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It Didn't Fill it Up

May 18th, 2007 at 05:20 am

I just about wanted to cry today when I realized that the $50 worth of gasoline I put into my car today only gave me 13.873 gallons of gas. There has never been a time in my life that a fifty dollar bill would not fill up my 18 gallon gas tank. And I'd usually get back at least $5 in change this last year. Until now.

I don't drink fancy (or any) coffee, at $3 to $7 a cup, so I guess I still get to complain about the price of gas. $3.59 per gallon. This has to stop. It is wreaking havoc on the budget. I have no idea at all how the minimum wagers are surviving right now. I hope they all live close to their jobs, because I don't think they could afford to drive to them anymore.

I absolutely hate doing this, but I have decided to double my gas budget. That means it will be $200 for each four week period. And with $50 not even filling the tank, that means I have 13 gallons to work with. Thank the good Lord that last week is the last of t-ball. That takes a gallon round trip to drive to each time.

If this keeps up, if it gets worse, I think it'll mean no soccer in the fall. Rose can still play basketball because it is only one mile from the house and we can ride our bikes in good weather even. But I don't see how we can just blithely drive 12 to 15 miles one way to 3 or 4 practices a week if both kids play and 25 miles on game days. It's just too much.

I had thought about letting them go back to the dance studio next year instead of sports and if I could get them in afterschool classes on the same day, I could combine it with a weekly trip to the chiropractor. One trip a week is still manageable for extra-curricular activities. But not much more.

Maybe I'm being a pessimist. Maybe gas prices will go back down. Hey! It wasn't that funny...Stop laughing at me.

7 Responses to “It Didn't Fill it Up”

  1. boomeyers Says:
    1179462271

    Hahahahahaha! I want to be in that dream too!
    The ever so popular "they" were predicting $4.00 per gal this summer!

  2. contrary1 Says:
    1179468529

    The interesting thing I've been noticing is no one I know has changed their driving habits since the prices have gone through the roof.

    Anyone done anything really different in their daily lives to change their consumption?? I don't drive much, so it will be hard to cut down.......but I'm still making a conscious effort to combine errands & commitments so trips out are at a minimum. Too far away from anything to bike or walk.

  3. shiela Says:
    1179487167

    I heard on TV this morning, that the reason why our petrol (gas) here in Australia is really expensive right now (around $1.30-$1.40 per litre) is because of the high demand in the US. Something about it's your summer and its driving season. And that prices won't go down until September. The funny thing is that I also heard few months ago that the reason for high petrol price at that time was because there was high demand in Europe, because its their winter and they are using too much gas. It seems like there's always something pushing prices up.

  4. shiela Says:
    1179487251

  5. tinapbeana Says:
    1179489343

    bah! i was having this conversation with my dad yesterday. i've been trying to think of anything that has gone up in price 300% in the past ten years other than gas, and i'm flummoxed. actually, gas has gone up almost 400% in my area... absolutely friggin' insane.

    and yes, my driving habits have definitely changed. in 1995-1999 i typically drove 18000-25000 miles per year (what with attending school, driving home, working, etc). now i average about 4k per year.

  6. Amber Says:
    1179537847

    Oh I feel your pain, it cost me $33.70 to fill up my little '89 Camry; never before

  7. LuckyRobin Says:
    1179546569

    I know my driving habits have certainly changed over the past two years. We used to think nothing of driving to town four or five times per week. Now I try my hardest to keep it to two trips a week. I've also changed my shopping habits, I tend to buy more to last longer, even if it means freezing bread and milk. If they would improve the bus service out here I would use it in a heartbeat. But as it is we get four or five a day, two leave well before school starts and there's one mid-day, and then two well after school gets out. Just does not jibe with an elementary school schedule. This summer I hope to use it for town trips, though.

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