ONLY $35 more per month? Well la-di-dah for you! To most of us here that’s a nice dinner out, or a couple good bottles of booze, or 7 steaks, or a three-pack of shoes at Payless. PER MONTH!!! I am a very fortunate person in that my husband works for NASA under a current admnistration that seems to be gung-ho for that sort of thing, and even I think $35 a month is a lot of money - I can only imagine how someone choosing between heat or food for the month might feel about that.
As I said earlier, I only live about 2.5 miles from my work and drive a Civic already. The current gas prices would maybe add A DOLLAR to my monthly spending, but to me it’s a matter of “how much is too much?” They will raise it as far as possible until they sense some resistance. That’s just basic supply and demand. I’m just a drop in the bucket, and it’s a big bucket, but hopefully there are a lot of us drips out there.
Fortunately the State of Washington has very cheap registration – I think it’s US$35. I’ve already mentioned the good mileage (not as good as your was, I’m sure – didn’t you have a 250cc?), my old bike has been well-maintained and my new bike is – well, new! – and I’ve found a mechanic that chargea 1/3 of what other mechanics charge, and my combined insurance on the 600cc and the 1000cc comes to comfortably under $300/year (full coverage on the R1).
Now if only it would not rain when I want to ride. I almost never had that problem in L.A.!
This does not appear to be the experience of the U.K. We’ve more cars on the road, and more SUVs. People need to drive. Outside of major metropolitan areas, you need a car, it’s as simple as that. Corner shops have closed, shopping malls are in vogue, and the major supermarkets are usually on the outskirts of town.
On TV they had to come up with a sob story, so they found this guy who commutes hours into L. A. in his giant SUV and has decided that “he now must sleep at work” to afford the commute. Hey tubs! There’s vacancies within two miles of your work and a bus that stops a block away. Put away your crying towel and make rational choices like everyone else at your work.
The only major thing I’m doing is buying gas more frequently. I figure it’s better to buy gas every third day and pay 4 cents a gallon more for a quarter tank each time than to wait ten days and pay 12 cents a gallon more for a full tank. In the long run it probably won’t make much of a difference, but what else is there to do?
No changes. Just writing bigger checks to Exxon. Like J Chance, our fuel budget is just a big, expected expense, around $800 a month (2 big vehicles, long commutes). Gas going from 1.85 to 2.05 isn’t that big a change. This month is the last payment on the truck, so transportation will actually be cheaper (for awhile anyway).
I bought a 1991 Geo Metro (~38 MPG in the city) for use at my job (I’m a social worker, so I put about 200 miles per week on my car). I’m saving up for a Smart Car, if and when they’re ever sold in the US.
[Pit-worthy aside]
The USA page for the SmartCar website has all kinds of cool graphics and Flash animations. However, after digging for a few minutes, I’m still not clear on how much one costs and whether or not you can even buy one in the US.
[/Pit-worthy aside]
Looked to save in other ways, like setting back my thermostat, only buying sale items and stocking up.
As for driving, I try to combine errands and work. It may not save distance since the are typically in 2 different directions, but since the car is warm already it saves a bit. Also I got a discover gas card which gives me 5% back on gas, which works to over $0.10 per gal lower then the pump says. I also try to drive in a way that will use less gas by accelerating ‘slower’ which is OK here as the roads are wide open.
One other aspect, I tend to avoid the faster toll road over the free slower road. The travel time is about the same either way, it’s just nicer taking the fast road, but that uses more gas and tolls on top of that (and they are raising them to boot).
Aside from driving more conservatively (which is incredibly boring ) i’m considering purchasing a decent used motorcycle for the summer, my work commute is about 20 miles and takes me about a half hour, i figure driving a vehicle that gets minimum of 40 MPG (most cruisers get around 45-60 MPG) and costs less than $7 to fill up will be a lot cheaper than a vehicle that gets 35-40 MPG and costs $18-20 to fill up…
and considering i’m only transporting myself to and from work, a motorcycle will be a far more efficient form of transport than a 4 passenger car with one occupant (more fun too )
I have always taken the bus to work; I have never owned a car. The biggest difference rising gas prices have made to me (so far) is an increase in the number of people on the bus. And I get to watch my friends wince when they fill their tanks.
Honestly, I haven’t. Regarding driving, I need to go where I need to go, and that’s that. As far as home energy usage, I like the thermostat set at a certain level, I like lights at night --lots of them-- and that’s that as well.
Nope. Gas in the US is still so much cheaper than in my home country of the UK, so it doesn’t seem expensive. Mind you, I drive an economical car anyway - more conditioning from my upbringing, I guess.
I feel lucky. I drive a car that gets good gas milage and it is paid off. I am also moving to a small college town here in Missouri, and the apartment complex I am moving into has a free shuttle that goes to the school. I will try to bring my bicycle too, and ride to work or school as well. (I hope to get a work-study at the school, but we will see)
I will probably drive no more than 500 miles a month, which is about 1/3 of my current milage. So I may be able to cut my gas costs down to about 35-40 dollars a month. (100 a month right now)
) i’m considering purchasing a decent used motorcycle for the summer, my work commute is about 20 miles and takes me about a half hour, i figure driving a vehicle that gets minimum of 40 MPG (most cruisers get around 45-60 MPG) and costs less than $7 to fill up will be a lot cheaper than a vehicle that gets 35-40 MPG and costs $18-20 to fill up…