zoomzoom mazda5 · 04-29-08, 03:01

It's going to be very bad in the summer months when gas might be around 5 bucks for reg. gallon of gas and food and everything else goes up too. This yr no vacation here. Wife just moved home to work and i'll be saving around 200.00 per month on gas.

BigAl3 · 04-29-08, 03:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by zoomzoom mazda5

It's going to be very bad in the summer months when gas might be around 5 bucks for reg. gallon of gas and food and everything else goes up too.

sad but true...

Forever New · 04-29-08, 03:46

The technology is here. Check out this Mini Cooper, why not just upsize everything and apply it to commercial vehicles? They need to apply this same concept to commercial vehicles. It obviously can be done. Who here wouldnt mind atleast 30-40 mpg out of their vans?

Electric Mini: 0-60 in 4 Seconds: It Has Motors In Its Wheels : TreeHugger

As far as making it affordable, they need to build a couple test mules. Put up the facts and figures, start a pre-order list, buy the van shells from one of the big 3 (ford, chevy, dodge, or whoever really) who want to be a part of this revolution in the commercial industry, and call it a day. I see 10k units being sold easy, especially with all of the gov't tax breaks, grant programs, and special loan programs for hybrid vehicles.

Bring down the cost of transporting goods and services and the price of everything will fall. The more it costs to move things around, the more it will cost on the shelves. Expenses are always passed on to the consumer in some shape or form.

Macruz19 · 04-29-08, 04:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by zoomzoom mazda5

It's going to be very bad in the summer months when gas might be around 5 bucks for reg. gallon of gas and food and everything else goes up too. This yr no vacation here. Wife just moved home to work and i'll be saving around 200.00 per month on gas.

Is it really going to hit around $5 this summer? Damn! I need to start watching the news, and stop detailing

weekendwarrior · 04-29-08, 04:15

It's going to get to the point where if you have a minimum wage job that you commute to, it just won't make sense to go to work anymore.

Macruz19 · 04-29-08, 04:16

I just thought about it... if we get hit with another Hurricane here in FL, were are going down hill!

I remember there was shortage of premium gas in 2005 when Katrina hit, and I had to settle for regular.

weekendwarrior · 04-29-08, 04:18

Yeah, some stations here sold out of gas period back then for a few days.

Surfer · 04-29-08, 04:20

Its not the cost of gas people should be worried about, in correlation its the cost of goods (consumables like food etc) that are going to keep going up. Grocery bills will kill middle class.

weekendwarrior · 04-29-08, 04:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surfer

Its not the cost of gas people should be worried about, in correlation its the cost of goods (consumables like food etc) that are going to keep going up. Grocery bills will kill middle class.

Right. I know trucking rates are going up a lot too - which will lead to price increases for EVERYTHING, simply to make up for the increase in transportation costs. A loaded semi truck gets 5.5mpg on average. At $4.20 / gallon for diesel, that's over 75 cents per mile just to cover fuel. These guys then have wear and tear, insurance, truck payment, and need something for revenue. If diesel hits $5 /gallon, that will put them at about $1 / mile just for fuel.

The alternative is shipping by rail, but you had better not be in a rush to get your goods.