How are gas prices affecting you?

[yukionna]

I'm curious about how the high gas prices are affecting my fellow travelers.

Have you changed your life in any way due to gas prices?

I added a poll too with the option to choose more than one item in the list.

[Steve & Susan]

Instead of three trips this season, one long and two short, we'll be taking two - one long and one shorter than originally planned. The long one was to Wisconsin Dells over Memorial Day and I'm thrilled to report that we spent a TOTAL of 10 minutes delay going around Chicago on I-294 - last year that was a 4 hour trip. Nice KOA in the Dells - we recommend it - nice people run it too!

[henw]

I read a recent poll where 47% of respondents stated that they would be " severely " affected by gas prices. Now, I am generally skeptical of so called public opinion. A better poll would have asked what luxuries will you give up for the price of gas? Will the cablle TV service be replaced? Will the TV itself be sold on E Bay? Will the cell phone contract be replaced with a minimal plan? Will you start cooking? Cut your own hair? Walk or ride a bike for most trips less than a mile? I'll bet in reality it's in the 1% range.

[overlander63]

We are using the car and truck less, and using the phone and 'net more for shopping. Rather than driving to Best Buy, and Circuit City, for example, I went online and compared prices of an item I wanted. Found what I wanted $40 cheaper that way, and didn't have to drive to both stores to find it.
We will be taking several camping trips this summer before heading out, to iron out bugs in our camping strategy. We will be going to the COE campground that is 12 miles away to do this, rather than the COE campground that is 50 miles away. 38 miles @10mpg is currently $16 each way to go to the one further away.

[audiobox]

We mainly use the truck for pulling the trailer and the occasional "big project" hauling errand, so it's just part of the trip expense, albeit an ever increasing part. We live downtown and walk, bike or use public transportation, so we don't have the expense of using a "daily driver." Of course, we have the storage expense for the trailers that those of you who can park yours on your property don't have.

Craig

[Streamin 65]

Didn't seem that long ago that gas stations had little signs up that said "No $50 or $100 bills accepted". Seems that's all they accept now..... --dave

[Boondocker]

Between the price of gas and some unexpected expenses, the number of miles I will be traveling this summer will be sharply reduced. I still plan on a major excursion but I will see far fewer places than I want. On the other hand, I will probally spend more time in the places I do go. Not knowing when I will have time to travel again I will just have to make the most of the resources I have.

[lebolewis]

I am retired, single and on a "fixed" income. I have delayed an extensive trip to the West in my AS, pending what I can do to substantially reduce or eliminate my housing costs here in Cullman. This was prompted when I confirmed that my travel costs plus my home-base fixed costs, would substantially exceed my monthly income!. The cost of GAS has drastically reduced my use of my only vehicle, a GMC Suburban for towing. I am now considering getting a PT job and going "Full Time" in my RV. That's a BIG change in my lifestyle! Bill

[53flyingcloud]

Yesterday, while refilling the diesel's fuel tank, I max'd out the limit for the credit card at the pump at 75$ for 27 gallons of diesel fuel. (It holds 42 gallons.) At this rate, you'll need a stack of ATM cards to travel..lol
So, yes it has had an impact on traveling plans.

[maxandgeorgia]

I didn't realize from reading the poll that it was multichoice or I would also have checked the 5th item, that we do not travel as often, multiple trips. We are keeping our plans for a summer trip to Montana for a few weeks. If we were wiser, we probably should choose to stay close to home, but we need that mountain/range therapy. ~G In addition: one thing we now do that we haven't done for a long time is keep a large garden for fresh produce. This weekend we will start shopping the nearby farmers' market for locally grown and probably organic meats, eggs, and so on. planning menus from what is in season currently. That means we are supporting our local farmers, using long-haul gas-guzzling carriers of produce from far distances less, and improving the food we serve ourselves and company. That has a small effect on gas and makes a larger statement about our state of mind about how we live. Another simple change I hope we make this summer is installation of a whole house fan to reduce air conditioner use. Our current home is without one, but they are effective cooling devices at much less cost. What are others doing, things that "round about" are connected to gas prices? I hope that in the comments section, these points still relate to the thread.

[moosetags]

We absolutely hate this fuel price thing. It is costing about $100 every time we fill up the Suburban. If that isn't bad enough, most gas stations make you buy your gas in two separate transactions as most pumps max out at $75.00.

We are continuing our Airstream travels regardless of fuel prices. We will cut back in other areas if necessary. We feel that we must do our Airstream travelling as planned. If we try to wait for fuel prices to go down (which may not ever happen), we may never get to take these wonderful Airstream adventures. We have always wanted to see every nook and cranny of the great country of ours. We plan to continue our travels with Lucy, regardless.

