Picture it, 1970, I had just graduated from college and my roommate’s dad had given us a big ol’ Chevy to drive. It had a 20-gallon tank. Gas (other old Dopers will verify this) was $0.20/gallon. It cost $4.00 (FOUR DOLLARS!) to fill up that car. And we usually only put in a dollar’s worth at a time because we couldn’t afford the $4.00 all at once. Our grocery budget was $10.00 per week and we ate like princesses.
Of course, minimum wage was $1.45 and the median annual income in the US was about $3,000.
“And children were working in coal mines and life was a beautiful thing…”
From Stop the World, I Want to Get Off!
This changed fast: I gave my daughter a ride home from her in-town commuter college, and so passed by a bunch of stations I wouldn’t ordinarily see.
Passed a $3.89/gal place, and took a mental note. Five minutes from there, saw a $3.69/gal place – stopped and filled up right then and there. Normally, I’d have saved a fill-up for the weekend.
Gasbuddy shows some places within a 20-minute drive dipping below $3.60/gal. A major move today apparently.
I just checked GasBuddy. Prices have dropped slightly, but not dramatically - e.g. 4.15 or so a gallon, where they were 4.29 a week or so back.
We’re going on a long driving trip tomorrow; I’m glad we didn’t top the car off earlier this week. We drive it so little, that we have 3/4 of a tank, more than enough to get us out of DC-area gas prices and into southern VA, where it’s typically been 20 cents or more per gallon cheaper.
Spent part of last week in Central/South TX. Diesel was over $5.00/gallon at every station I remember. I skipped fueling while there and waited until returning to the DFW area - where it’s fallen to $4.89 locally. Still hurt, as I’d used most of the aux tanks in all the traveling and had to buy 75 gallons to fill back up. Paying that much hurts, but I saved 8 whole dollars by waiting. Sigh.
$3.999/gallon at the Pilot station and the Lummi station this morning. I used my Pilot rewards card (haven’t been there in years) and got fuel for $3.969/gallon. So I saved 23 cents on the tankful.
Drove to Florida and back to Virginia on I-95 last week and saw gas around $4.00/gallon the whole trip. As low as $3.80-ish, and as high as $4.60+ in tourist areas. Diesel was over $5.00/gallon everywhere. Why would diesel be 25% more expensive than gasoline??!!!
No more $4.00+/gal places in the local area. The price-gouging places are now down to $3.99/gal. $3.80-something prices are the most common, with prices in the in the $3.70s not hard to find. In the very near vicinity, $3.69/gal is still the price to beat.
And we usually only put in a dollar’s worth at a time because we couldn’t afford the $4.00 all at once. Our grocery budget was $10.00 per week and we ate like princesses.
“And children were working in coal mines and life was a beautiful thing…” 