$3.50/gallon Gas - How will that change your behavior?

[Marker]

So the news this morning is saying they're predicting a national average of $3.50/gallon gas by summer.

This made me wonder how this effect people. Would it alter their behaviors any.

I'm already working from home 1 day each week, I figured that cut my personal consumption by 20% ( at least where driving to work is concerned). And on the days I go to work, I've shifted my schedule so as to avoid the heavy traffic.

I got rid of my mustang (16-18 mpg) and now drive an Escape (24-26 mpg).

My commute is 30 miles each way, but I don't see moving in my future (this house will be paid off in about 4 years).

I may attempt to work from home another day each week if I can get away with it (and if I'm not laid off in the meantime).

It will make me rethink weekend road trips.

[disneydrmr]

We'll just be eating out less and spending less money on 'extras' . Have no option to work from home. My daily commute is about 40 miles round trip each day.. most of that spent in slow moving traffic. So what should be only about a 10 to 15 minute commute can take up to 1/2 hour. I see a lot of staying home and playing board games in our future.

[JanetMegan]

Well luckily with my new short commute I can save a lot of gas in that way, but as a company owner who pays for gas for all of my employees we will need to add some money to our job quotes to cover it. Also as someone who spends almost every weekend on the lake on a jetski or in a boat I think the prices for gas at the Marina's will be up to almost $5.

[tink2006]

I have a very short commute to work, about 7 minutes. However, we live in a very small town that does not have much to offer in the way of stores (we have one grocery store and a Walmart). The nearest "big" town is about a 45 minute drive. Since we can't (or won't) buy everything at Walmart, we have no other choice but to make this commute almost every weekend.

I remember last year, about this time, they were talking about $4.00/gallon for the summer. Luckily it did not get quite so high. I guess I am an optimist and am hoping that they will miscalculate once again.

Either way, we are heading to WDW in July so I will keep my fingers crossed

[vicster]

Yikes - we have a camper that gets around 9 mpg so who knows how much camping we'll do this summer. We use to take it to WDW and stay at FW but for the past few years we haven't done that because of gas prices - it's just not worth it. Luckily I work about 3 miles from home so that's not a problem.

[DizneyRox]

I've changed my driving habits somewhat. Use cruise control more, etc. I've overinflated my tires to get better mileage, etc. Try to consolidate trips, buy more at the stores so as to not go out as often, etc.

Other than that, we're talking about a few cents differnce really. In all honesty, it's not enough to break the bank, or it shouldn't be. While I'm not happy about it, in the grand scheme, if that's major issue, then I've probably got bigger issues than gas.

[Ian]

I'll believe it when I see it. They've predicted this same thing like two years running now and it hasn't happened yet.

Why? Simple supply and demand ... when the prices go up too high, people change their habits and demand drops. Thus, prices drop.

But if it did hit $3.50 a gallon it wouldn't change much for me. I mean in reality how much does that extra really cost me?

I use about a tank of gas every 10 days in my Tahoe. That's about three tanks a month. I have a 22 gallon tank. At $2.96/gallon (current price) it costs me about $65 to fill my tank or about $195 a month. At $3.50 a gallon it would cost me $77 a tank or $231 a month. So a whopping difference of about $36 a month.

Hardly anything worth getting upset or drastically changing habits over.

[Jeff]

No change here.
I'll get in my Trailblazer and hopefully soon, another Chevy 4x4 truck and drive happy and safe. After getting hit head-on by a drunk last January I won't ever drive a small vehicle. God and my Chevy Truck saved the lives of my daughter and me. No one need ever lecture me about driving green and getting great milage - I'll gladly pay extra and drive big the rest of my life.

I paid $1.00 per gallon while in college working minimum wage, back in 1979. Now that I make many times what I did then, I won't complain about $3 or even $3.50.

[Terra]

I'll believe it when I see it. They've predicted this same thing like two years running now and it hasn't happened yet.

I was thinking the same thing...I think I even had a friend who said one news story that last summer it was going to hit close to $4 a gallon!

