Just a few musings on the events surrounding the high price of gasoline, first How many people are seriously going to change their lifestyles in order to adjust to this. I would wager not many, once the shock wears off with the prices stabilizing people will slowly adjust to the new normal, their wages will rise to match the increase in energy as Unions are now starting to demand higher 'Gas of living' Charges. This is what happened in England as their price is high, only in England and other European countries, their Tax rates are up to 80 percent of the cost. How many people are going to stop using their boat this summer? How many are going to stop using their ATV's? The only good thing about these high gas prices is Diesel is even higher, which means the deathknell finally for that pos engine in cars, there will always be a use for the Diesels in trucks as people will still need to haul and move stuff. Finally no matter how high gas prices get, it is still beats taking public transit.

There are so many funny things in this post that I can't even start to formulate a response. :suspect:

Hilarity overload- system rebooting.

the diesel cars though can be run on veggie oil wich alot of people are doing.

Diesel was at $5.09/gal going by the truckstop.

Just a few musings on the events surrounding the high price of gasoline, first How many people are seriously going to change their lifestyles in order to adjust to this. I would wager not many, once the shock wears off with the prices stabilizing people will slowly adjust to the new normal, their wages will rise to match the increase in energy as Unions are now starting to demand higher 'Gas of living' Charges. This is what happened in England as their price is high, only in England and other European countries, their Tax rates are up to 80 percent of the cost. How many people are going to stop using their boat this summer? How many are going to stop using their ATV's? The only good thing about these high gas prices is Diesel is even higher, which means the deathknell finally for that pos engine in cars, there will always be a use for the Diesels in trucks as people will still need to haul and move stuff. Finally no matter how high gas prices get, it is still beats taking public transit.


I would have to guess you have an unlimited bank account ?

The current price of gas is already causing many folks to change the way they live, where they live, and what they drive or don't drive anymore. I know around here car dealerships are no longer even accepting large trucks and SUVs for trade in, they simply don't want them because they have too many as it is from people getting rid of them. I know my boss who drove a supercab Chevy diesel truck and wife drove an Chevy Avalanche have now both switched vehicles to a Hyundai and an Acura TSX in order to save over 1000.00 a month in fuel bills. The price of gas has gone up over 30% since last year, not to mention the cost of food and other necessities. I don't know about you but I did not receive a 30% pay raise this year to cover the increased costs. Like most folks I'm simply having to alter the existing income to compensate. But some folks are already very close to or at the end of their budgetary rope and don't have any more income to juggle, or for that matter those on fixed incomes.

As gas and the other necessities continue to increase it will force most folks to make definite changes in the way the live and run their day to day life.

I usually express no opinion :cool:, but in this case I truly believe that Caddyshack has his head in a dark place :hmm:.

I usually express no opinion :cool:, but in this case I truly believe that Caddyshack has his head in a dark place :hmm:.

Agreed !

Early on in the latest runup a lot of people tried to take it in stride but the shock is going to hit home in the northern states at least, when the first round of heating bills comes in this winter. Buying 20 to 25 galllons of gas is one thing and 200 to 500 gallons of heating oil is another. The world will never be the same again.

this guy doesn't know what he's talking about. I run stop signs just to save on gas.

Early on in the latest runup a lot of people tried to take it in stride but the shock is going to hit home in the northern states at least, when the first round of heating bills comes in this winter. Buying 20 to 25 galllons of gas is one thing and 200 to 500 gallons of heating oil is another. The world will never be the same again.

I have 100% propane for my house which is a rather large home and it costed lots to heat last year. I think I'm going to get some electric space heaters this year to augment certain rooms in the name of cheaper heat per dollar spent.

I for one am going to change my lifestyle.

I used to always make the 80+ mile round-trip to/from college. With gas prices so high, I had to 1st get a second job, and now I'm going to have to get an apartment close to college because it is actually way cheaper now to pay rent than it would be for me to drive and fix whatever breaks on my car and pay for gas. BUT even with that, there is a gap that is created between how much I would be earning and how much money I would be spending to live and go to college. Not to mention living that far away from my jobs will really cut down on my hours of working, so I will end up having to get a third job to fill the gap and keep my income above my monetary output.

This semester is going to be freaking INSANE! Never thought I would have to balance 3 jobs with going to college full time.

P.S.
Price per gallon where I am in Hawaii
$4.54 - regular
$4.64 - plus
$4.74 - super
$5.36 - Diesel

Gas prices are getting cray I mean I really don't take my car out on the weekends like I use to but I am saving 20-30 cents a-gallon by filling up a sam's $4.20 a gallon V 4.60 a gallon you decide.

