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Are today's gas prices really making anyone go broke?
Personal Research | unpublished | Don Simmons

Posted on 04/02/2004 5:05:36 PM PST by Don Simmons

OK - so now the average price of a gallon of gas is up to $1.75. If you pay attention to our beloved "media", you'd think we were all on the brink of poverty because of higher prices at the pump.

However, if you break it down, the fact is that the cost is probably very, VERY absorbable by average Joe American.

Before anyone even thinks about it - yes...I know there are people who are crunched a lot more than others. There are always exceptions - and the comparison I'm about to make can be refuted and disproven with individual examples also.

Don't bother - please take this at face value. It is a comparison -- it's not a rule of law.

OK, let's say you average driving 1,500 miles monthly. That's more than most people and less than some.

Now, let's say your car averages 20 miles per gallon. Again, more than some and less than others.

1,500 miles divided by 20 mpg equals 75 gallons.

So, on average, you use 75 gallons a month. Fair?

OK...

If the price of a gallon were back down to around $1.50, (Yeah, yeah - it should be lower. blah blah blah...it ain't, so deal with it!), I doubt we'd be hearing all this pissing, moaning and whining.

ANYWAY....that's 25 cents less per gallon multiplied by that 75 gallons.

75 X .25 = 18.75

You save $18.75 a month.

For most people -- BIG FRIGGIN' DEAL!!!!!

If that $18.75 breaks your bank, the price of gas is the least of your worries, I say.

It might not be a bad idea for you to.......(are you ready for this?).......CUT BACK!!!!!

LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS!!!!! You probably spend twice that $18.75 - or more - every month swilling cheap beer.

Lord have mercy on my hard, callous soul for telling it like it is.

Am I alone in my thinking here, or can I get an "Amen"?


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To: Don Simmons
I'm a single mother of three living on a tight budget otherwise known as a shoestring.
That extra money in the tank is hurting me, I do home health care and I have to travel, I have had to turn down jobs recently because of the cost of gas.
41 posted on 04/02/2004 6:25:37 PM PST by SouthernFreebird
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To: Don Simmons
My 1994 Saturn SL2 just turned over 103,000 miles this evening. When it arrived in Pocatello on April 12, 2002 I had 100,255 miles on it. That about 1500 miles a year. That total includes two lump sum round trips to the SLC airport...688 miles. I don't have to drive much.

Since coming to Pokey, I've purchased an F150 4X4 and an Escape. The only "commute" around here is my wife's trip to her office...1 mile, 1 way. The major food shopping markets are within 2 miles. We can keep our gas consumption at very low levels if necessary.

The 4X4 trucks were selected for their ability to get out of a cul-de-sac when we have over 15 inches of snow on the ground. The snow plow can't get into the cul-de-sac. The city does have a giant skip loader that can do the job, but it isn't routinely available.

42 posted on 04/02/2004 6:35:02 PM PST by Myrddin
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To: DugwayDuke
Payments are about $465 a month. Insurance another 100.

I see you live in Alabama, so I'm going to freak you out a little bit...

In live in Northern NJ. I drive a 1991 Crown Vic, worth about a grand on a good day, with no loan against it. I am 36 years old, have no tickets, points, accidents, or claims for over 15 years. All I have is the state mandated liabilty insurance.

I pay OVER $1900 PER YEAR ($162 per month) for car insurance.

Which is why I have to laugh at people bitchin' about temporarily paying a couple of extra bucks for gas....
43 posted on 04/02/2004 6:44:55 PM PST by motzman (Kerry: His slogan is a slogan about the inadequacy of slogans.)
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To: Don Simmons
You have seemed to left out the blue collar workers here. The ones who use gas powered tools such as welders, generators, air compressors, etc. Wood has doubled in price in the last seven months and this just adds to the costs of construction. Freight charges are going to go up big time, China is buying all the scrap steel...Get ready for a major markup in the cost of living shortly. But hey, it's only an extra $18+ a week right? ;-)
44 posted on 04/02/2004 6:46:52 PM PST by Normal4me
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To: Don Simmons
Are today's gas prices really making anyone go broke?

I noticed the gas prices a lot more last year when I was commuting 250 miles per day round trip. At that distance, every penny becomes noticable.

LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS!!!!! You probably spend twice that $18.75 - or more - every month swilling cheap beer.

I don't swill cheap beer, bucko. I swill the good stuff.