Anyway I will say for us one income families [my husband is an Exceptional Student Educator for our county school system...
That we already live on a budget and watch what we spend and how much we go out...
So we would/will continue to do it...
I already try to make sure that I do all my errands in pretty much one day if I can...I plan out things I want to do in advance...
Like if I want to go to visit my friend who lives 40 miles from me or Disney which is about an hour I wait until it is more feasible...I just don't go out on a whim driving around for a 100 miles....LOL

I did want to say though that for some people it IS a hard stretch with gas being a bit higher...so don't be too hard on us people who may be "poorer"....Shoot as we all know teachers should be paid more but sadly it is not the case...
And we choose for me to be a stay at home mom...so it's not necessarily about "having bigger problems" or issues...it is about what we are willing to sacrifice for our family...
Okay off my soapbox...he he...

[Cinderelley]

Things won't change too much for us. I drive to work 3 or 4 days a week (depending on if I work overtime) which is a 20 minute drive. I drive to my doctor's appointments and take my kids to their jobs. DH drives to work and back (20 minutes also) Mon - Fri. We do errands together on a weekend day. Our summer vacation might be a bit more expensive - driving to Yosemite- but we'll just save a little more before we go.

DH says the hardest hit people will be ones who live up north on a limited income. Something about the oil prices being too much for them to heat their houses. That would be horrible!

[BrerGnat]

Gas has already gotten HIGHER than $3.50/gallon here in the past.

When it happens, other than doing a double take when I pull in to fill up, nothing else in our life is really affected by it. I suppose if we were REALLY strapped for money each month, it might make a difference, but as Ian said, when you consider that it's usually a difference of $20-40 per month for MOST people, it's nothing to get excited about.

Now, for those who commute huge distances each day or drive for a living, I could see it being an issue.

I just fill up at Costco as much as possible...at least I feel like I'm getting a deal when I do that.

[adoptionislove]

I don't think it will change us much.

I drive a Suburban (I know, I know) and my husband drives a 300. I am a stay at home mom and I only put about 3 miles a day on the car. So, no it won't change my spending or savings habit!

[Ian]

The one place it will hurt me (as Janet already mentioned) is in marine gas.

My boat has a 45 gallon tank and it cost me like $3.90 a gallon last year to fill up on the lake. It could go to $4.50 or even $5.00 a gallon this season (if this rumor comes true this time) and that would definitely curtail my boating habits.

Boats do not exactly get good "mileage" (especially if you're towing a skiier or a tube). I only get maybe 4-5 hours out of a tank, so you can imagine how often I have to fill up!!

45 x $5.00 = OUCH!!!

[RenDuran]

I can handle the cost of gas for the car. It's the oil we heat our house with that is killing us....and the bad part is our system is a boiler that also heats our water, so it stays on year-round. Our payments this year are about 75% greater than last year.

[Nascfan]

We changed our habits a "long" time ago, when it went from about $1.10 to well over $2.00 just a couple summers ago. We've doubled what we budget for gas, and that just covers it, used to use some of that for maintenance such as oil changes but that is all extra now. We consolidate errands as much as possible, eat out less, ride our bikes if where we're going is within distance and we can carry what we purchase.

Ya know, it's not just the price at the pump. Everything is at least partially fuel driven. Food has to be delivered to the grocery or restaurant by truck, same thing with all other durable goods. Look how much milk has gone up alone. So a difference of 50 cents a gallon may not seem like much when talking about filling up a car, but when everything else goes up because of it, it DOES make a difference in the big scheme of things. I'm just sayin'...

Off soapbox now.

[merlinmagic4]

It won't change much for us. We do camp on an island for a couple of weeks over the summer so gas for the boat might be an issue (I think we pay almost 200.00 to fill it up). We might not want to take any trips into the "mainland" and we might be tubing a bit less. We are driving to Disney in April but it is still much, much less than airfare during a school vacation week.

[Terra]

We changed our habits a "long" time ago, when it went from about $1.10 to well over $2.00 just a couple summers ago. We've doubled what we budget for gas, and that just covers it, used to use some of that for maintenance such as oil changes but that is all extra now. We consolidate errands as much as possible, eat out less, ride our bikes if where we're going is within distance and we can carry what we purchase.

