Price of Gas (1 Viewer)

[JetTeach]

I fill my 34 gallon tank 3 times a week with super unleaded. Today it cost me $2.99 a gallon. Fortunately, my expense is offset by a significantly lower cost of living for living 65 miles from where I work.

Oh, and it is kind of hard to pull the race trailer with mass transit.

 

[r2]

Is any of this going to effect my next trip around the world at the bunny ranch??

 

[yoda]

Is any of this going to effect my next trip around the world at the bunny ranch??

Depends on the size of your tank, Ray...

 

[r2]

Depends on the size of your tank, Ray...

Well the last time I had to renew my passport twice, and get permission from three countries to use their airspace...

 

[d'kid]

There's a real nice Mexican Restaurant about two blocks from here, real great "home cooking", just like my girlfriend from high school, Mandie's mom used to make... That and a couple of Dos XX, spend about $9.95 for all the gas I can handle....

 

[Jenn]

There's a real nice Mexican Restaurant about two blocks from here, real great "home cooking", just like my girlfriend from high school, Mandie's mom used to make... That and a couple of Dos XX, spend about $9.95 for all the gas I can handle....

Eat here, get gas huh?

 

[d'kid]

Now would I say something like that?

 

[yoda]

Oil and gasoline prices are highly influenced by several factors. One is the futures market, a zero sum economy (one of the few {only?} in existence on the planet). For those who might not know, a zero sum economy means, for every dollar someone makes, someone else loses a dollar. Makes me wonder how Hillary made $100K on a $10K investment in beef futures, but that's another topic for another day. Speculation on future prices can drive real market prices up, and do so very quickly.

I wonder if the missing 8 BILLION dollars of Iraqui oil over the past year could have anything to do with that as well....

(Just reported on tonight's evening news...300,000 barrels a day go missing from a country that we are dumping our tax dollars into... Somebody BETTER have a damn good answer for this..)

 

[Nitrohaulic]

Something that bugs me is when everyone compares the cost of gas to things like Starbucks and bottled water... With the price of gas up over 80 cents in the past 12 weeks, can anyone name another product that can increase its cost over 30% in such a short time?

And if they did, would the public continue to be patrons of that business? If your grande mochalattefrappacrappa went from 3 bucks to 4 in a few weeks, wouldn't you just go back to hogging the pot at work? Or look for another coffee outlet that has more reasonable pricing? That can't be done with gas- when one goes up, everyone seems to follow along. And when was the last time you saw the price of a cup of coffee affect the cost of a gallon of milk? Or whether or not you could go on vacation?

And now that the companies admit charging more for gas during the summer travel months (and more for heating oil during the winter ), followed by their multi-billion Quarterly profits reports, would you stand for the same slap in the face by Starbucks, Pepsi or McDonalds?

Inflation averages about 4% long term and gas hasn't even kept up with everything else. If gas prices are hurting your personal economics, everything else is hurting you by a much wider margin and YOU haven't kept up.

LOL, you do have to laugh at people complaining if gas goes up a few cents while Starbucks and others seem to be thriving.

I've got a friend in London who can't grasp the culture of most everyone pretty much needing a car. When I said the Walmart's about five miles away, she's still asking "Why don't you just WALK to the store?" LOL.

I filled up in Ashland, Virginia last week (diesel) for 2.49 (minus a .04 gallon fleet discount that we get from Pilot)

 

[yoda]

Inflation averages about 4% long term and gas hasn't even kept up with everything else. If gas prices are hurting your personal economics, everything else is hurting you by a much wider margin and YOU haven't kept up.

LOL, you do have to laugh at people complaining if gas goes up a few cents while Starbucks and others seem to be thriving.

I've got a friend in London who can't grasp the culture of most everyone pretty much needing a car. When I said the Walmart's about five miles away, she's still asking "Why don't you just WALK to the store?" LOL.

I filled up in Ashland, Virginia last week (diesel) for 2.49 (minus a .04 gallon fleet discount that we get from Pilot)

Ron... a few cents is one thing- a buck in the past couple of months (a 30% increase) is something totally different. I'm sorry, but because they plan to increase prices during the summer drive months and increase home heating oil prices when the thermometer drops, the conclusion is that not only are they driven by greed, but there is no one on the side of the consumer that is able to stop them.

I really doubt that there are that many more cars on the road during the summer drive months- seems like traffic is traffic year around. And as someone mentioned before, those in Europe have a totally different concept of driving than we do because the lay of the land is different than over here. Hell, the lay of the land in Manhattan is different than it is in Queens!! More would be reliant on their vehicles in Nassau County than in Manhattan, and they are in the same state. Don't get me started when you move west of the Mississippi...

 

[Ted]

Dear Motorists:
Please accept our most sincere apology for the high price of gasoline.
Warmest regards, Supply and demand + Commodity Speculators.

