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That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday, - Page 67

post #1981 of 2203
12/24/08 at 5:57am

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

The problem I see with people that are complaining about gas prices (and the resulting increase of everything else) is that they are HORRIBLE when budgeting their money.

Like I said before, before all these prices went out of whack, people were lived FAR beyond their means. People don't need every cable television channel (for over $100/month), people don't need these cell phone plans with all of the bells and whistles (i.e. GPS, Internet, Music, etc.), nor do people need that $10/month satellite radio service either, but before the price increases, people were just able to afford all of this stuff.

The problem I see now is, people aren't willing to give up those things to save the $$. They'd rather blame the gas prices and food prices. Some people do have th ability to save money, they just don't want to.
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post #1982 of 2203
12/24/08 at 6:38am

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

So who's going to start the thread about the price of milk and how much everybody drinks each week?!?

BTW, if you think gas prices are indecipherable...the price of milk is just as complicated--if not more so. Hundred-weights, anyone?!?
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post #1983 of 2203
12/24/08 at 6:47am

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Frezon
So who's going to start the thread about the price of milk and how much everybody drinks each week?!?

I know you're just joking, but that reminds me of all the people who like to compare a gallon of gas to a gallon of whatever. Trying to compare a commodity which essentially has no alternative with ones that not only have alternatives but are entirely discrecenary is disingenuous at best.

As I mentioned before, we drink upwards of 25 gallons of milk a month. BUT, we could drop that down to ZERO if we wanted to and we'd still be able to easily replace that nourishment (and still get to work, for that matter)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Hastings
The problem I see with people that are complaining about gas prices (and the resulting increase of everything else) is that they are HORRIBLE when budgeting their money.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Hastings
The problem I see now is, people aren't willing to give up those things to save the $$. They'd rather blame the gas prices and food prices. Some people do have th ability to save money, they just don't want to.

That can be true, but let's not lump everyone who complains about gas prices in that category. I'll certainly bitch about gas prices, but even at their peak, the increase did not affect my ability to pay my bills and still save money. But I do agree with you that there are some people who think cell phones, $100+ cable bills, flat-panel TVs and the such are bare-necessities.
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post #1984 of 2203
12/24/08 at 11:32am

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

"Prices have yet to skyrocket commensurate with energy costs (which has been very surprising to me. I expected major price increases 18 months ago)."

As others have pointed out, the price of food has skyrocketed, just not in the way you might expect or notice. For the past year or so, I've been reading articles about various companies raising prices and products costing more. Asphalt, for instance, has at least doubled in price. Lots of communities are scaling back repaving projects because of this. You might not notice that until the streets in your community have seriously deteriorated. There's a lot of stuff like that happening all around you...
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post #1985 of 2203
12/24/08 at 12:07pm

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkHastings
The problem I see with people that are complaining about gas prices (and the resulting increase of everything else) is that they are HORRIBLE when budgeting their money.
That's undoubtedly true. Most people live high-debt lifestyles that create a quality of living far beyond what they probably grew up with.

However, it's also true that salaries have not come anywhere close to keeping up with inflation over the last thirty years. If you're making $100k a year, that's not such a big deal; it'd be fairly easy to cut back to financial stability. But if you're a single parent making $30k a year, these price increases make an already tenuous financial situation virtually impossible.
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post #1986 of 2203
12/24/08 at 1:57pm

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

Quote:
Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt
But if you're a single parent making $30k a year, these price increases make an already tenuous financial situation virtually impossible.
True, that's why I try to say "most" or "Those I know". The people that I speak of are the ones who have the ability to save money, but don't.
Quote:
it's also true that salaries have not come anywhere close to keeping up with inflation over the last thirty years.
Yeah, it's definitely not easy, but why does it seem like no matter how bad the financial situation someone is in, they always seem to have the latest gadgets and technology? Heaven forbid you ask someone to give up thier HBO to save some $$ each month.

I kid you not, I was speaking with someone who was bithcing about not having enough $$ and I said "Well, why not give up the GPS service on your cell phone?" and they said "Well, that's only $10/month...that's not gonna do much."
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post #1987 of 2203
12/24/08 at 2:09pm

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

Quote:
I kid you not, I was speaking with someone who was bithcing about not having enough $$ and I said "Well, why not give up the GPS service on your cell phone?" and they said "Well, that's only $10/month...that's not gonna do much."

I hear you. There are a lot of those "only $10/month" frills these days. But for some reason, many people fail to realize when you add a few (or more) of them together, you can be looking at some significant savings. And since many of these "must-haves" really aren't, the "sacrifice" (using that term very loosely) can be pretty painless.
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post #1988 of 2203
12/25/08 at 11:05pm

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

dp
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post #1989 of 2203
12/25/08 at 11:08pm

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Solosan
As others have pointed out, the price of food has skyrocketed, just not in the way you might expect or notice. For the past year or so, I've been reading articles about various companies raising prices and products costing more.
A quick read of Consumer Price Index data -- which maybe I'm misinterpreting -- indicates sundries have increased in price 5% to 30%, with some like eggs doubling. Prices are higher, but I guess "skyrocketing" is in the eye of the beholder. It squeezes budgets, but I'm doubtful it's putting people out of their homes.

