"The gas prices have changed my life a lot since I own my own business. Fifteen years ago, it cost $4,000 a year in fuel for travel fees. Now it costs $35,000, and that comes from my profit. It hurts everything we do. Also, as state director of the North American Fast Pitch Softball Association, I have seen a lot of changes. Due to high fuel prices, we have had to lower prices for entry fees from $350 to $250. Plus, parents want to stay close to home because of fuel expenses, and teams don't want to travel. It goes in a circle."
-- Jeff Sanders
"I don't go to Terre Haute nearly as much as I used to, and I try to do errands in one stop. Also, when our family gets together to go to a restaurant, we try to share a car. I try to fill my car where I find the cheapest gas."
-- Kay Hart
"I have a daughter in high school, and I used to drive her friends home from school activities. I can't do that anymore. I also try to consolidate my errands."
-- Lisa Dickerson
"I don't drive as much. I think about where I'm going and try to plan it out. I can't just go out and run around. I have to have a specific idea where I'm going to save gas."
-- Leslie Borders
"Our kids live four hours away, and we can't visit them as often with these gas prices. We used to visit them every two weeks, and now that we only go every six weeks, it causes us to miss out on many of our grandchildren's special events. We also try to schedule doctor appointments in Indianapolis on the same day, and that is difficult. We thought when we retired we could take drives and visit antique shops, but that isn't happening either."
-- Dian and Bob Martin
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I don't know about everyone but my husband's job is about 50 miles from home so the increase cost for gas is hurting us. What we are now spending on gas doesn't get saved for our future retirement and it's not as simple for him to ride a bicycle to work or park the car for a week as some have suggested in their comments. I do thank God for our car which gets good gas mileage but still find myself complaining at the gas pump, it has more than doubled from a couple of years ago. So, yes we are definetely feeling the increase!
Tralamala:
I'm sorry, perhaps "broke" was too harsh a word. I feel that you did get most of my message though. Now, I do have responsibilities, and I think that how I worded things made you think I might be some sort of single college kid still living with his parents or something. I'm sorry if that's how I came off. There was a time when I did have to decide on whether it's food or gas for the week, but luckily I was able to get rid of some of my debt. I now have a small cushion, but it's not much. I am, like most of the country, probably only two or three paychecks from total bankrupcy.
I honestly feel that around this area that nobody should be able to starve. If you have a home to live in, you probably have enough yard for a garden to help you. There's always fishing and hunting. If it gets bad enough, there is a nearly unlimited supply of food on the ground waiting to be eaten: dandelions, wild onions/garlic, berries, nuts, bugs, etc.
After 50,000 years, if we cannot survive without little green pieces of paper to trade one another, then I feel that we as a species have failed.
Since I work 1 mile from where I live, I ride my bicycle (I have a great rain jacket). I have little contests with myself to see how many days I can go car-free. With side baskets on my bike I can pick up a few groceries. I have started thinking about how ridiculous it is to use 2000 pounds of vehicle to transport 160 pounds of person a mile down the road. I try to save the car for bigger shopping trips and hauling. Granted, I'm single with no kids at home, so this is easier for me than others my age.
If everyone was really concerned with the gas prices, they would park their cars for a week and really give those big oil execs something to think about. maybe then they would realize that we are serious when we say we are fed up with their enormous profits while the rest of us spend a significant amount of our pay checks to get to work.
Being "broke" because you have no other responsibilities is one thing, but being broke when you have to decide to buy the gas to get to work or put food on the table for your family is another. I am pleased that this situation is working out for you so well...but it is sad when you start feeling like the main reason you are working out of the home is to put gas in the tank to get to that job. You know the saying "you better watch what you wish for", you might not like that wish at all. Look around you...it isn't all about what you're happy about...it is about the generation below us and what this is going to do them.
I can see what you are saying on that we need to be less materialistic and maybe this will teach us that to spend less and to have less is important, but I don't want my child to starve in the mean time. I taught her from the beginning that to have more is not that important, but to live with what you already have and need is.
Think about the entire picture, how this affects EVERYONE and those who chose to raise a family prior to this whole mess.
I still have to drive to work. That's pretty much the only driving I do. My routine hasn't changed one bit from when gas was less than $2.00/Gal.
Of course, this means that I'm bringing home less money, which means I don't spend money on junk that I don't need. I used to buy whatever I wanted, and not care at all. I am surprised at how much happier I am now that I am broke. I don't have to worry about all the cool new gadgets or the biggest TV. I don't need $10 frozen pizzas. I'm happy with some Tuna-In-A-Box meal for $3, while I spend my once lost time with my friends and family.
In a way, it would almost be nice to have a hard recession. It would slow things down and have less consumerism pushed into our faces.
A lot more people would be happier if they were broke.