Gas prices are budget busters for many

[NeoConsSuck]

Source: USAToday.com

Single mom Esther Guzman is used to juggling her family finances. But lately, it's gotten harder to make ends meet.

The 38-year-old mother of four's monthly gasoline bill has jumped to more than $300. Guzman, of Monmouth Junction, N.J., makes $11 an hour helping others apply for low-income energy aid, and receives $400 a month in child support.

With the recent increase in gas prices, she has been forced to cut back on extras, such as the family's traditional meal out on Saturdays, trips to the movies and even visits to see her 76-year-old father, who lives in the next town over and is dying of emphysema.

Drivers across the country are paying near-record prices for gasoline. While there's a lot of griping going on at the pump, for many Americans, higher gas costs represent a minor crimp in family budgets.

But for those living paycheck to paycheck, rising gasoline prices can mean the difference between being able to pay bills and going into debt.



Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2007-06-04-gasoline-low-income-usat_N.htm

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I now take public transportation to work. I use my car on the weekends for errands, shopping etc. Instead of filling up my car once a week, it's now once a month.

[izzie]

1. I never used my car much but have cut down more.

I grew up and recall WW2 and not having gas and being careful when you used it. I can recall it well as my father needed a car for work and had the low letter for gas. I got married and my husband would not let me ever have the car but I had to always ask so I learned early and well to buy what you needed when you went out and make few trips. It just got to be a habit. When I lived alone and could use my car any time I had made it a habit not to. Course it was forced as my dear husband used to take out a part so I could not use it. It is sort of funny now that I think about it. I guess this was a learning thing to live with Bush and his gas business.. Didn't he say something about knowing about gas cost when he ran? It makes me laugh now but I can recall my grandfather's car going into the garage on Labor day and up on blocks until Spring. Why did they do that?

[rpannier]

2. And periodically you'll read about how the price of gas has not kept up with inflation

and that some are ok with 8.00 a gallon.

I doubt wages have kept up with inflation either.

At the minimum wage now you'd have to work abou 1.5 hours to put a gallon of gas in your if gas was 8 bucks

[Courtesy Flush]

22. That was true until recently

Only a few weeks ago the price reached an all-time high after accounting for inflation. $2 per gallon gas seemed expensive not so long ago, but it was not a record. Current prices ARE.

[whistle]

3. I have limited myself to 35 gallons a month for commuting and personal

...driving which works out to an average of 700 driving miles. At the moment gas in my area is running $2.999 which means that gas will cost almost $105.00 per month. This is stretching my fuel budget allotment which I am not drawing off such savings measures as haircuts every six weeks as opposed to every four, trimming the food budget, bag lunches vs. eating out and so forth. These measures will work as long as gas doesn't jump significantly higher. Should gas move to up-wards of $3.50, $3.75 or even $4.00 per gallon and remain there, then my budget will take a severe hit as I really can't trim the gasoline allotment any further for myself. Buses are very inconvenient for me as a substitute for work commuting. Walking almost a mile each way to buy groceries and then carting them home once a week won't change my gas consumption that much in a given month. In other-words, I have pretty much curbed all unnecessary and non-essential driving as far as I can do it. So if gas goes up another dollar per gallon, that's $35.00 I have to take from someplace else, and every dollar I now earn is assigned in my budget.

I suppose I could go into the weapons and arms dealing business, but then that would require I do a lot more traveling, so we are in a Catch-22 situation, eh.

[silverojo]

20. We've severely limited our driving

Unfortunately, my state's @#$%ed up Medicaid system forces me to go 20 miles to the next suburb to get medical treatment, because they closed down the office in my city.

Thank you, Bush! :mad:

[ClintonTyree]

4. I'm lucky enough......

to live within walking distance of just about everything I need to survive, except for my Doctors which I have to visit 2 times each month. We have a cottage on the St. Lawrence River but the trips up there are getting fewer and fewer. $70 worth of gas round trip means we don't get to enjoy the fun, peace and beauty of the area nearly as much as we used to. That's a small annoyance compared to people who have to choose between gas and medicine, food and such though.

Yet the Bush administration would have us believe the economy is stellar at the moment. Wall Street doesn't seem to think it's a problem. It's the little folk that get hurt the worst (as always). The Federal taxes on petroleum are based on a percentage of the price per gallon so, in essence, there has been a massive TAX INCREASE since Bush took office. But who does that hurt most? The little people, again, as always. Sure glad everyone got those $300 checks 6 years ago though. :eyes: That was used up in the first year of the Bush/BIG OIL administration. Gas was $1.59 a gallon when Bush took office. He campaigned against Gore saying those prices were TOO HIGH, and that under HIS leadership he'd "jawbone" the Saudis to "open up the taps" and "get those prices down". :grr: But then 9/11 changed everything, right? :eyes: It gave Bush and his pals the perfect opportunity to rape the nation and they haven't slowed down an iota since.