Ya know, it's not just the price at the pump. Everything is at least partially fuel driven. Food has to be delivered to the grocery or restaurant by truck, same thing with all other durable goods. Look how much milk has gone up alone. So a difference of 50 cents a gallon may not seem like much when talking about filling up a car, but when everything else goes up because of it, it DOES make a difference in the big scheme of things. I'm just sayin'...

Off soapbox now.

ITA! but then I'm weird too because I don't care how much money someone has....I think it's such a shame to say..."Oh $50 or $100 is not a lot of money"....I think it is or should be now matter how wealthy you are....we are so blessed here in America and we really tend to take that forgranted sometimes!!

[Ian]

ITA! but then I'm weird too because I don't care how much money someone has....I think it's such a shame to say..."Oh $50 or $100 is not a lot of money"....I think it is or should be now matter how wealthy you are....we are so blessed here in America and we really tend to take that forgranted sometimes!!

Just to be clear ... I'm not "blessed" ... no one came down from the heavens, waved a wand over my head, and made me successful.

I worked my tail off ... working all day ... raising a family ... going to school at night ... to get where I am.

Frankly, I find it marginally offensive when someone implies that I should feel guilty about my success. I don't and I never will.

To me $50 or $100 is not a lot of money and I'm glad for that. I'm glad my family doesn't have to struggle from paycheck to paycheck.

[DizneyRox]

Maybe I misread the original posters intentions, but they were talking about gas prices at the pump. I assumed they meant to talk about actual gas pumped into your car, and how it might impact travel, etc.

Way back when I was a kid, I found it strange when my friends would get muscle cars as their daily drivers (1970 Mach 1, 1969 Camaro SS, 1980 Monte Carlo SS, etc). I would always chuckle when they couldn't go anywhere because they couldn't afford to put gas in the tanks. If you can't afford to put gas in the car, you can't afford the car.

I think many people don't live within their means. Putting gas into your vehicle is part of the deal, so whatever the price of gas goes to, it's some thing that's got to happen. Maybe it's a harsh statement, but it's the way it is.

Same goes for heating oil. If you can't afford to heat the house, you can't afford the house. But I think that's getting off topic.

And yes, I understand the whole fixed income mess, etc. But, it all boils down to living within your means. Whatever those means are...

And that is none of my business.

Note: The use of "your" is not meant to point fingers. It implies, not me.

[Terra]

Just to be clear ... I'm not "blessed" ... no one came down from the heavens, waved a wand over my head, and made me successful.

I worked my tail off ... working all day ... raising a family ... going to school at night ... to get where I am.

Frankly, I find it marginally offensive when someone implies that I should feel guilty about my success. I don't and I never will.

To me $50 or $100 is not a lot of money and I'm glad for that. I'm glad my family doesn't have to struggle from paycheck to paycheck.

Sorry Ian, I didn't mean it to offend you...I think it is wonderful when people work to be successful..that is the way it should be!

When I say blessed I'm talking about in regards to other countries [mostly third world]....I've done mission trips in light of people sleeping in shacks and having nothing....I meant that we are blessed to not have to go through that...that most people in America have a fighting change IF they want to work....[like all of us]...
I don't think anyone should feel guilty at all for working hard...

I do think though that we should never think any amount of money "isn't alot"..but remember that is just my opinion too

Also though I don't think any amount of money makes anyone better than someone else...
And I don't think my husband is less successful because he is a teacher..

So in some ways it could be a 2 way street where I "could" get offended by someone saying that he is not just because he teaches [which you did NOT say...in the past people have said that ...not on Intercot...lol]...Anyway...I don't really get offended by it though because to me their priorities are skewed...and to them I'm sure they think ours is too....

Success is also in the eye of the beholder...to me yes of course we want and do pay our bills,e ct....
But having luxuries like nice new cars and homes is not important to us....we chose to live our lives searching and living out what God wants us to do...[which again is our choice and not everyone believes or follows that...]...

Gosh what a ramble...just wanted to apologize and make myself clear though that I didn't think you needed to feel guilty at all!!