LJ;548761 wrote:Ig gas goes up $.20 per gallon and you buy 16 gallons of gas per week, it comes out to an extra $166 per year, or $13 per month

tk421;548780 wrote:Which, believe it or not is quite a lot to someone who has maybe $100 dollars left over a month after all bills/buying food, etc.

Ytowngirlinfla;548802 wrote:2.79 Here in sunny San Diego California .

HitsRus;548010 wrote:Prices have been inching up all week in anticipation of the Fed's decision to buy $600 Billion in Treasuries...Gold hit a record high too.

I am assuming NCF meant 'November 4th'...when the Fed formally took the action.
The election was on November 2....and did not have any effect.

tk421;548672 wrote:Yeah, fan_from_texas saying gas prices at $3/gallon shouldn't effect anyone's budget is completely out of touch with reality. My mom makes around $20,000/year, it is a big fucking deal when gas prices go up higher and higher. To say otherwise is foolish.

LJ;548761 wrote:Ig gas goes up $.20 per gallon and you buy 16 gallons of gas per week, it comes out to an extra $166 per year, or $13 per month

WebFire;549109 wrote:16 gallons per week would be nice. Too many variables to argue whether or not $.20/gallon makes a difference.

BGFalcons82;548920 wrote:Bingo. Effectively, buying 10% of our own debt back serves to devalue our dollar even further. Look for other commodities, such as sugar, cotton, and metals to rise as well. I heard on the news on Friday that cotton is up 80% for 2010. Oil is approaching $90/barrell and it has nothing to do with supply and demand as demand has been down all year. It all goes back to a government and their insatiable appetite to spend us into prosperity. There is a price to pay and the collection agency is calling.

ernest_t_bass;549183 wrote:My family spent $289.73 last month in gasoline. We pay $650 per month for daycare. $700 for mortgage. Two kids to feed. I'm currently taking my Masters classes. My dinner tonight was crackers and peanut butter. In my household, every single penny helps. I think the problem with our economy/society, is that we think that as long is it doesn't directly affect me and my own, it can't be that big of a deal.

I understand completely that, to many of you, that little bit extra is not that much, but to some people, it is. We don't expect you to empathize, but at least try to sympathize with some people who actually do struggle.

LJ;549189 wrote:so $5/week is the difference between you having steak for dinner and crackers for dinner? My cousin makes $45k per year, has a stay at home wife and 2 kids and they do just fine.

ernest_t_bass;549200 wrote:Every. Penny. Helps. Do you want to come to my house and judge me you stupid mother fucking prick? I do just fine, but an increase in gas prices affects me (and a lot of other people) more than it affects some others. Why can't you just be (and say) "ok" to that? Who in the fuck are you to judge me or anyone else?

ernest_t_bass;549183 wrote:My family spent $289.73 last month in gasoline. . . . I understand completely that, to many of you, that little bit extra is not that much, but to some people, it is. We don't expect you to empathize, but at least try to sympathize with some people who actually do struggle.

LJ;549208 wrote:Because I used to live on $75 per week and I know it can be done and you can make it work (oh, and gas was over $3.25 at the time)

ernest_t_bass;549232 wrote:Did you have two children? Mortgage? Taking Masters? School Loans? What was your debt structure? Were you renting or were you a homeowner? Just saying you "made $75 per week" pulls no weight b/c there are too many other variables missing in comparison to my situation.

fan_from_texas;549222 wrote:How did you manage to spend almost $300 on gas last month? Do you have a 100-mile commute every day or what? That's insane.

Mrs. FFT and I chose to live in a place that's close to public transportation, so I often take the bus (and took the train every day when I lived in Chicago). It's inconvenient, sure, but it saves a lot of money. We also chose to buy small, fuel-efficient vehicles, factoring the cost of gas into the total cost of ownership. Simple decisions and actions can pay huge dividends.

There are numerous actions people can take to reduce their fuel costs. Those actions involve trade-offs. I respect the right of people to make whatever trade-offs they want, but I'm not generally sympathetic to them when after-the-fact they bemoan their choice. It's like choosing Fleming's over Applebees and then complaining about the cost of your steak--make whatever decision you want, but don't complain if your decision has consequences.

Certainly there are some small minority of people who don't have these sort of options, but in general, I think most of the gasoline cost pain is self-inflicted.

tk421;549233 wrote:Not everyone in the country can live next to their place of work or has access to convenient public transportation.

tk421;549239 wrote:Not everyone is the same, I wish people would get that. Just because you could live off of $75/week doesn't mean anything.

LJ;549235 wrote:$75 is what I had to spend on food, gas and incidentals.

LJ;549253 wrote:Yes it does. It means that some people are better at budgeting than others and don't have much sympathy for those who can't and refuse to seek help in that budgeting