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How do rising gas prices affect your family?


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Links, no.... I generally listen to NPR on the radio. NPR is a credible source. I guess I just don't believe we'll see gas hit that $5-6, or if we do, it will be very short term, like the last time it went over $4. Unemployment has been going down, not up, which you can find at any reputable news source. Not going to debate which of us is more credible. This is simply my opinion on what I see happening, from listening to NPR, watching the evening news, past research, talking to people, etc.

 

This is true. This year. No president up for re-election wants gas prices to be $5-6. Heard him say that this week.

 

This is my prediction, fwiw: gas prices will go up until Sept or Oct, then they will miraculously come down.

 

In January we'll either see a dramatic and permanent rise in prices again, or we'll see the beginning of some drilling.

 

Of course, this is just what I believe. Take it with some salt.:D

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Very little. Our minivan is 7yo with about 45,000 miles on it. We live a couple miles from DH's work, and the girls and I use public transit during the week.

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We're both working from home more often and otherwise driving less often.

 

For me we recently switched vehicles from an eight-year-old one with 19/25 mpg with required 93 octane gas to a new one with 27/36 mpg which takes normal gas. If we didn't both require all wheel drive, we might have considered vehicles with even better gas mileage.

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It is not effecting us greatly because I had already made changes. I have been combining my errands for years. I have also been spending 4 hours at the pool while my kids have swim practice for the past year to save on gas. I cut back on the amount of field trips we take last year. Dh is able to take mass transit to work. I do wish we were in a postion to replace the minivan with a more fuel efficient vehicle.

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I try to limit trips to the stores and such and run errands (even if it's "early") when we do extra curricular activities. Unfortunately dd and I both have specialists that are 20-30 minutes away. We go several times a month and can't do anything to change that right now.

 

eta: dh drives a civic hybrid since he does the vast majority of the driving. I drive an xterra. both cars are already paid off so we are very very hesitant to buy another hybrid when we have two well functioning cars right now.

Edited by jillian
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What it means for us is that we can buy less food. Period. We live in a rural location 20 miles from most places. We cannot really cut back our driving at all. It sucks. Rising gas prices make me sick to my stomach.

 

:iagree:....us too. I make less trips out, we can't just pile in and go somewhere because we feel like it. Gas is for necessary trips and trips are combined to make the most of them. No one comes home without a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread and some eggs:D

Faithe

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Our church is very close so that is a blessing.

 

I usually "combine" errands, when I can, anyway....for gasoline reasons, but also just b/c I'm out and in the long run it saves time.

 

However, we will be cutting back horseback riding lessons to 2x/month instead of our current every week schedule. It's a disappointment, but we still will be able to ride..just not as often.

 

Also, we're considering sending our dd to 2 classes offered by a tutor. Writing will be every Wed and math every T/Fri. We can combine horseback riding and swing up to her writing class. The additional 2 days on T/Fri I need to "consider" as it's a 20 min drive one way.

 

In short, yes, we are making accommodations.

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It is heavily factoring into our decisions. I live in a major metropolitan area with lousy public transportation. I live in the suburbs, and the city is so sprawling that going down to one car won't work (although we did it for a long time). We purchased a used vehicle (standard, good gas) that has been a money pit. My van has bad gas efficiency - and I drive a LOT. That has decreased a bit (last year, I was driving 32 miles in the am to one job, 17 miles to another later in the day, and 32 miles home). My 7 year old van has 120K miles. :glare:

 

So, gas prices have me wondering if "it's worth" my second job. That job is limited in time frame anyway since I'll be looking for a therapist job for hours outside of my teaching.

 

We are trying to make "new to us" vehicle decisions right now.

 

Increased food cost will impact us tremendously.

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Doesn't affect us too much. We have a single car, and my husband never uses it for work, and other than weekly co-op, we don't have any school "must-drive" commitments. (Frankly, we could take the bus to co-op if we had to.) So, the errands and church are the only driving needs. Of course, our church is a billion miles away (for now--hoping for a church plant here soon!!!!).

 

Anyway, I feel very fortunate about our driving situation.

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Yes gas prices affect us. A lot of the issues are about choices. Some choices options aren't really there, but...

 

-we choose to live in a townhouse 1.5 miles from dh's job.

-we live in a place that has lots of activities and you can pay a premium for some activities, but if you look you can find cheaper alternatives (group keyboard lessons at the rec center v. private piano)

-most of the extracurriculars my dc have done have been within a 2 mile radius of home. Right now, I've made a choice that my youngest should have two extracurriculars that are quite a distance from home (10 and 20 miles). He has special needs and both these activities meet some physical therapy issues he has. One activity is free. The other activity is cheap. The two combined with gas costs would not add up to physical therapy costs and honestly I think he gets more out of these things than he would PT. In the end it's a choice I am making.

-our society has long made the choice not to pursue alternative energy sources, because people in general didn't feel the cost of energy. Now, that we are feeling the cost it will be years before we can figure out the best approaches to alternative energy and catch up.

