Are the increased gas prices affecting your daily life?

**PanzerHans** · 04-29-2006, 06:33 AM

This question is directed to the US gamers on TG. The background for the question is a Norwegian newspaper article that claims a lot of ordinary US households needs to start selling off their belongings in order to finance transportation. I lived in Minnesota from 89-90 and remember that a gallon(apprx. 3.8 litre) of premium used to cost around $1.50, I understand that prices are now $3.50. According to my calculations that should be a yearly increase of apprx. 5% pr year wich is probably a bit higher than normal influx, and enough to reduce the spending meoney for a family.

Maybe this will cheer you up a bit(Norwegian gas prices)?:
1 gallon of premium : $7.50 (using 3.8 litre to a gallon and using 6 kroners to a dollar).

(I was hoping to make this a poll, but it seems polling is removed from the sandbox).

**CingularDuality** · 04-29-2006, 08:00 AM

Well, it's certainly affecting our budget, but it's not affecting my household's driving habits much. Nor does it seem to be affecting much of the country's driving habits, according to everything I've read and what I see on the road.

Keep in mind that the USA is a young country that has had automobiles for a significant portion of its entire history. I think that driving is a part of our culture and that's why mass transit and carpooling aren't as prevalent as they could/should be...

Drizzid · 04-29-2006, 11:38 AM

Yeah it's changed the way me and my wife decide what we are going to do and how we do it. We were going to take my 4yr old to a Butterfly exhibit at the Desert Botanicle Gardens but we decided not to go to save gas. It's pretty much just drive to work and back and that's about it

**Pokerface** · 04-29-2006, 06:31 PM

Yep, it's affecting my life.

I work at home as much as possible (though, to be fair, I was doing this when gas was cheap as well) because my office an hour away. I live close enough to a strip mall that I can walk to get just about everything I need out of life, though I do have other things I do elsewhere as well. For those things, I combine trips like a fiend now. If I'm going out to Taekwando class, I'll also be hitting the wholesale store nearby, and maybe shopping at the Goodwill over that way as well (both because I'm NOT going to come back out to do those things separately).

I measure gas in hours worked, and I'm not alone, especially not anymore. In my area, commuting to the DC area is a regularity, and that trip adds up in a HURRY.

xTYBALTx · 04-29-2006, 06:54 PM

It has effected my life; I work as a consultant for a distribution company which has approximately 70 vehicles on the road every day. Rising fuel costs effect their bottom line and keep me very busy finding efficiencies for fuel use.

aeroripper · 04-29-2006, 07:04 PM

Yes, I have little money as is so I usually just drive to work and back. I only get $15 worth of gas each time so I can budget it better. I'm not complaining to much though, it could be a lot worse.

ScratchMonkey · 04-30-2006, 01:04 PM

I don't like to drive in the first place, and I hate driving long trips. Fortunately my commute is 10 minutes down a usually empty parkway at about 50 MPH.

Is anyone else old enough to remember when gas was not only less than $1, but significantly less? In the gas "crisis" of the early 70's we were as shocked to see it break the $1 mark as people are now to see it top $3. That's why I just don't buy the crisis mentality. The sky isn't falling. At least not any faster than it was before.

Boot · 04-30-2006, 01:58 PM

The price hasn't changed our habits yet, but we did sell my wife's big SUV and get her a smaller 4 cylinder car. Her car now costs $40 instead of $60 to fill up, which saves us maybe $100 a month. I ran the numbers before we made the trade thinking we'd save a lot overall, but the loss we incurred in selling/buying the cars made it a net even deal over a 2 year span.

Cing is right about driving being cultural. Over here and especially in the suburban Midwestern US, we don't have the option to do anything but drive. Changing lifestyle would mean moving into an urban area, changing jobs and kids schools... uprooting everything. Gas will have to go pretty high before we do that.

Drizzid · 04-30-2006, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScratchMonkey

I don't like to drive in the first place, and I hate driving long trips. Fortunately my commute is 10 minutes down a usually empty parkway at about 50 MPH.

Is anyone else old enough to remember when gas was not only less than $1, but significantly less? In the gas "crisis" of the early 70's we were as shocked to see it break the $1 mark as people are now to see it top $3. That's why I just don't buy the crisis mentality. The sky isn't falling. At least not any faster than it was before.

Hell I'm only 34 and remember gas being $.85 and it wasn't that long ago.

**CingularDuality** · 04-30-2006, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScratchMonkey

Is anyone else old enough to remember when gas was not only less than $1, but significantly less?

Heck, that's less than ten years ago... I payed $.98 a gallon for gas in 1999 on my way out to Jacksonville, NC.

