Gas prices and Katrina

[dvcgirl]

So NOW it's okay for us to be worried about gas prices?

Really, I'm sorry; I just can't help it. After days of chiding some of us for discussing how gas prices have been affecting us negatively, you start a thread about rising gas prices? I can't resist the irony.

You continue to take a comment personally that wasn't directed towards you. Look to yourself for the answers to why you're so bothered......I'm sure that they're in there.

I never said that I wasn't concerned about gas prices or that I'd love to see them go up. I said that would be insane. I love to maximize savings whenever I can. However, we have a monthly spending budget that we *rarely* spend in full, and so we'll spend a little more now that gas prices are going up. We'll continue to eat out once a week and our vacation plans will not be impacted. And so personally, we won't be impacted....our retirement savings and investments will not be altered.

The bigger picture here is what the rising gas prices and the castrophic damage from Katrina will do to our economy. It's going to be a blow for sure...and will effect everyone to a certain degree. I feel for anyone who lives in a cold climate because natural gas and heating oil are set to skyrocket.

All of *that* news isn't all that important though...so many people are homeless now...so many lives lost. We already make a yearly donation to the American Red Cross, but today I think it's time for those of us who can.... to ante up again....

 

[MyGoofy26]

Just got back a little while ago. Every station was at $2.699 except Krogers. They were $2.479 and with your card you saved an extra 3 cents. I filled up at $2.449.

 

[pyrxtc]

All this just makes me extra happy to get the price I did on airfare and we are not driving as previously planned.

 

[kelleigh1]

Just got back a little while ago. Every station was at $2.699 except Krogers. They were $2.479 and with your card you saved an extra 3 cents. I filled up at $2.449.

My husband just called me on his way home. The Gulf/Cumberland Farms down the street from our house that was at 2.55 this morning jumped to $2.84, along with another Gulf/Cumberland Farms in town. But he said the Shell near the other station is "only" at $2.69...which is still up, but I think it's only 10 cents higher than it was this morning. And that Shell is usually the most expensive place in town.

 

[LoriKay]

Yesterday gas was $2.56 here in Tulsa. This morning when I went to run errands it was $2.69 but on the way home (2 hours later!) it had jumped up to $2.79. I'm afraid to see where it's at by the end of the week.

 

[cobbler]

2 things I just have to put my opinion on.

1 - Releasing some reserves won't do any good. Its not like the gas prices will actually go down if they do this. They will stay the same I am sure.

2 - Inflation. They want to curb inflation, lower the gas prices. What do you think is actually causing the inflation. Gas prices go up, then others have to raise their prices and so on and so forth.

It is getting out of hand. Ok this may age me slightly but 12 years ago when I started driving gas was 89cents a gallon. They did raise but not totally out of control like they are now. Last year they were what, around a buck fifty a gallon. So an increase of about 60-65 cents in 11 years. Now its gone up about 1.15-1.25 in the past year. Someone is being greedy.

I don't know, I think Bush needs to be a little less concerned with the medicare and the Iraq constitution at this present time and worry about our economic hardship that is soon to come. History repeats itself, here's hoping its not another great depression.

 

[dvcgirl]

2 things I just have to put my opinion on.

1 - Releasing some reserves won't do any good. Its not like the gas prices will actually go down if they do this. They will stay the same I am sure.

2 - Inflation. They want to curb inflation, lower the gas prices. What do you think is actually causing the inflation. Gas prices go up, then others have to raise their prices and so on and so forth.

It is getting out of hand. Ok this may age me slightly but 12 years ago when I started driving gas was 89cents a gallon. They did raise but not totally out of control like they are now. Last year they were what, around a buck fifty a gallon. So an increase of about 60-65 cents in 11 years. Now its gone up about 1.15-1.25 in the past year. Someone is being greedy.

I don't know, I think Bush needs to be a little less concerned with the medicare and the Iraq constitution at this present time and worry about our economic hardship that is soon to come. History repeats itself, here's hoping its not another great depression.

The government releasing reserves is necessary for one reason....to keep gasoline supplies flowing. As it is now, on the wholesale side, gas stations are being told that they can have say...3 days supply vs. the 7 they normall get. There are refineries that can't keep up with production or are shut down in the gulf right now. So the government needs to release the reserve.

Secondly, "lower the price of gas"? How do your propose that this will happen. Oil and gas are commodities. The more people who need and want those things, the higher the price goes. This is a world-wide market....huge economic growth is occuring in China and India...they are using much, much more oil than they ever have. The higher the demand the the higher the price.

The reason that so many in our nation are going to feel the pinch is because we have become a nation of SUVs (not knocking SUV owners...we have two of them ourselves) and we have an unprecedented amount of sprawl occuring around our metro areas. People are moving far, far out in the burbs to buy those nice new houses being built...and they commute further and further to work...driving those SUVs. Those are the people who will feel this the most. We're all going to have to dig deeper eventually...because our economy is definitely going to take a hit.

We were on the verge of trouble to begin with...insane housing levels, rising interest rates, mounting consumer debt, inflation inching up....and now this.

But there's no "gas genie" out there who can lower the prices. We live in a capitalistic world...if there was no money in oil....nobody would drill for oil.

 

[cobbler]

Oh I know we can't lower gas prices, I may have been born at night but it wasn't last night

No seriously I know we can't but it would be a way to curb the inflation.

 

[nepean]

Here in Canada we are paying $1.04 per litre. There are 3.9 litres in a US gallon. We seen prices Sunday night at 93 cents and in the morning $1.04. We have so much tax built into gas prices that people are getting really upset. We usually spend $175. on gas to Orlando but that will increase to about $400. this year. Airfare from Ottawa return is about $675. per person. Three hours away in Syracuse it is $211. return on the same airline. The tax is killing us.


