A new record...

[hannah_henchman]

In the past two weeks (5/12-5/25) we spent $192 on gas.
Total unnecessary driving--One trip to OBX, about 84 miles round trip and one trip to EC, 30 miles total.
Current cheapest gas within reasonable driving distance is in Chesapeake--$3.79, closest is in Camden at $3.90.
Ouch.

Comments

[dabroots]

That's a lot of gas!

Prices here went up from $3.79 to $3.84 between weekend before last and this past Thursday. Haven't checked in the past couple of days. This is crazy.

[hannah_henchman]

Sad thing is, it's not a lot--I was spending right around $30 for half a tank.

I think $3.80 is the national average. Week before last I could find a couple places priced as low as $3.50 but now we just have to suck it up.

It IS crazy--We're spending about a quarter of our income just to get to work. AND from what I read this morning, crude oil just went up to $133 a barrel.

But, we just put on new brake pads and changed the oil in the car this weekend so I'm hoping that will improve our mileage a bit.
*fingers crossed*

[dabroots]

About a month ago I decided against following up on a part-time job that would have required me to commute about 30 miles roundtrip, every day. It wouldn't have come even close to being worth it.

[hannah_henchman]

I hear ya--I'm sticking with the "work at home" route despite the low income for that very reason.

The problem here is that you do have to drive 15-20 miles to find any work. The highest paying jobs are on the beach (35 miles from me) and in VA (at least 25 miles). Public transportation doesn't exist.

Of course I have to annoy myself further on the subject by checking financial news--Nothing like reading speculation on whether oil prices will fall as demand decreases.
To me that's sort of like saying, "Well as soon as everyone who makes under $15 an hour is unemployed or has to choose between getting to work and eating...Well, then the rest of us might get a break."
Okay, gonna stop bitching now. *L*

[heatherwpetty]

Someone sent me this link the other day. I haven't had a chance to read through any of it, but supposedly it offers some tips on how to drive in a way that reduces your gas mileage

[kencf0618]

Oh joy. Hypermiling is Darwin Awards stupid. As the '70 should have been, come to think of it...

[heatherwpetty]

Well that comment made me read through the article. It's nothing new or exciting. It basically comes down to:

"Stay out of heavy traffic areas."

... sadness. I was kind of hoping it would have some helpful tips.

[a_solipsism]

you can dumb it down to that, sure.
But i drive slower and draft large trucks on the road on open highways. I also don't carry unnec. weight in my car.

I've seen my gas mileage that sometimes kicks into the forties. rare and only on good times, but I think i did the math right.

[hannah_henchman]

$3.95 at Border Station as of this morning so we're definitely catching up.

I hear ya on the dead summer--How did Memorial Day look up there?
Here on Thursday and Friday, traffic was a little heavy but nowhere near normal. The chick working at the ABC store (always a good indicator *L*) said on Friday that last weekend was actually busier than this weekend.
I didn't go out on 168 until this morning--I saw a few out-of-state plates but mostly normal work traffic. Saturday though--158 (Alt route to the beach) was totally normal--which is worrisome. Most holiday weekends even that is packed.

I hope we're wrong and it picks up. If not, our tourist economy is fucked. Last year was hard enough--Two bad years in a row will REALLY mess things up.

[hannah_henchman]

Gotcha--I thought there was something odd about the timing. It seemed to come too soon--I guess this is just the rare year where the 31st falls on the last Saturday of the month.

[a_solipsism]

3.88 in hawaii.

(add this account)

[hannah_henchman]

Added.
Yep, 3.80 to 3.90 seems to be the average right now.

[ablemagawitch]

Its already over $4.20+ here. The memorial weekend price hike along with the f'ing Speed Week (nascar multi race) crowds and RV's drove it on home. At some point the news is going to give the smart advice and telling people to cancel their driving vacation because they can't afford it. Really I wanted cuss out ever dumbshit I saw on the news crying but yet drove several hundred miles in a fucking RV to come to the stupid event which wastes fucking fuel as the main action. Them sitting in bumper to bumper traffic wasn't a big enough wake up call. The credit card so they don't have to hand over cash makes it too easy for them to ignore what they're paying. Apparently they have to much disposable income still

[hannah_henchman]

Jeez--$4.20. That's nuts!

Yeah, we had a price jump with Memorial Day weekend. I was wincing the end of last week, seeing it at $3.75 and knowing we always have about a $.10 jump every Memorial Day.
Speed Week...*groan*.

Idiot vacationers--Tell me about it. And we wonder why everyone in the country is so in debt. Evidently living within your means is a totally European concept.

I feel ya on being housebound. I save every penny I can to go somewhere every couple weeks--even to visit friends that are less than an hour away. I find myself being hyper-friendly to cashiers because I'm desperate for human contact.

I haven't seen a band play in so long I've completely forgotten what it's like...seriously, like years.

As to oil drilling. Sorry, I'm a closet hippie.
No matter how much it hurts me personally, I can't be for it...especially when oil companies are still making record profits.

[ablemagawitch]

NC is on the end of the pipe lines we need some good super tanker ports. Refiners pay more than gas stations. We don't really have anything except maybe at the shelf so big oil drilling isn't really viable for us. But serious you ever seen one up close? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_rig See the little people on the catwalks....They f'ing cool

[hannah_henchman]

Oil rigs are neat looking