I could easily do some math to figure out how this is impacting me. Fortunately for me I just got my car paid off and I have a $300+ car payment I no longer have to make.
I'd rather do other things with my money but....

The "union" doesn't speak for me and they don't control my life :lol:
Everyone getting a raise to compensate for the cost of gas is retarded and counterproductive. Everyone will just raise prices to compensate for the raises they "have to" give their employees and then everything will just cost more so everyone will need a raise to compensate for higher prices and the cycle will never end.... refer to "HISTORY of EARTH" for more details. :lol:

I can't make any changes really, except to ride my motorcycle more, which I want to do anyway.
I work 4 miles from my house, a tank of gas lasts me almost 3 weeks, regardless of how much it costs. I have to pay to drive so I will.
I am fortunate as compared to other people. I know of several folks who have started carpooling and using more public transit to save money.
Yes, people are going to change, something is going to change. To quote Amy Wong, "Guh!".

This looks like a trolling thread to me. The answer is so obvious it isn't worth adding to this.

To be honest, the gas prices suck. But if it were the biggest burden in our lives right now, we wouldn't drive Cadillacs. I understand most people have changed their lifestyles, I have a little, but I haven't let it ruin anything that I enjoy doing.

Wow, Touched a nerve, i never meant to sound condenscending about people on their last legs (money wise) but my point was , your country has endured two excessive price shocks, 1973 and 1979 with a Recession for good measure in 1982, I am old enough to remember and some of you are as well, what people were saying then, same as now, we adapted and moved on, Yes the cars changed, but really with the big pickups and SUV's it just moved into a different area of size. No question about it, some people are going to change, but I still say the majority will not, we have worked too hard for our lifestyles. Does it make sense to trade in a Cadillac Seville on a Honda Civic or a Prius. In my humble opinon it does not, the cost of the monthly payment, the cost of insurance, etc will more than clobber a 20 dollar or more increase in a tank of gas. I know that I can not speak for Americans but I suspect the sentiment is the same, you moved mostly to where you live now because of what you can get for your money vis a vis living in a city, the price for that is commuting. Do I like the price of Gas, No No and No, and I pay more for it than you and I have further to commute than most of you 275 km each day, and no I do not have an unlimited bank account, but this is my choice and yes somepeople think I am absouletly nuts for doing it, but it is worth it.


From that Dark place

KJ

Just a few musings on the events surrounding the high price of gasoline, first How many people are seriously going to change their lifestyles in order to adjust to this.
Change lifestyle?:cookoo:. No but I am adjusting by switching to cars that get better gas mileage. I myself am using a Chevy S10 vs my conversion van that I had last year as a work hourse (21 mpg average vs 13mpg). My wife is going from her Lincoln Mark VIII to (most probabably) a Nissan Versa or Hyundai Sonata. The V8's will be "toy" cars for me until gas prices go back down (if they do). I drive my Cobra vert twice a week to the beach so it stays. I actually enjoy the Cobra more after driving the S10 all week.:thumbsup:

Early on in the latest runup a lot of people tried to take it in stride but the shock is going to hit home in the northern states at least, when the first round of heating bills comes in this winter. Buying 20 to 25 galllons of gas is one thing and 200 to 500 gallons of heating oil is another. The world will never be the same again.
Yeah that. I own investment properties in NYC, the oil prices are going to KILL me this year. Like last year wasn't bad enough. :mad:

The cost of fuel has an impact on everyone. It is the most vital commodity and is the driving force of our economy. I think that we all will make some concessions to deal with the increases in cost for goods and services. As was mentioned earlier we are being gradually desensitized to the steady price increases. For example, today we would think that $3.00/gal for gasoline is a bargain when a about year ago we were complaining about it. Whatever is driving the spiraling cost of oil, it is adding to the recession that we are now facing and that will affect all of us.

I have only used the RV once this summer. :( 64 gallon tank , 4 barrel and a 454.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't have a firm grasp on the current climate of the Canadian economy. Being such, I can say at least on the surface of things that Canada isn't dealing with massive deficit spending for various foreign "programs," it isn't dealing with a decline in the purchasing power of their national currency (in fact, they've been seeing an increase), and I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that they haven't been hit as hard with things such as a deflated housing market, nor a sub-prime lending fiasco that was wrought from sheer foolishness, nor an increase in overall but more importantly - long term unemployment claims, nor a general stagnation in income, etc.. etc.. And as far as unions go, again... I don't know what's going on in Canada, but down here... they're leverage in such negotiations has been dwindling over recent years - just look at the latest round of contracts with the Big 3.

There are many more things hitting Americans than the ridiculous increase in gas prices. Also, there are more Americans at the end of their "financial" ropes than you quite realize... many are trying to make changes where they can.