Hope there is no rationing.


Nepean

 

[MyGoofy26]

The discomfort that high gas prices will cause us is nothing compared to what people in New Orleans are going through now. It appears it will be many MONTHS before there is even a job for them to go to. I bet they would thrilled to change places with us. There are some things worse than having to quit eating out or swapping our SUV for something that gets more than 10 mpg. Hug you kids, kiss your spouse and be thankful your all safe.

I have no doubt everyone here has nothing but total sympathy for the position all those people are in right now. BUt just because we're complaining about the one thing that does effect us personally doesn't mean we're equating ourselves with their situation.

In fact, as much as I might complain about what the gas prices are doing to my account, my family is extremely thankful. My cousin is in the Air Force and has orders to report to Keesler. She should have been there 2 weeks ago but got an extension to stay in Italy for a couple more weeks. She just got in Saturday and had plans to drive down this week. It was a VERY close call for for her. Keesler AFB was completely underwater and all the housing on base suffered extensive damages, which is where she would be living if she hadn't had that extension.

 

[DiznEeyore]

You continue to take a comment personally that wasn't directed towards you. Look to yourself for the answers to why you're so bothered......I'm sure that they're in there.

Uh, okay. Your comments were directed towards everyone who voiced concern; you just couldn't understand it. I can't help but be gratified that now you seem to.

 

[Luv2trav]

All this just makes me extra happy to get the price I did on airfare and we are not driving as previously planned.

Just heard the price is going to be 3.50 around here..... I'm not sure if that is true...Either way I filled up last night!

I don't know about you but I am more worried about the cost of heating my house this winter more than the price at the pump. I can always stay home to save money and unfortunately heat is not something we can cut out.

 

[Kimberlyfamilyfv]

last week Hawaii put a cap on what could be charged at the pump. They capped it at 2.16 plus taxes which made a final cap of 2.81 per gallon. I think every state should do this but i don't think it will happen as long as Bush is in office. He and his v.p. are in bed with the oil people and as the saying goes never bite the hand that feeds you, and if you think bush will do anything counter to his oil buddies you are saddly mistaken.

Kimberly

 

[RADOPT]

I don't know about you but I am more worried about the cost of heating my house this winter more than the price at the pump. I can always stay home to save money and unfortunately heat is not something we can cut out.

I feel for all of you that have to worry about this. We don't usually get that cold around here.

 

[Luv2trav]

last week Hawaii put a cap on what could be charged at the pump. They capped it at 2.16 plus taxes which made a final cap of 2.81 per gallon. I think every state should do this but i don't think it will happen as long as Bush is in office. He and his v.p. are in bed with the oil people and as the saying goes never bite the hand that feeds you, and if you think bush will do anything counter to his oil buddies you are saddly mistaken.

Kimberly

Not to get political but!
Another reason Bush has failed to release the oil reserves..... Oh it's going to be a long 3 years.

 

[Luv2trav]

I feel for all of you that have to worry about this. We don't usually get that cold around here.

We are getting a double whammy this year. It's been a hot summer so we didn't get any relief due to power costs combine that with the prediction of a cold winter... We are probably going to see 300-400 dollar heating bills this winter.... Guess I better bundle up to stay warm... I would still take this over LA, MS or AL right now.

 

[scrappystamper1]

A late response to a post. Your airline flight CAN increase.
A friend of mine was flying out for a vacation somewhere in the Bahamas and a week before she left she received a letter saying that due to gas prices she may be charged up to $150 extra per person at the time of check in. Keep in mind she was traveling with her husband and 7 kids!!!!! When she arrived at the airport she had to write another check for (are you ready...) $850 talk about cutting into your vacation spending cash. Lukily she was going to an all inclusive resort. Even so, I can't say I would have had that to spend then.
We are driving to wdw in April. Come hell or high water. I hope things are better gas wise but we sat out last year and we are going through mouse withdrawals!!!!!

Janet Paddock

 

[susieeQ]

yesterday, at our local sams club in Roseville Mi, I got gas for 2.54 a gallon.
Today at the corner gas station I saw 2.99!!! Michigan prices went up quickly, so......
I am glad that we are flying to Orlando this year instead of driving!
Got our tickets this morning for 136$ per person on a Ding special through
Southwest.

 

[dvcgirl]

Uh, okay. Your comments were directed towards everyone who voiced concern; you just couldn't understand it. I can't help but be gratified that now you seem to.

Uh okay.

Two separate discussions. The price of gas pre-Katrina...and post Katrina. The other discussion revolved around people saying that they were cutting back significantly in some cases due to the rising price of gas. This discussion is very different...revolving around the effects of the storm, gas prices and the impact on the economy overall.

Also, I still stand by my previous comments....that folks needing to totally cut back on their vacation plans and eating out due to a $700 yearly increase probably shouldn't have been doing those things in the first place. That's $58 a month. Even if it's $2,000 a year, what do people do in case of an unexpected car repair, or big maintenance issue with their house? Those types of repairs/problems can total much more than what Americans will pay over last year for gas. I'm sorry if that bothers people. I'm certainly not the only person who thinks that way. We're just in the minority. It's my personal view on fiscal responsibilty...and financial priorities. I'm not saying that I'm better or above anyone else. Everyone has different levels of tolerance for risk and debt. I have very little.

 

[Chuck S]

We plan to drive to FL in December, assuming that I-10 and I-12 are usable after the horrible hurricane, if not, we may have to take an extra day and take a Northern route.