ScratchMonkey · 04-30-2006, 03:50 PM

Weird. I remember it cracking $1 back in the early 70's in northern California. Then again, maybe California imposes its own huge crazy tax not suffered by the rest of the country.

**CingularDuality** · 04-30-2006, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScratchMonkey

Weird. I remember it cracking $1 back in the early 70's in northern California. Then again, maybe California imposes its own huge crazy tax not suffered by the rest of the country.

In the 70's? Nah... It was under a dollar for most of the 80's in San Diego... Perhaps it was above a dollar for a little while?

Buckets · 04-30-2006, 10:12 PM

I average around 32 MPG so while there is a bit of sticker shock at the pump, its really not killing me. It would be nice if it was a bit cheaper, though.

Buckets · 04-30-2006, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drizzid

Yeah it's changed the way me and my wife decide what we are going to do and how we do it. We were going to take my 4yr old to a Butterfly exhibit at the Desert Botanicle Gardens but we decided not to go to save gas. It's pretty much just drive to work and back and that's about it

You missed out.

I'm lucky enough to live right by Papago Park. I sort of take the DBG for granted but its a really cool place.

ScratchMonkey · 05-01-2006, 08:42 AM

My roommate also remembers it breaking $1 in the 70's. (We were born in 60 and 62.) Cing, were you buying on a military base at the time? My roommate occasionally would do service work on bases and preferred buying gas there because it was significantly cheaper.

... Ah, found some graphs:

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/gaspr....shtml#History
http://www.randomuseless.info/gasprice/gasprice.html

Alas, those graphs start in the late 70's, but check out figure 20 here, which shows oil prices going back quite a bit earlier, to 1968:

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/pdf/perspectives.pdf

The spike in late 1972 is presumably the "crisis" I'm remembering, and then there's another even harsher spike in 1979. Maybe that's the Iran hostage crisis? The price falls markedly under Reagan, so perhaps everyone's remembering the price after it returned to "normal" levels.

04-29-2006, 06:33 AM	#1 (permalink)
PanzerHans Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: By the PC Age: 35 Posts: 2,262	Are the increased gas prices affecting your daily life? This question is directed to the US gamers on TG. The background for the question is a Norwegian newspaper article that claims a lot of ordinary US households needs to start selling off their belongings in order to finance transportation. I lived in Minnesota from 89-90 and remember that a gallon(apprx. 3.8 litre) of premium used to cost around $1.50, I understand that prices are now $3.50. According to my calculations that should be a yearly increase of apprx. 5% pr year wich is probably a bit higher than normal influx, and enough to reduce the spending meoney for a family. Maybe this will cheer you up a bit(Norwegian gas prices)?: 1 gallon of premium : $7.50 (using 3.8 litre to a gallon and using 6 kroners to a dollar). (I was hoping to make this a poll, but it seems polling is removed from the sandbox). __________________ -- VI VI VI - the number of the beast

04-29-2006, 08:00 AM	#2 (permalink)
CingularDuality Join Date: May 2003 Location: Dallas/Ft. Worth area of Texas, USA Age: 33 Posts: 17,137	Re: Are the increased gas prices affecting your daily life? Well, it's certainly affecting our budget, but it's not affecting my household's driving habits much. Nor does it seem to be affecting much of the country's driving habits, according to everything I've read and what I see on the road. Keep in mind that the USA is a young country that has had automobiles for a significant portion of its entire history. I think that driving is a part of our culture and that's why mass transit and carpooling aren't as prevalent as they could/should be... __________________ Become a supporting member! Buy a Tactical Duck! Take the world's smallest political quiz! "I was touched by His Noodly Appendage." TacticalGamer TX LAN/BBQ Veteran:

04-29-2006, 11:38 AM	#3 (permalink)
Drizzid Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Glendale, AZ Age: 37 Posts: 2,984	Re: Are the increased gas prices affecting your daily life? Yeah it's changed the way me and my wife decide what we are going to do and how we do it. We were going to take my 4yr old to a Butterfly exhibit at the Desert Botanicle Gardens but we decided not to go to save gas. It's pretty much just drive to work and back and that's about it __________________