But no, there's no proof of ANY wrong-doing by BIG OIL. No proof that they closed dozens of refineries to control the supply. No proof that they close refineries at peak times of the year for "maintenance". No proof that they refuse to use any of their record profits to increase refining capacity. Nope, nope, nope. BIG OIL is just a victim of circumstances, just like all the rest of us. That their profits set new record highs each financial quarter is just an aberration. :eyes: The yearly Congressional investigations into price fixing never seen to bear any fruit. Nothing to see here. Move along citizen. And don't forget to give until it hurts at the pump. And it DOES hurt. Bush's fragile house of cards economy is teetering on the brink right now and he's furtively trying to find ways to keep the house from collapsing until he can get the heck out of Washington for good. Back to Crawford. Clear some brush. Watch this drive. :mad:

:rant:

[LiberalFighter]

5. Is this family a good example of the problems people are having?

Monmouth Junction, NJ
2000 Population -- 2700
Land area -- 1.5 square miles
Nearest cities -- Dayton, NJ 1.8 miles
Heathcote, NJ 2.3 miles
Kendall Park, NJ 2.8 miles
Princeton Meadows, NJ 3.6 miles
Kingston, NJ 4.8 miles
Plainsboro Center, NJ 5.0 miles
Cranbury, NJ 5.4 miles
Rossmoor, NJ 5.8 miles

They don't mention South Brunswick which is between Monmouth Junction and Dayton

"I do a lot of driving," says Guzman, whose other kids are 17, 14 and 5. In addition to driving to work and to her dad's, she shuttles her kids to their jobs, to church activities and to other functions.

Shuttles her kids to their jobs? 17 I can see but not 14 and 5 year old.

Her dad is in the next town over that she visits?

I doubt this town has public transportation but it doesn't need it with a population of less than 3,000 and land area of only 1.5 square miles.

[LiberalFighter]

7. What set off my radar?

$300 plus in a month for gas.

That's over 80 gallons of gas in a month based on $3.40 a gallon.

Based on 15 MPG minimum for her van she must be driving over 1200 miles a month or over 40 miles a day. The story doesn't say if she works in town or in a different town. I use to drive 40 miles round trip a day to work but that was on the other side of town and the city has a population of over 200,000.

[july302001]

10. Yes, some people DO drive that far!

It's a rare person that works within a mile or two of work these days.

I am currently driving 50 miles *each way* to a job. The job pays only $9.45/hour.

There are not many good jobs in a 15-mile radius of here. The coworkers at the distant job are more friendly and patient than at many jobs I have had in a closer radius to home.

I drive a car that gets good mpg but I'm worried about wear and tear on the vehicle.

[LiberalFighter]

12. I know... The story doesn't say if she does her job in town or where

Then makes excuses about other activities which should mostly be all local.

The other individuals in the story seem to have problems that are more realistic plus they provided details that justify their case. Like as you say having a job in another town.

It is the lead-in to the article that seems fishy to me.

[cliss]

15. I was wondering the same thing myself.

Does she need to spend $300.00 per month on gas? Is there anything she can do to cut down on her driving, especially since she only gets $400.00/mo. in child support.

Answer = probably.

[LiberalFighter]

9. The others in the story appear to have better cases of trouble with gas prices

[haele]

19. She could be living on the outskirts of town -

Another two or three miles off "the main drag" that runs through several small towns where the nearest post office is her town of record. And a town that small might not have "their church" or a school for her kids - the local junion high or high school might be county schools rather than a specific town schools - with an inconvienient bus schedule for the kids. Or she might be sending them to a private school in another township. Her nearest full grocery store (other than a convinence store) might be a a few towns down. Her job may be a county job that is in another town.
I've seen many of these types of small towns in rural Washington and California. A bunch of agricultural/small manufacturing towns along a county route or state highway. And yes, a person with a family and one vehicle could be spending most of his or her day playing taxi if there's no carpooling or public transportation availible.

A better way of looking at her driving distance is to actually call up a map of the area and look at it. And looking at the map, it's possible that she is in the above scenario - as well as possibly not being as driving savvy as she could be. She might be able to knock a good $50 off her fuel bill if she consolidated or was able to postpone several of her trips

Haele

[silverojo]

21. 14-year-olds can get jobs babysitting, etc.

That would require shuttling. Also, since the town is so small, what if she or the eldest boy had to work out of town? That would require more driving, too.

Actually, she ought to knock off taking the kids to all those other "functions". To paraphrase George Carlin, quit planning the kids' every waking moment, let them have time to sit on their asses and daydream--you know, the thing that inspires creative thinking? :mad:

[Javaman]

6. I have been doing the same thing for the past year...

I made a deal with myself a while back, when gas reached $2.50, that was it, public transportation for me.

I have gotten my use down to having only fill up once every two months.

I'm going to see if I can stretch it to 3 months. I'm not a goal oriented person per say, but when it comes to things like this, I am. go figure?

[BushOut06]

8. It's time to nationalize the energy and healthcare fields

These are two areas which SHOULD be under government control, as they serve the greater need of the people. It's unconscionable that corporations are raking in record profits while the poor have to decide between food, gas, and medicine.

[AnneD]

14. What an interesting thought....

I will soon be giving up my prn job at a hospital because I cannot afford the fuel to get there anymore. Wonder how they will be getting a nurse for that rural hospital? Not many live there and their wage scale is less. Places like Wyoming have given forgiven loans to attract folks to the facility.

[Lorien]

11. Not just gas prices; grocery prices

which are greatly effected by energy costs, of course. I was shocked by the prices at the grocery this weekend; it was hard to find many items under $3, even canned fruit was $3.29, a tiny package of slivered almonds $3.99, as was a box of cheese crackers. I find myself buying more items like pasta and bananas-not terribly nutritious, but even a bag of spinach is over $3 so it has to be rationed.

This was in Florida; don't know how prices compare to the rest of the Nation.

[LiberalFighter]

13. Prices are nowhere near that here in Indiana

[Lorien]

18. I know that they are much lower in Oregon, too

we don't grow a lot locally here though; citrus and beef, but not much else.

[depakid]

16. Welcome to America's future

This is only the smallest tip of the iceberg.

[Trillo]

17. Corporations can expense their transportation costs:

Why can't human citizens?