Personally... while we're not in straits dire enough to precipitate change out of need, even we have been making changes here and there. We're not driving as much and we're not spending as much. While our monthly gas bill hasn't hit us to the point of making sacrifices out of necessity, it has certainly made a large impact in the amount of our disposable income. After paying all of our bills, putting money into savings, buying our groceries, and gas, we're left with about half of what we had just a year or two ago... it's both noticeable and disheartening.

However, I consider us fortunate enough to have such a cushion... I dare to imagine what things must be like for those countless people who are struggling paycheck to paycheck.

Will we be making changes? Oh, there will be changes for many of us. I am currently driving 122 miles a day to work. Why you say? Well, I'm in construction and don't really have much of a choice where the jobs are nor do I have much of a choice as to which contractor has work and who will hire me. Yes, I'm one of those evil union workers, over paid and under worked ..... NOT!! I'm well paid for the work that I do but work very hard mentally and physically for what I earn.

I find myself in an interesting position financially, I bought another house a year and a half ago, just as prices were starting to drop. Little did I know or expect that they would fall so far. Now the values are upside down and I am faced with riding the tide through to better times or ..... no need to go there yet.

I think we will see many more good folks caught in the maelstrom of economic decline losing houses, savings, investments and more. Finding themselves back at Go without collecting $200. Some may have to start over and some will find themselves in tremendous debt with nothing to show for it.

Now you may say, "it's their own fault for being foolish with their money, no one held a gun to their head to make those choices." or something to that effect and you may be right in many cases, but there will be many who are pulled into the current because of circumstances beyond their control.

There are few options for gain without risk. Sometimes you get caught in poor timing.

No one has a crystal ball that actually works. Those of us who survive this depression should count ourselves blessed. Before we scorn those who've lost out we should consider that "but for the grace of God, there go I'.

The ARM debacle wouldn't be so bad if we hadn't been through this scenario once before during the Carter administration and 20%+ mortgage interest rates.

Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.

Prices have been rising faster than wages for many for some time now. Many companies have replaced older workers with higher salaries/wages/benefits packages with younger workers, lower salaries/wages/and often no benefits to do the same jobs. Still more have outsourced labor and manufacturing jobs to third world countries where people are working at near slave wages and conditions.

Add to the economic low tide the ever increasing glut of government bureaucracies, unbridled spending, we'll see more and more tax increases to fund all this. Our representatives in their infinite wisdom know little more than to throw more money at these problems, (and of course, take every opportunity to fund their little pet projects while doing so) money which comes from we the working folk of this nation, and instead of suturing the lacerated artery they are increasing the wound with a very sharp scalpel.

We will see a lot of people who were just getting by a year ago, living meager lives at that, in a position of deciding whether to eat or pay rent.

Our middle class is certainly endangered if not nearing extinction.

The ARM debacle is just one large symptom of the many financial woes of our nation. Rising fuel prices (because they can) are in turn causing all other goods to increase in cost if for no other reason than the increase of shipping costs. Turning to corn and other crops for alternative fuel source will cause food shortages and rising food costs.

The list goes on and this thread will probably be closed soon as a result of my rantings..

Sorry folks.

Gas prices aren't the only thing affected by high gas prices. This also effects pricing on food and clothes, for example. Trucks deliver all the products we buy at stores and stores are having to pay more to have those products shipped...

my cars will keep going. my boats wont. it costs roughly 1100 dollars to fill my boat to the top. i used the boat most every weekend last year. this year however, i have been out once. i filled it ONCE at 1800 dollars, which is a HUGE increase from just last year.
not going to many places this year in it, thats for sure

Of that 1800 dollars you spent, you gave 720 to the governments in various taxes, I think we need to be focusing our attention on that, and we have not even talked about the 'Hurricane Season' yet. It shoud be also noted since this is Independence day/Canada Day weekends that Freedom of speech is a blessing that our great nations share and both have fought to preserve and are still doing it in Iraq and Afganistan so Kev keep on 'Ranting' Feedback is the breakfast of champions. Happy Fourth of July...

This thread is going to go political and get locked.

In the immortal words of Pogo Possum, "We have met the enemy and they is us".

my cars will keep going. my boats wont. it costs roughly 1100 dollars to fill my boat to the top. i used the boat most every weekend last year. this year however, i have been out once. i filled it ONCE at 1800 dollars, which is a HUGE increase from just last year.
not going to many places this year in it, thats for sure

I've noticed that the lake is much quieter this season. Mostly just us sailboats and other jetskis buzzing around.
We can go all season on a couple gallons of gas. "The wind is free". If you haven't tried sailing, I encourage you to take the Red Cross course or just hang out at the marina, someone will invite you out.

http://ninnescah.org/nsaoval3.gif (http://ninnescah.org/)