04-29-2006, 06:31 PM	#4 (permalink)
Pokerface Join Date: May 2003 Location: MD, USA Age: 30 Posts: 5,787	Re: Are the increased gas prices affecting your daily life? Yep, it's affecting my life. I work at home as much as possible (though, to be fair, I was doing this when gas was cheap as well) because my office an hour away. I live close enough to a strip mall that I can walk to get just about everything I need out of life, though I do have other things I do elsewhere as well. For those things, I combine trips like a fiend now. If I'm going out to Taekwando class, I'll also be hitting the wholesale store nearby, and maybe shopping at the Goodwill over that way as well (both because I'm NOT going to come back out to do those things separately). I measure gas in hours worked, and I'm not alone, especially not anymore. In my area, commuting to the DC area is a regularity, and that trip adds up in a HURRY. __________________ NS Game Officer. TF2 Admin. BF2 Admin / Scripter. PM with issues. Tempus: Pokerface is nailing it right on the head. Everyone who is arguing against him is simply arguing against reality. <anmuzi> it is not permitted to have privacy or anonymity <LazyEye> yeah when I play on TG the server digs though my trash Arm yourself with knowledge: TG NS TF2 BF2

04-29-2006, 06:54 PM	#5 (permalink)
xTYBALTx Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,919	Re: Are the increased gas prices affecting your daily life? It has effected my life; I work as a consultant for a distribution company which has approximately 70 vehicles on the road every day. Rising fuel costs effect their bottom line and keep me very busy finding efficiencies for fuel use. __________________ A policy of freedom for the individual is the only truly progressive policy. -F.A. Hayek "$250,000 a year won't get me to Central Park West."

04-29-2006, 07:04 PM	#6 (permalink)
aeroripper Join Date: Dec 2005 Age: 25 Posts: 2,291	Re: Are the increased gas prices affecting your daily life? Yes, I have little money as is so I usually just drive to work and back. I only get $15 worth of gas each time so I can budget it better. I'm not complaining to much though, it could be a lot worse.

04-30-2006, 01:04 PM	#7 (permalink)
ScratchMonkey Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: San Pablo, California Posts: 4,565	Re: Are the increased gas prices affecting your daily life? I don't like to drive in the first place, and I hate driving long trips. Fortunately my commute is 10 minutes down a usually empty parkway at about 50 MPH. Is anyone else old enough to remember when gas was not only less than $1, but significantly less? In the gas "crisis" of the early 70's we were as shocked to see it break the $1 mark as people are now to see it top $3. That's why I just don't buy the crisis mentality. The sky isn't falling. At least not any faster than it was before. __________________

04-30-2006, 01:58 PM	#8 (permalink)
Boot Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Wisconsin, USA Age: 37 Posts: 1,414	Re: Are the increased gas prices affecting your daily life? The price hasn't changed our habits yet, but we did sell my wife's big SUV and get her a smaller 4 cylinder car. Her car now costs $40 instead of $60 to fill up, which saves us maybe $100 a month. I ran the numbers before we made the trade thinking we'd save a lot overall, but the loss we incurred in selling/buying the cars made it a net even deal over a 2 year span. Cing is right about driving being cultural. Over here and especially in the suburban Midwestern US, we don't have the option to do anything but drive. Changing lifestyle would mean moving into an urban area, changing jobs and kids schools... uprooting everything. Gas will have to go pretty high before we do that. __________________ Boot. In Soviet Russia, TV watches YOU.

04-30-2006, 03:50 PM	#11 (permalink)
ScratchMonkey Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: San Pablo, California Posts: 4,565	Re: Are the increased gas prices affecting your daily life? Weird. I remember it cracking $1 back in the early 70's in northern California. Then again, maybe California imposes its own huge crazy tax not suffered by the rest of the country. __________________

04-30-2006, 10:12 PM	#13 (permalink)
Buckets Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Tucson, AZ Age: 27 Posts: 544	Re: Are the increased gas prices affecting your daily life? I average around 32 MPG so while there is a bit of sticker shock at the pump, its really not killing me. It would be nice if it was a bit cheaper, though.

05-01-2006, 08:42 AM	#15 (permalink)
ScratchMonkey Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: San Pablo, California Posts: 4,565	Re: Are the increased gas prices affecting your daily life? My roommate also remembers it breaking $1 in the 70's. (We were born in 60 and 62.) Cing, were you buying on a military base at the time? My roommate occasionally would do service work on bases and preferred buying gas there because it was significantly cheaper. ... Ah, found some graphs: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/gaspr....shtml#History http://www.randomuseless.info/gasprice/gasprice.html Alas, those graphs start in the late 70's, but check out figure 20 here, which shows oil prices going back quite a bit earlier, to 1968: http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/pdf/perspectives.pdf The spike in late 1972 is presumably the "crisis" I'm remembering, and then there's another even harsher spike in 1979. Maybe that's the Iran hostage crisis? The price falls markedly under Reagan, so perhaps everyone's remembering the price after it returned to "normal" levels. __________________

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