What are you doing about gas prices?

G

Gone To Texas

500+ Posts
Related to Mister Falcon's thread about going hybrid... I'm interesting in knowing what others are doing to deal with rising gas prices. For example:

Chaining trips rather than making individual trips (e.g., work-grocery-daycare)?
Carpooling more often?
Driving off-peak to avoid congestion?
Taking transit, walking, or biking?
Cutting out certain trips?
Buying a hybrid/more fuel-efficient vehicle?
Re-fueling more/less frequently?
Moving closer to work?
Moving work closer to home?
Investing in energy stocks?
etc...

If you want to also indicate your relative sensitivity to gas prices, that might make the responses more interesting. For example, I'm on a very modest income (grad student stipend). That combined with the lack of parking in my city more or less forces me to live car-free. I walk just about everywhere (work, groceries, other shopping, friends' houses, restaurants/entertainment, etc.) and take public transit when necessary (~15-25 one-way trips per month). Some days, like when gas prices are approaching $4/gallon, I truly feel "car free"... other days, when I'm sick of sharing my ride with the huddled masses, I feel more "transit dependent."

This is not part of a research project; I'm just curious about the types of behavioral responses that people are coming up with.
 
I'm now at the point that I think gas prices are going up, but my price sensitivity isn't great, thankfully. My gas consumption won't be going down anytime soon either. Not certain what I will do long term, but a hybrid isn't the answer for me.
 
I'm going to build a grappling hook, and grapple the car in front of me, letting them pull me all the way to work.
 
Over a year ago we sold our two new Acuras, bought a VW Jetta TDI and I started riding my bike to work. Cutting down to one car has actually been easier than I expected. And the added bonus of me getting exercise twice a day has been great.
 
i work at home. also the past month and a half i've been housebound since my knee got ****** up and then i had knee surgery. so for the past 7 weeks i've used one tank of gas.

even when i'm up and about and working (at home) i use a tank of gas every 2.5 weeks or so. so, basically, i'm doing nothing.
 
It's kinda hard in our household because we have two kids to drop-off to daycare. We can't car pool because my husband doesn't get out until 5:30 and the kiddos have to be picked up no later than 6. I traded in my Armada over a year ago for an Altima. Husband drives a ford F150 thats paid for but when that dies he's getting a small car/truck that gets good gas mileage. We've cut down our out of town trips a lot and we always use my car. Gas could be 6.00 a gallon and I would be screwed. I would have no choice but to pay it. I would love to move closer to work but houses are a lot more expensive the closer you get to downtown. It's really frustrating because what can I do?
 
We've been going with just on car for the last 2.5 months. We just bough a new Nissan Rouge so I'm afraid we're about to start feeling it. We went with it because it got 5mpg more the the other models we were looking at. I was underwhelmed when I did the calculations that at $4.00 gas, that extra 5 mpg was only going to save me $4000 over the 100,000 mile life of the car.
 
I haven't done anything yet. It would have to go a lot higher before I made any meaningful change in my gas usage. Even if it hits $10/gallon, there are lots of other things I could adjust in my budget first.

Using my car to transport me exactly from point A to point B at the exact time I'm ready to travel is just WAY damn too convenient. Time is far too valuable to waste on public transportation or walking. On top of that, in another 30-45 days, walking during the day will basically become impractical in Houston unless my destnation has a shower and a change of clothes available when I get there.

Bernard
 
I may make one or two fewer in-state trips, but probably not. I don't drive that much anyway, and I have a 4-cylinder Honda Accord that gets good gas mileage.
 
Here are a couple of tips.

TIPS ON PUMPING GAS (Good information)


I don't know what you guys are paying for gasoline.... but here in California
we are also paying higher, up to $3.50 per gallon. But my line of work is
in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks to get more of
your money's worth for every gallon..

Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline in San Jose , CA we deliver
about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline. One day is
diesel the next day is jet fuel, and gasoline, regular and premium grades.
We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 gallons.

Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground
temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their
storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the
gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon
or in the evening....your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum
business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline, diesel
and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role.
A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the
service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast
mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages: low,
middle, and high. In slow mode you should be pumping on low speed, thereby
minimizing the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at
the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of
the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being
sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less
worth for your money.

One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF
FULL or HALF EMPTY. The reason for this is, the more gas you have in your
tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster
than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating
roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the
atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here
where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that
every gallon is actually the exact amount.

Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage
tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up--most likely the gasoline is
being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might pick up some
of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.

Hope this will help you get the most value for your money.

fiesta.gif
 
it is not a concern. i drive a jetta. what used to cost $42 or so to fill up is now at about $50. that isn't that big a deal to me.

however, trying to fit my girlfriend, her two twin 7 year olds and my 11 year old in that jetta..... well, that is another story.
 
If anything, I've done less than nothing. I used to go out of my way to fill up because there is one nearby gas station that is consistently 5 cents cheaper than the most convenient gas station. Now that 5 cents is such a smaller percentage, it really makes no difference. I go with whatever is convenient.

Driving behavior hasn't changed at all
 
I have a Mazda 3 wagon, which is pretty fuel efficient and my wife and I take it almost exclusively. She does use her car some though, which is a Ford Explorer. We try to drive hers only when we have to, or she has to do something when she can't use my car, or it is closer. That common sense type stuff.

We do live 1 mile to work. That is pretty much home garage to parking space at work. That makes it pretty nice.
 
A year ago I was living in Austin, and we'd drive the Honda CRV 25 miles into town each day to take my son to daycare and my wife to UT. Now, we're in Arlington, Va., and I drive five blocks to daycare and my wife to the Metro station. Our gas usage has gone from significant to negligible. It's about the only thing that's better about living out here.
 
I bike to work, and my kids bike to school (K and 4th grade). I drop 'em off at school. My 4th grader does a lot better at school behaviorally after getting a little exercise in the a.m.

I've said it here before but cycling to work is fun as hell. Like being a kid again. I probably don't save much money cause i only live 5 miles from work.
 
i ordered a smart car in november.

i put my car in "comfort" mode instead of "sport" mode for about a day till i realized that "comfort" mode is for wimps.
 
Complaining.

Taking fewer weekend trips.

Staying in my part of town (downtown/west Austin)

Not getting snacks when I fill up (sorry Ben & Jerry's)

Eating lunch in my office more often.

Also, you beat me to it mishatx. wish I had a nickel each time somebody sent everyone on their mailing list some bs that could have been prevented by checking snopes.com first.
 
i'm charging more for my services. high gas pirces are a wash for me.
 
Since I drive 100 mile round-trip to work every day, I have traded cars with my wife. My Dodge Ram now sits at home making only the ocassional trip to school and Wal-Mart while I drive her Pontiac Vibe to and from work. I get 30 mpg with the Vibe, used to get 15 in the truck.
 
The snopes link isn't the greatest either.

It keeps talking about price trade-offs, and then recommends getting a bunch of maintainence to make your car more efficient that will probably cost you more than it will save you in gas money. Not that tune-ups, wheel alignments, filter replacement, and tire pressure checks are bad, but when you just consider them and fuel efficiency, they aren't saving you money.

They also claim that driving at higher speeds uses us more gas, which is actually not true until you get to around 55 mph.
 
Business as usual. In fact, I'll probably take my boat out this afternoon and burn $4 a gallon diesel to get it to the ramp.
 
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