 

[Nitrohaulic]

Ron... a few cents is one thing- a buck in the past couple of months (a 30% increase) is something totally different. I'm sorry, but because they plan to increase prices during the summer drive months and increase home heating oil prices when the thermometer drops, the conclusion is that not only are they driven by greed, but there is no one on the side of the consumer that is able to stop them.

I really doubt that there are that many more cars on the road during the summer drive months- seems like traffic is traffic year around. And as someone mentioned before, those in Europe have a totally different concept of driving than we do because the lay of the land is different than over here. Hell, the lay of the land in Manhattan is different than it is in Queens!! More would be reliant on their vehicles in Nassau County than in Manhattan, and they are in the same state. Don't get me started when you move west of the Mississippi...

Well, hell, we're ALL driven by greed/profit motive. What's McDonald's in the business of making? Money! The same thing every business is in the business of making. Idealism does not a funny car build.

It is the job of every business to charge as much for their goods or services as they think the market will bear. That's what causes the dreaded 4% long term inflation that so many people complain about, unless they happen to position themselves on the receiving END of that 4%. For some reason, if you happen to be in the petroleum business and you don't even keep up with everything else, you're somehow evil. If you raise your prices and people pay it, you were right to do so. If you raise them and your business goes down, you were wrong and you have to pull back.

If gas were $8 a gallon here, you'd see a helluva a lot of changes in personal driving habits, such as combining trips, carpooling, taking a bus to go on vacation, etc. People don't do that last one because they don't HAVE to. I can't give you numbers (I'm not THAT bored when driving, LOL), but I can DEFINITELY tell you that there's a helluva lot more traffic when school's out. I'm in it every day. There ain't NO shortage of mini vans, SUVs, and luggage racks out there.

Why have I seen thread after thread about gas prices, but not one about the rising cost of healthcare or insurance? Which one costs you more? But gas is somehow sacred?

 

[Nitrohaulic]

I bet the people who own the petroleum companies via stocks in their (hopefully diverse) retirement plans are GLAD that they make profits, increasing the value of their stocks and the amount of money that they're able to retire on.

Wait, (in Glen Beck style scarcasm) if I follow that far enough, that would amount to more money back into the economy, which would give more people the ability to demand more goods and services, which would put more people to work providing those goods and services. Then those people would have more money for goods and services, which would put even more people to work, etc, etc, etc. Damn supply side economics! You people are right. We'd better get the government to do something about stopping this!

 

[Toejam]

It went from 3.09 on Thursday to 3.25 Friday!

 

[Bowtie]

Not to rub it in, but diesel is still going down and is at $2.68 as of this morning.

 

[TJ]

Ron,

It will be pretty hard to get our government to have concerns over the price of oil when our leader comes from an oil invested family....
The Bush family has huge interest in oil and if you have ever attended a energy/oil proxy meeting you'd see the Bush legacy there...I have and they are sooooo nice to their fellow investors....
Like I said...invest in energy like oil and coal and you'll no longer complain about the high prices...I say keep raising the price of oil cause Americans will not stop spending until their credit cards tell them too...

 

[Toejam]

Ron,

It will be pretty hard to get our government to have concerns over the price of oil when our leader comes from an oil invested family....
The Bush family has huge interest in oil and if you have ever attended a energy/oil proxy meeting you'd see the Bush legacy there...I have and they are sooooo nice to their fellow investors....
Like I said...invest in energy like oil and coal and you'll no longer complain about the high prices...I say keep raising the price of oil cause Americans will not stop spending until their credit cards tell them too...

Terry you are so Naive, hang it up Pal! If you think one family can manipulate the investments of Millions of americans, you need an economics education and bad!

 

[T-Bone]

Why have I seen thread after thread about gas prices, but not one about the rising cost of healthcare or insurance? Which one costs you more? But gas is somehow sacred?

DING DING DING DING...Give that man a cookie!! Ron you hit it right on the nose. Healthcare is rising at a rapid rate (more than gas) and no one seems to say boo about it. Now THIS is a necessity we all need. I'm amazed at how my company charges me so much more for heathcare insurance, but the send out little emails about smoking cessation, and exercise and eat healthy foods...and THIS is how they justify their raised rates?? "Well, afterall we ARE giving you the tools you need to be healthy & keep OUR costs down"...so we're talking profit in your (my companies) pocket?? Balderdash!! I'm about ready to drop my healthcare insurance and go back to using my VA Benefits...I can't afford not to anymore.

Ok..off the soapbox...

T

 

[r2]

Mythbusters did a show at Altamont Speedway concerning with and witout A/C... Didn't make a difference if I recall... A/C may have been better... Can't remember... Here are 4 gas saving myths... click below...

Yahoo! Personal Finance

 

[Hutch]

Mythbusters did a show at Altamont Speedway concerning with and witout A/C... Didn't make a difference if I recall... A/C may have been better... Can't remember... Here are 4 gas saving myths... click below...

Yahoo! Personal Finance

The Mythbusters found out you get 15% more mpg if you drive with the A/C off and the windows down as against driving with the A/C on and the windows up.