Mike D Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 I just realized today I haven't seen a thread bitching about gas prices lately Was just wondering if the price of gas recently has caused anyone to seriously change their driving habits yet? So far it hasn't really affected me, although I don't drive much so gas is a very small % of my expenses. If I had a long commute I am sure I would be complaining though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godlessgrrl Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 The way that it's most obviously impacted spouse and m'self is that whenever we decide to make the 2-hour trip into Seattle, we usually take the ferry. It used to be cheaper to drive around, but gas prices have caught up with ferry tolls lately. During off-peak ferry season we'll take the boat both ways, since it costs about the same as it does to fill up our car. During peak season we'll take the ferry to Seattle and drive home, since the car/driver toll is higher and we don't have to pay the passenger toll heading eastbound. So it's a bit less. I've noticed that groceries cost more too. So it does seem that gas prices are affecting things overall, since everybody who has to transport stuff has to pay more, and stuff just costs more. But it hasn't bankrupted us, and it hasn't impacted us so severely that it's a huge problem yet. And maybe it won't, who knows. Oddly enough, spouse and I have been considering taking a trip to Cali this fall to visit his relatives and some of my friends. Knowing that gas is $$$ right now, we figured out how much it would cost to drive, take the train, take a plane, and take the bus. And oddly enough, so far the least expensive option is still to drive, even when things like overnights at motels and food expenses were factored in. That kind of surprised me. But, there it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♦ nivek ♦ Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 POL prices have left me and some of my business interests flat stranded. Bid 'X dinero' and have little to no fudge room for anything due to the competitive costs of bidding for gov dot org work, rising Petrol/Oil/Lube prices have flat knocked this little vendor/provider right out of the bidding. This season on the Columbia River, spring has gone long, river is still high and muddy. The folks who use our blackwater divers are carping and bitching as the water lift stations that provide hundreds of thousands of acres irrigation are still unprepared for this season. We can't do shit for our regular customers when our bid prices are now some 20-35% under break-even on costs, much less wages. Odd feeling being 'stranded' at home office waiting for Nature and political shit to straighten out. Can't go out and bid in good faith the work, can't go and do it expecting to be paid a premium over bid, even for POL increases. Fucked if ya do, fucked if ya don't... kL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 i drive 31 miles each way to work, with my 4 banger, thats about 9 bucks a day! i now drive my bike most places (even to get groceries) it gets about 60 miles to the gallon. thats a pain when its sweltering and i have full leathers, a helment and gloves. so yeah, it doesnt sound like much buts its affected me fairly hard. yeah ive noticed inflation is through the roof too. since 2000 the price of gas station goods for instance have doubled! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriedVillageGuts Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 My wife and I started adjusting our lifestyles a few years ago when we began to see the indicators that this was coming. We bought the most fuel efficient car we could find even though it is small (our motto is - anything worth having you can fit into a Firefly ) then when career changes came for me I started the job search radiating outward from our house (a 5 minute commute now). I had started biking to work but found I was just too exhausted at the end of the day for that to be anything close to pleasant. We talked about getting an electric bike but then life interrupted as our kids got older and we had to started taking them everywhere. So now we have 2 vehicles and still drive most places but at least almost everything is very close to home so the rising gas prices haven't hit us too hard. btw I'm curious what gas prices are like elsewhere. Here in Alberta they're around $1 Cdn/litre or about $3.40 US per US gallon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amethyst Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 No, I still have to go to work and I still have to buy groceries. So those trips won't change, although I go to SuperTarget more often to buy everything I need all at the same place rather than running around to different stores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snookums Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 Petrol prices in Australia are also inflated.....I pay around $1.30 (less with a Woolies coupon). However I've read that in Dubi...(sp) petrol is around $0.06 @ litre...now what does that tell? Yeah...that I'm being ripped off badly!!! Notice how the prices always go up when its a public holiday or Friday...of course its the weekend. so people are going to use more. Fuck it shits me.... especially when I read or hear that most are unaware or follow along and blame the 'war' etc..... Nah....its also my own government who are lliterally making a killing on the fuel tax. Fuck!!!! btw....the consumer's of our business are copping the extra - we add that onto the price....yeah...so don't forget that higher fuel prices means higher 'everything' costs.....you can't save or hide from that by driving a more efficient car! Well....unless you are 'self sufficient'... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizard Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 Hasn't changed much for us. Still took our trip in the RV. Ok, its a very small Toyota that gets 18mpg Current price today $2.61 a gallon. I don't go out much during the summer, unless we travel. Weekly trip to the grocery supercenter, about 2 miles away, so a tank lasts a looooooooooooooong time. Plus, I get good milage in my Camaro.