 

 

My family has made choices for the last 20 years that keep our energy use down. I know some people don't have options, but some people in the past have bought whatever vehicle they wanted without thinking "do I need this much towing capacity?", "how many people are actually going to be in this vehicle?" and now few years later are unhappy with the gas mileage. I have a family member who complains regularly about not having XYZ, but really she's made choices in her life that put her in the place she is (money might be tight, but she has a job, nice home, iow she has what she needs).

 

It would be nice to be in a position to not need to think about the financial long and short term aspects of my choices, but that's not the case, so I do think about these things and make choices.

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:iagree:

Yes gas prices affect us. A lot of the issues are about choices. Some choices options aren't really there, but...

 

-we choose to live in a townhouse 1.5 miles from dh's job.

-we live in a place that has lots of activities and you can pay a premium for some activities, but if you look you can find cheaper alternatives (group keyboard lessons at the rec center v. private piano)

-most of the extracurriculars my dc have done have been within a 2 mile radius of home. Right now, I've made a choice that my youngest should have two extracurriculars that are quite a distance from home (10 and 20 miles). He has special needs and both these activities meet some physical therapy issues he has. One activity is free. The other activity is cheap. The two combined with gas costs would not add up to physical therapy costs and honestly I think he gets more out of these things than he would PT. In the end it's a choice I am making.

-our society has long made the choice not to pursue alternative energy sources, because people in general didn't feel the cost of energy. Now, that we are feeling the cost it will be years before we can figure out the best approaches to alternative energy and catch up.

 

 

My family has made choices for the last 20 years that keep our energy use down. I know some people don't have options, but some people in the past have bought whatever vehicle they wanted without thinking "do I need this much towing capacity?", "how many people are actually going to be in this vehicle?" and now few years later are unhappy with the gas mileage. I have a family member who complains regularly about not having XYZ, but really she's made choices in her life that put her in the place she is (money might be tight, but she has a job, nice home, iow she has what she needs).

 

It would be nice to be in a position to not need to think about the financial long and short term aspects of my choices, but that's not the case, so I do think about these things and make choices.

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I don't LIKE that the prices are rising, but it doesn't effect our lives that much. I live in the suburbs and drive a sedan. A tank of gas lasts me about two weeks and that's with going somewhere almost every day. However, most of the places I NEED to go are within five miles of my house. I can walk to the local "village center" that houses a grocery store, dry cleaners, chinese restaurant, pizza place, liquor store, local pub, and an ice rink. My oldest can walk to high school, so if she stays after school nobody has to retrieve her. Our weekly co-op is about 5 miles away, and we only do one or two field trips a month. If we do a DC field trip we use the metro.

 

I am wondering if a Costco membership would save me any money at all. We are a family of four and I cook from scratch about 2/3 of the time, but we're not above dining on frozen appetizers in a time crunch. Costco gas is several cents cheaper per gallon, and I'd consider getting my daughter's next pair of eyeglasses there. Do any of you Costco experts think I'll save more than my membership fee in a year? (Keep in mind that I HAVE a Trader Joe's)

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I can walk to the local "village center" that houses a grocery store, dry cleaners, chinese restaurant, pizza place, liquor store, local pub, and an ice rink. My oldest can walk to high school, so if she stays after school nobody has to retrieve her. Our weekly co-op is about 5 miles away, and we only do one or two field trips a month. If we do a DC field trip we use the metro.

 

That sounds like a city in MD that starts with a C, and a village center with the initials O.M...... Or a city in VA that starts with a R.

Edited by CathieC
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I live at a distance from the small city which offers cultural opportunities, a good food co-op, a decent library, etc. Ages ago, when gas was much less expensive, I reduced the number of outings for the sake of time not money. It is very rare for me to run a single errand. Also, I hate to shop so stores like Walmart with tons of stuff do not help me minimize the number of shopping trips. They just give me headaches. I'd rather go to the local hardware store on an as-need basis, a trip I combine with a stop at the post office, the cheapest gas station in the area, and a great thrift shop where I often find sewing related items. This is given as an example of a typical outing with several purposes rolled into one.

 

Within the last few years a grocery opened that is in biking distance. It is not the place that I prefer to shop, but if I need an item or two it is nice to have the option of combining this errand with some exercise.

Edited by Jane in NC
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Well, it effects all of us in higher food prices etc.

 

I don't see much effect at the pump. Years ago we decided to move into town and go to one car. We made a decision to try to minimize our car needs. Now, I am not hardcore like some people I know are. I will use the car to drive the 2 miles to the grocery store rather than have a bike with a trailer for all the food.

 

But, dh can bike or walk or bus to work. Most of our activities are ones we can walk to. I recently changed our piano teacher and made a conscious decision to pick one in town. I do drive there in the rain or snow, but I know that I can walk if needed.

 

I also know that we are lucky to be able to make those choices. Lots of people don't. And even a small increase in driving makes me notice the cost of gas. I had to take my son to a youth retreat 30 miles out of town and I was thinking that I will have to take the extra gas into account this pay period.

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