Quote:
Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB
I'm actually getting tired of the whining about gas. People, we've been SPOILED for a long time. We pay way less for gas proportionally than we do for Starbucks, booze, and any number of other items. We still pay way more for a gallon of organic milk at the grocery store!
Everyone better get used to this, because the prices are not likely to drop much in the future. This is why the rest of the world has thought we are crazy for driving our big SUVs and trucks - Europe pays two to three times as much as we do for gas! It's time to rethink the cars we drive and rethink public transportation in this country. OR, adjust budgets to fit in this expense. I actually think this could be a great A-ha! moment for this country.
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I agree-- it amazes me what people spend on Starbucks!
I think part of the problem is that this country has grown into a materialistic society. It seems to be all about what purse you carry, what car you drive... ugh.
It keeps people living above their means, so when things like a skyrocket in gas prices happen, it kills them. Hubby and I drive pretty fuel effiecient vehicles (I have a Honda CR-V and he has a Ford Ranger). I only work 4 months out of the year, which is now over, and just drive locally (to the store, beach or whatever) or when we go on trips. We live on a strict budget, I was looking back this week, and last year at this time we had a $40 a week budget for gasoline. Our gas budget is currently at $100 a week. We're lucky enough to afford it, as long as we watch the small things and don't splurge on things we really don't need. We also had to cut back what we put into our liquid savings fund, so vacation will be a little more sparse this year. I can't imagine, however, if we were strapped at this time last year what our situation would be now. We're also fortunate, in that we bought a new house, and hubby's raise completely covered the difference in our rent payment and our new mortgage payment.
I think many, many Americans are up the wazoo in debt and the gas "crisis" is just adding to that. We were at one point, we came from $18 k in credit card debt to zero. So I can understand the pain, but those same people are spending a LOT on unnecessary things as well.