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 btw I'm curious what gas prices are like elsewhere. Here in Alberta they're around $1 Cdn/litre or about $3.40 US per US gallon. That's about what we pay here in South California. It has been going down a little in price, so it's between $3.35 and $3.55. A few weeks ago it was up to $3.90. (per gallon) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godlessgrrl Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 Where I'm at in Western WA it's been hovering around $3.29 a gallon. We have 2 functional cars. The one we mostly use is a Suzuki Aerio. It gets between 27 and 30 mpg depending. The other is an old VW Bug. It gets maybe 18 mpg, though it used to get more. We mostly drive the Aerio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurari Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 I don't even have a car anymore because I can't afford it. I borrow my roomie's when I need to and bus everywhere else. It's a pain sometimes, but honestly, I don't miss car ownership in the slightest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vigile Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 POL prices have left me and some of my business interests flat stranded. Bid 'X dinero' and have little to no fudge room for anything due to the competitive costs of bidding for gov dot org work, rising Petrol/Oil/Lube prices have flat knocked this little vendor/provider right out of the bidding. This season on the Columbia River, spring has gone long, river is still high and muddy. The folks who use our blackwater divers are carping and bitching as the water lift stations that provide hundreds of thousands of acres irrigation are still unprepared for this season. We can't do shit for our regular customers when our bid prices are now some 20-35% under break-even on costs, much less wages. Odd feeling being 'stranded' at home office waiting for Nature and political shit to straighten out. Can't go out and bid in good faith the work, can't go and do it expecting to be paid a premium over bid, even for POL increases. Fucked if ya do, fucked if ya don't... kL This is interesting, does it mean that your larger competitors are sucking it up and taking a loss? Surely their costs went up with yours. Do they have more wiggle room due to lower costs in other areas? Sorry times are tough for you. I wonder if your competitors are hedging against higher prices using oil futures. This is what the airlines do. It might be a consideration for you. It would allow you to mitigate higher future prices allowing you to confidently make a flat bid on future work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-COG Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 In my neck of the Indiana woods, gas is around $2.70 to 2.75 a gallon. My Saturn does pretty good on gas mileage, but I'm still looking for ways to cut back. Not always easy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♦ nivek ♦ Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 POL prices have left me and some of my business interests flat stranded. Bid 'X dinero' and have little to no fudge room for anything due to the competitive costs of bidding for gov dot org work, rising Petrol/Oil/Lube prices have flat knocked this little vendor/provider right out of the bidding. This season on the Columbia River, spring has gone long, river is still high and muddy. The folks who use our blackwater divers are carping and bitching as the water lift stations that provide hundreds of thousands of acres irrigation are still unprepared for this season. We can't do shit for our regular customers when our bid prices are now some 20-35% under break-even on costs, much less wages. Odd feeling being 'stranded' at home office waiting for Nature and political shit to straighten out. Can't go out and bid in good faith the work, can't go and do it expecting to be paid a premium over bid, even for POL increases. Fucked if ya do, fucked if ya don't... kL This is interesting, does it mean that your larger competitors are sucking it up and taking a loss? Surely their costs went up with yours. Do they have more wiggle room due to lower costs in other areas? Sorry times are tough for you. I wonder if your competitors are hedging against higher prices using oil futures. This is what the airlines do. It might be a consideration for you. It would allow you to mitigate higher future prices allowing you to confidently make a flat bid on future work. Vig, I suspect the 'Yuppie Dive Company' (so named in part due to the new shiny equipment and neon day-glo their guys wear compared to our tattered and beat to shit mostly black dive geat and suits) gets to carry a lot more on credit than we do. Can go to local bank, have up to a mil five on tap, but unless there is promised, anchored contracting to pay for the loans, I dare not use any of that on pure blue sky speculation. That means I run the business off of one high limit, low interest credit card that should be paid off monthly. Refuse to have too may open accounts with vendors, as that can and had caused financial problems and strain. Prefer to have a 30-day open, paid in full account if anything. POL being a total loss consumable and not budgeted in a the costs they are now have fairly well sunk most of the distant jobs we would have normally put in for and won with ease. An example would be the Salmon Creek fish wier. Needed redesigned to new specs (done), built (done), and installed (not done). We built the new weir to specs, had it loaded up, ready to go the 250 mile drive, got told to 'hold' as the Agency had to review the contracting.. We were stuck with a leased truck and trailer, the costs of the steel in the wier, and then the labor which I can't recover until we get job done. Between ineptitude of those we work for in all the strata of goverment agencies, and the hard core inflationary costs of everything I don't see much of a rosy future for small business interests like mine. Fucked if ya do, fucked if ya don't... kL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lothartx Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 I went back to riding my motorcycle to work. I can get away with riding all year here in TX. The bike gets around 48mpg and my ol' Ford F150 gets about 14.5mpg. I only drive the truck if it's pouring down rain or below freezing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts