Gas Prices

[NotDeadYet]

How much does gas have to cost before you would start changing your driving habits - letting it affect vacations, using public transportation, carpooling, buy a car w/ better mileage etc?

No public transportation here. I don't have a regular schedule so carpooling is not an option either. I can buy a lot of gas for the price of a car with better mileage.
So, I'm sort of stuck. I just drive less.

 

[Mystified]

www.gasprice.com Hope it helps. just enter your zip code. then if you know you'll be in a certain area you can gas up there.

Have you noticed that a gallon of milk regularly costs around $5 now? Not too long ago, it was $2.99 per gal.

the grocery stores have alot more affordable whole or organic foods. I use Natures Promise $3.59 for 1/2 gallon but its stays good for far longer than other milks, avg 1 month. got some yesterday the exp date is 4/5. i feel bad for those who have kiddies where they go thru 1/2 in 2 days..I also buy thier eggs, even dog food.

 

[Mystified]

You mentioned in another post that you are paying $3.19 per gallon. I, too, have a 17 gal tank and recently paid $3.199 per gallon, so that is why I know that your $25-$30 estimate to fill up, is way off. If you wait until the light comes on to fill up, your real costs to fill up is around $55, not $25-30.

your probably right i don't let it go down to when the light goes on, usually under 1/4 tank. like i mentioned i don't use it much anymore unless i have to; doctor, grocery shopping. i prefer to walk, unless its frigid or raining, its good for me and i save gas.

 

[30A Skunkape]

HNOOE is right, gas is more expensive in Florida than other gulf states. I saw the breakdown of taxes imposed by the state and you are paying for much more than your car to run when you fill up in Florida...lots of projects are funded via a small gas tax, but they add up and cause a gallon here to be pretty stiff.

I don't fully understand how the price of gas is arrived at, but I do know it is way more complicated than a bunch of Texans and Saudis making a conference call on a Monday morning to figure out how they are going to screw us. The same is true of 'record oil company profits'. We like to grumble about how much money they are making but somehow don't seem to mind when our stocks in said companies flourish.

 

[SHELLY]

Don't be pissed off when ya see me going down 283 or 30-A with a flatbed wagon with a 2 horse team. That's 2hp for you tekkie types!!!!!

The effect of ethanol, energy prices, and drought on feed prices can't be overlooked for those with horses. Feed is an expense that the normal consumer does not have. High corn, soybean, and wheat prices are pulling prices higher for all crops, including alfalfa and other hay. Alfalfa prices have increased more than 20%, nationally, over the last year.


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[NoHall]

General question for the peanut gallery:

How much does gas have to cost before you would start changing your driving habits - letting it affect vacations, using public transportation, carpooling, buy a car w/ better mileage etc?

2 years ago when I was still driving a landscape truck, Katrina prices prompted me to buy an 80 mpg scooter. The car I have now gets 33-35 in the city.

For those of you who like to save about $1-4 per fill up, remember to fill up with gas in Alabama before heading down to SoWal. Prices are typically much cheaper in Alabama. If you have a Blackberry, you might also put http://autos.msn.com/everyday/gasstations.aspx?zip=&src=Netx into your favorite websites, for reference for the cheapest prices when on the road, or about town. As I said, it won't save you much, especially if you have to drive out of the way to get to the cheaper prices, but it might save you a little less than the cost of a McDonald's number 2 Combo.

Dothan seems to have the best prices when I come down $0.10-0.20 cheaper than Hotlanta.

I just looked at the price of the premium. WoW! Glad I sold my old Acura, which used Prem only. I feel for those with the premium only cars.

No kidding...I have to have midgrade, but it still is half the price of what I paid when I had the truck...

 

[Matt J]

I think they use fuel prices as an excuse to jack up the other prices. :angry:

Yes, since big corporations can happily just take the same hit. :roll:

Let's take milk for instance. The cost has gone up as it is very heavy on the oil use. First, the obvious cost of transporting the milk. Both to a bottler and to the grocery store. Secondly, those milks "bottles" are generally plastic, plastic is made from oil.

 

[Smiling JOe]

and don't forget about the cost of feed for those cows. They do eat corn in addition to the hay, and corn is heavy on the fuel. I doubt the plastic jugs really cost much, even with the added oil costs for production. The bigger cost is shipping the empty jugs to the dairies, and shipping the filled jugs to the distributor, who then delivers them to the grocer.

 

[Matt J]

and don't forget about the cost of feed for those cows. They do eat corn in addition to the hay, and corn is heavy on the fuel. I doubt the plastic jugs really cost much, even with the added oil costs for production. The bigger cost is shipping the empty jugs to the dairies, and shipping the filled jugs to the distributor, who then delivers them to the grocer.

Thank you, I was just trying to make a point not a thesis.

 

[InletBchDweller]

83$ for the 87 octane, if I let it run nearly out. My diesel is bumping 100$.
(pick-up)

yep, that sounds about right....

Just got back from NOLA roadtrip..., the prices in Louisiana were lower...had a low of $2.99 Reg. Miss. and Bama were higher but less than Fla....I filled up in Miss. at $3.07 Reg.

Guess we have more tax layers to deal with here in Fla? I think this was discussed here once.

we did also. I always look forward to fillin up for cheap in Miss. Exit 69

General question for the peanut gallery:

How much does gas have to cost before you would start changing your driving habits - letting it affect vacations, using public transportation, carpooling, buy a car w/ better mileage etc?

I dont think it will ever for me. Unless I am stone cold broke. Yes my car is expensive all around but I like room and comfort. driving down the interstate today, stretched out on the third seat makes all the difference in the world....but that is me.

Or we could just wait until Obama becomes President and then he can take from the people that have and give it to the people that have not. I am sure that is the answer.