[BillTex]

I selected “other”…I am fortunate to live within bike riding distance of my office and ride the bike as much as possible. I also picked up a small beater (third car) for when I need to drive (32mpg). This enables us to keep the TV parked most of the time. If the question is “how do gas prices effect our camping plans”? I would say they have not, we have as many trips planned for this year as always, including our longest one yet. As noted above, the TV pretty much gets used only for towing, or other “adventures”, and is our only “big” vehicle now, our fuel expenses are less now than 2 years ago. With the latest (second) spike in gas prices, I am really glad we made the switch to diesel. Prices for diesel in our area (New England) have remained much more stable, and currently less expensive, than gasoline. Going forward, I see more options for diesel (bio-fuels) and feel better about going diesel all the time. For whatever reason, diesel prices do not seem to fluctuate like gasoline. It has proven to be well worth the initial expense of buying a diesel truck. We have averaged 15 mpg towing, and 21 mpg not towing, this year with about 10k miles on the truck. Could not do that with a big gasser. I know it is not practical for everyone, but buying an inexpensive fuel efficient vehicle, and keeping the monster parked except for tow duty, really is minimizing our exposure to the cost of fuel. Of course, riding a bike, walking, or public transportation, are even better options if possible. The fact is, we need big powerful vehicles to play this game, it may take some new ways of thinking to keep it viable.

[DrPlay]

It will cost me more but will not change my plans. Traveling from NJ to Sedona the Southern and Eastern Utah (3 weeks). Budgeted at 3$ a gallon lokks like it could head to $4. If it does go to $4 might cost another $450 for the trip. That amount will not stop me from showing my daughter these great United States.

[InsideOut]

With a 1513 mile (one-way) trip to Perry GA coming up we're getting creative!

The Yukon gets about 11 miles per gallon when towing which equates to about 275 gallons of gas!

So, here's the creative part...I'm hitching a ride on a B-van with a friend. It only gets 7 miles per gallon, but I only will pay half. He's thrilled too...

275 gal. X $3.30 = $907
428 gal. X $3.30 = $1412 x .5 = $706

Overall, combined, we are saving 275 gallons of gas or $907

Thanks Jim!

Shari

[Mel]

We are continuing with our camping trips as planned, but have made changes in other ways. The tow vehicles are parked unless we need to tow or haul something, and we drive the Jettas to work. I carpool to work every day with our neighbor (he works at the same company as I do, so there's really no excuse!) I run more errands on foot - a grocery store, hardware store, and drug store are within walking distance of my work, so I try to run errands at lunch time. Like maxandgeorgia, we are giving more business to our local farmers market (which is within walking distance from our home). And, when running errands that can't be completed on foot, we save up until we have several stops we can make - no more hopping in the car for just one store. Little changes in our routines mean it's more comfortable and affordable to go camping more!

[Goin camping]

We are a little diferent than most in that my work pays for my cars fuel. My wife works 14 miles from home and we use the truck for towing, hauling and I use it once a week for work (they pay the diesel) to keep it excersized.

Even if that were not the case we would still go somewhere every month.

Our sanity demands time in the trailer away from the world and we refuse to own an expensive piece of yard art.

[safari57]

We have made subtle changes as well. I'm not driving very much right now due to other issues so there alone we have cut about 350 miles of commute a week (I know, what the heck are you doing commuting) and it's not looking like I'll be back to work/commuting/driving for quite some time, if at all. My wife has a 15 minute commute and as part of that she does the shopping and the few things I need I either email her to let her know to include it, or when she gets home that's my time to go for a ride - and it's well worth whatever the costs just to be out and about. I'm like a dog going for a ride - the window is down and my head hanging out and my wife behind the wheel very embarrassed......

As for our summer camping plans they remain the same. We budgeted a contingency realizing that gas was going to get silly this year so from that angle we are well set.

Barry

[InsideOut]

All in all, I'm not doing much to change...the carpooling to Perry thing is as much "because we can" as anything ~ it's a very long drive solo.

Shari

[Foureagles]

I live and work in my trailer in the woods, and most of the time don't even know what fuel prices currently are. I'm reminded of Grandma, who could talk at length about details of both World Wars, but responded with a blank stare when asked about the Great Depression. She too lived dack in these woods, and just wasn't part of that economy.

I did recently take a 4,000-mile trip to My Dear Ex's place to swap my 45 MPG car for my 15 MPG Jeep (so I can move the house if I need to), and darn near ran out of money on the way back. Interestingly, I noticed diesel prices across the U.S. ranging from 40 cents above to 25 cents below that of gasoline. Is that some state tax deal, or simple capitalism?

When I got my first car a gallon of gas was something like 25 cents, and my income now is not much more than it was then. But if inflation had swept my income instead of gasoline, I can't think of anything I'd be doing differently.

[silverback]

All our vehicles are diesel and the price (<$2.80) has only gone up or down in the nickle range. Diesel is much higher in northern AZ (along I-40) then it is around Phoenix and Tucson. Also the TV can get 14 MPG towing (the VW New Beetle TDI gets a minimum of 36 MPG driven like it was stolen...). We're heading out through NM and CO in about a week (via I-40 to I-25) so we will probably feel it a bit more.
-KL