Sub-prime mortgage resets, however are big hitters, even compared to gas and food, e.g. changing mortgages from $1300 to $2000 / mo -- a $700 / mo hammering the budget.

But I'll concede a hypothetical homeowner who bought with a conventional 30/yr fixed rate mortgage at the extreme limit of his budget. No mortgage rate reset to worry about, but the increases in gas, utilities, and food pushed him over the edge to mortgage delinquincy. I just don't think this is the driver in the national problems.
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post #1990 of 2203
12/25/08 at 11:09pm

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

Quote:
That's not much with four kids. It's just my wife, me, and our son and we go through 5 to 6 gallons a week.

Eh, somehow this year I went totally lactose intolerant. I've never had problem with Milk before, but I cannot deal with it at all now.. even cheese, etc. WTF is that all about ? How do you suddenly go lactoses intolerant.. eh.
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post #1991 of 2203
12/26/08 at 6:17am

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

Milk, eggs and meat have definitely skyrocketed. I comp two major warehouse stores weekly and it never seems to fail that milk and eggs go up.

The gas prices affect us all in one way or another, but like someone else mentioned, I just cut back on the unneccessary things until I can afford to do them again. It's really not the end of the world to have to go without cable, GPS, Netflix, that meal out or a night at the movies. You make do.
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post #1992 of 2203
12/26/08 at 10:11am

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucia Duran
It's really not the end of the world to have to go without cable, GPS, Netflix, that meal out or a night at the movies. You make do.
[sarcasm]GASP! Blasphemy! I'd rather cut back on milk for my kids then to give up my 'toys'!"[/sarcasm]

Seriously though, it seems like the latest craze (especially for Christmas gifts) are GPS's, which I find ironic because people seem to seem to be ok with spending money on a GPS, but not on gas...which kind of defeats the purpose of the GPS in the first place. Hell, you can't get lost if you don't go anywhere to begin with.

That is the CLASSIC example of people who just don't have their financial priorities straight.
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post #1993 of 2203
12/26/08 at 7:15pm

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

$1.74/gallon tonight at BJs Wholesale Club in Albany, NY.

The drop seems to have slowed to a crawl.
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post #1994 of 2203
12/26/08 at 11:07pm

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

Gas back going down again here.. went up for a bit, now back down to $1.34 at my favorite station
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post #1995 of 2203
12/27/08 at 7:29am

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

Gas seems to have leveled out between $1.60 and $1.70 here in the middle of CT. In fact, the local BJ's went up a penny to $1.64.
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post #1996 of 2203
12/27/08 at 7:39am

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkHastings
Seriously though, it seems like the latest craze (especially for Christmas gifts) are GPS's, which I find ironic because people seem to seem to be ok with spending money on a GPS, but not on gas...
Guilty as charged Impulse bought a GPS this week, after seeing a friends and helping my dad choose one for my mom.

And while I can (thankfully) afford my car and house, this is a "fulfillment" purchase: I'd like to build a deck or buy a new TV, but in the current economy I'll buy a $200 gadget to help put off the $10k purchase.
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post #1997 of 2203
12/27/08 at 7:58am

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

^^ Although, I guess you could justify the purchase of a GPS because it would stop you from getting lost and wasting $$ on precious gas.

If your wife has a problem with the purchase, just tell her that you are going "Green". <-just like the smiley.
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post #1998 of 2203
12/27/08 at 12:31pm

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkHastings
^^ Although, I guess you could justify the purchase of a GPS because it would stop you from getting lost and wasting $$ on precious gas.

If your wife has a problem with the purchase, just tell her that you are going "Green". <-just like the smiley.
My wife is the devil on my shoulder whispering, "buy it, buy it". And she's also the one pushing for a new TV (I want the deck)
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post #1999 of 2203
12/30/08 at 4:08am

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

$1.21 a gallon
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post #2000 of 2203
12/30/08 at 6:02pm

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

I recently sold my $359 a month Mazda 3, took the equity and paid cash for a 2000 Saturn wagon (which gets 5 more mpg than the Mazda did and has colder AC), dropped my car insurance from full coverage to liability only, dropped my DirecTV alltogether. Net savings almost $500 a month. A careful look at the now-playing list on my old HD DirecTivo showed that I was primarily recording stuff off my local broadcast channels so I replaced the DirecTV PVR with an OTA HD Tivo. A bonus is that the HD Tivo can download free content off the internet via my dsl (I'm not giving THAT up) and allow me to surf You-Tube on my 60" SXRD.

I dropped my T-Mobile $43 a month plan in favor of Net-10 pay-as-you-go basic cell at a cost of $15 a month.

About the only thing I really care about that I've had to give up as a result of these economies is access to Top Gear on BBC America, though there are clips from it available on You Tube.

