PUMP PAIN: What are you doing to lessen the pinch?

Posted by ( cliffnchristi ) on April 19, 2008 at 11:17 am

We officially felt the pinch when diesel reached $3.99.  We have an RV that we tow with a diesel pickup.  We had a 4th of July trip planned to the beach, which we have cancelled.  We will now camp that weekend at a nice little campground an hour or so from our house.  We have cancelled our annual trip to Bristol for the races in August.  Between the cost of diesel fuel, gas for our generator, groceries and of course race tickets, we just can’t afford it.  We used to go on weekend camping trips sometimes as often as every other weekend, we now only have two planned and mostly likely that’s where the number will stay.

My husband bought an inexpensive little used car that gets 30 mpg to drive back and forth to work to keep from paying the high cost of diesel fuel.  We kind of figured it would never pay for itself, but it has.  I am now considering doing the same and parking or selling my new car that gets 18 mpg.  It’s a shame when you work your tail off to afford a nice vehicle and then can’t afford to put fuel/gas in it.

I don’t understand why the government hasn’t done something about these oil companies that are making billions of dollars in profits at the expense of the consumer.

Posted by ( Cheap ) on April 18, 2008 at 5:00 pm

How have high gas prices impacted your habits?
Yes
Do you drive less?
No
Have you changed vehicles?
Yes
At what price did it really hit home for you?
At $2.00 I thought about it, and at $2.50 per gallon I did something about it.

About a year ago I decided I had to do something about it so I purchased a Prius.  Then I converted it to be a Plug-In Hybrid.  So now I use Clean Domestic Wind Energy to offset the amount of Dirty Foreign Oil I need to buy.  I get over 100mpg in my car and I have to tell you it is great.  I drive about 2000 mile a month and I enjoy gas free weekends by staying local, shopping and going to restaurants using only electric power.  During the week I still have to use gas, but spending only $69.90 at today’s gas rage of $3.44 each month is a lot better then if I had to do all that driving in my Yukon. 

Now I have to ask, “When are you going to do something about it?” Too much of the world uses oil now, and even if the U.S. stopped buying it tomorrow, the price still would not go down.  You have to act and act now.  It is up to you, not your government.