45 posted on 04/02/2004 6:49:44 PM PST by dirtboy (Howard, we hardly knew ye. Not that we're complaining, mind you...)
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To: Don Simmons
Tell that to a trucker. Diesel prices go up right along with the price of gas.
46 posted on 04/02/2004 6:57:33 PM PST by crz
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To: motzman
You poor man, I was in NJ just last week, near Rockaway. Way too many people there. Why don't you move?
47 posted on 04/02/2004 7:00:50 PM PST by DugwayDuke
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To: motzman
BTW, my property taxes on a new, 2200 square foot house on a quarter acre are $645 PER YEAR.
48 posted on 04/02/2004 7:02:14 PM PST by DugwayDuke
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To: ladyinred
I'm in California and commute 3 hours a day to work. It adds up...believe me.
49 posted on 04/02/2004 7:03:21 PM PST by sonserae
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To: Don Simmons
If I was in charge of gas pricing and listened to you I'd be charging over three a gallon and telling you what a bargain it was. Then three fifty and what a bargain that was, then four and what a bargain that was and laugh all the way to the bank.
If they wanted to they could keep the price way below one fifty a gallon and still make a lot of money.
It bugs me when they raise prices through greed and so many people like you say it is a bargain.
50 posted on 04/02/2004 7:13:15 PM PST by chuckwalla (o the lunacy, the insanity these days)
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To: DugwayDuke
BTW, my property taxes on a new, 2200 square foot house on a quarter acre are $645 PER YEAR.

In a good suburb of Columbus those taxes are $3000+ per year.

51 posted on 04/02/2004 7:39:55 PM PST by buccaneer81 (Rick Nash will score 40 goals this season...)
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To: Don Simmons
Compare a gallon of gas to a gallon of milk, and you gain perspective. :)
52 posted on 04/02/2004 7:41:56 PM PST by Pan_Yans Wife (Help bring the end to Freepathons. Donate monthly.)
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To: Pan_Yans Wife
Except that most people don't go through multiple gallons of milk a week. It's a bad analogy.
53 posted on 04/02/2004 8:02:47 PM PST by kenth (You'll get my beer when you pry it from my cold drunk hands...)
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To: kenth
My point is when we compare prices of other items we deem necessities, the extra money at the gas pump doesn't seem as significant.
54 posted on 04/02/2004 8:04:09 PM PST by Pan_Yans Wife (Help bring the end to Freepathons. Donate monthly.)
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To: dirtboy
Best beer made in America to be sure!! I happened upon it a couple of years ago and fell in love with it. My fav import is Paulaner and that's as close to it as I've tasted either import or domestic.
55 posted on 04/02/2004 8:08:00 PM PST by wingster
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To: Don Simmons
"You probably spend twice that $18.75 - or more - every month swilling cheap beer."

But will people now have to start drinking even cheaper (bad) beer? This could be the end of our great nation - might even bring back bathtub gin.
56 posted on 04/02/2004 8:09:54 PM PST by familyofman
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To: Pan_Yans Wife
Compare it to water which is far less than one penny a gallon.
Go to a water outlet and pay 25 cents for purified water.
Drill a well and pay next to nothing for water.
Buy a cow and pay far less for milk.
Etc.
They have us over a barrel and charge whatever they can get away with.
57 posted on 04/02/2004 8:11:20 PM PST by chuckwalla (o the lunacy, the insanity these days)
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To: Don Simmons
In 1990 I went broke in the trucking business when diesel was $1.25 (my truck and trailer only got 4 miles to the gallon). Now I'm in the real estate business and gas over $2.00 a gallon. Yeah, I'm going broke again. My vehicle gets 10 miles to a gallon now, and I'm spending about 150 a week on gas.
58 posted on 04/02/2004 8:13:48 PM PST by stumpy
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As to the gas, you make adjustments. Other prices go up and down and they don't make headlines. This crap about people not being able to go on vacation b/c of gas prices is horsepoop! Barbara Streisand!

Unless someone is driving around the world twice on vacation it shouldn't change anyone's plans. Especially considering that they'd spend money on gas at home not going on vacation. What, a 12 hour drive, which is a lot these days for those who drive, would be say two tanks of fuel.

$1.00 more and a 20 gallon tank means what, $80 round trip. Oh boy, cancel the family vacation! Oy...

I sure hope they can get that $500 deposit on that $1,200 rental back. And just forget about all those family dinners out for $60 ea. at a cheap place.

It's almost laughable that anyone would even say that they're considering canceling vacation over gas prices but every summer that's what the media does.

"Excuse me mam, with the rising cost of gas prices, will you still be able to go on vacation?"

I'd tell her to get a different job. It's a temporary rise in gas prices, give it a rest honey.

59 posted on 04/02/2004 8:14:14 PM PST by wingster
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To: buccaneer81
"BTW, my property taxes on a new, 2200 square foot house on a quarter acre are $645 PER YEAR. In a good suburb of Columbus those taxes are $3000+ per year."

In the D.C. metro area it's probably two to three times that.

60 posted on 04/02/2004 8:16:20 PM PST by wingster
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