Gas, unlike milk, bottled water, etc. is a necessity but economies in other areas make the hit a lot less impactful.
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post #2001 of 2203
1/4/09 at 9:48am

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

The prices of those things, like milk, eggs, etc are continuing to go up here.
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post #2002 of 2203
1/4/09 at 1:04pm

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

Gas at my BJs in Albany seems to have stabilized at $1.74 or $1.75 while many other gas stations in the area have just about caught up and are also now at $1.79.
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post #2003 of 2203
1/4/09 at 1:16pm

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

The BJ's in my town has been changing between $1.63 and $1.64 for a couple weeks now. Up a cent; down a cent, then back up a cent.
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post #2004 of 2203
1/4/09 at 2:26pm

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

Yup.. Same here. A variance of about a penny or two--depending on the day.

The thing is: while the price was dropping precipitously, BJs was about 20-cents out in front of all the other local gas stations. The rest have now just about caught up.

No more loooooooong lines at the BJs gas pumps!
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post #2005 of 2203
1/5/09 at 7:19am

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

we got down to 1:39 thursday, then friday jumped to 1.59
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post #2006 of 2203
1/5/09 at 9:57am

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

So now I hear on the news that a higher gas tax is coming. WTF??? This is all because of a slumping economy and the number I hear is 10 cents a gallon. It doesn't seem like alot, yet, this news really rubs me. I just feel like I'm now being asked to pay for someone elses mistakes. I guess this is nothing new. Still, why must every fix for a problem not created by consumers be expected to fall on them? Ending up taxing the hell out of them? Don't the oil companies deserve all the blame hear? Maybe I'm being unrealistic.
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post #2007 of 2203
1/5/09 at 10:32am

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

Quote:
Originally Posted by troy evans
So now I hear on the news that a higher gas tax is coming. WTF??? This is all because of a slumping economy and the number I hear is 10 cents a gallon. It doesn't seem like alot, yet, this news really rubs me. I just feel like I'm now being asked to pay for someone elses mistakes. I guess this is nothing new. Still, why must every fix for a problem not created by consumers be expected to fall on them? Ending up taxing the hell out of them? Don't the oil companies deserve all the blame hear? Maybe I'm being unrealistic.

I guess you haven't heard about the proposal, by some states, to start taxing drivers by the number of miles they drive. There is even a pilot program where several hundred cars were fit with GPS systems that track the number of miles driven. The systems, supposedly, do not provide precise locational details, but they provide enough data to calculate the number of miles driven.

Some states were even proposing to require drivers to report their mileage when registering their vehicles so a mileage tax could be calculated if one was implemented. Apparently, State governments are starting to worry that they will not be able to generate enough revenue to maintain road systems from gasoline taxes, due to people switching to more fuel efficient cars or driving less.

I'm surpised the pricks running the province I live in haven't already implemented this idea as they are on the leading edge when it comes to implementing stupid, invasive laws: one of the latest being making it illegal to smoke in your own car if children are present. I don't smoke or have kids, but our government has now provided one more reason for not having them if a person does smoke.
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post #2008 of 2203
1/5/09 at 10:40am

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

Quote:
Originally Posted by Edwin-S
I guess you haven't heard about the proposal, by some states, to start taxing drivers by the number of miles they drive. There is even a pilot program where several hundred cars were fit with GPS systems that track the number of miles driven. The systems, supposedly, do not provide precise locational details, but they provide enough data to calculate the number of miles driven.

Some states were even proposing to require drivers to report their mileage when registering their vehicles so a mileage tax could be calculated if one was implemented. Apparently, State governments are starting to worry that they will not be able to generate enough revenue to maintain road systems from gasoline taxes, due to people switching to more fuel efficient cars or driving less.

I'm surpised the pricks running the province I live in haven't already implemented this idea as they are on the leading edge when it comes to implementing stupid, invasive laws: one of the latest being making it illegal to smoke in your own car if children are present. I don't smoke or have kids, but our government has now provided one more reason for not having them if a person does smoke.

I have to drive 34 miles roundtrip to work. I also have to drive my kids to school, seperate schools, one being 1 mile from home the other being 14 miles from home. If my state implements something as stupid as taxing my milage, I will raise hell.
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post #2009 of 2203
1/5/09 at 11:03am

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucia Duran
I have to drive 34 miles roundtrip to work. I also have to drive my kids to school, seperate schools, one being 1 mile from home the other being 14 miles from home. If my state implements something as stupid as taxing my milage, I will raise hell.

Those last four words are probably why State governments are cautiously approaching this idea.

Like all governments, they will wait until a time when people are pre-occupied with bigger problems in their lives and then try to sneak it through their legislatures.
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post #2010 of 2203
1/5/09 at 11:59am

Re: That's it, I'm walking. gas up 33 cents since Monday,

I saw my first sub-$20 fill up while on vacation! $1.49 or so in TN. I also learned that gas price increases with latitude. As I drove north from TN to NY, I saw the gas prices steadily climb, with NY being 30-40 cents higher.

Ah, it's good to be home
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