Heard on the news by next year, gas could go up

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MiniHunterHorseFan

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Did anyone else hear that? What will the registries do?
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Surely not very many people can attend horses shows when gas would be so high. That is nearly triple the price that it is now!
 
I hadn't heard that. But it does make me wonder when I see all the cars on the road all the time with just one person in each one, when will we as a country (...how high will the price have to go) to slow us down, to bring us back to doing things at home more and driving less. We need to carpool and use trains and buses where they are available...but here, around Atlanta where these are available, I just don't see it happening yet.

More important is what is this going to do to the cost of necessities...groceries, heating, etc. We turned in our cell phones this month as our contracts were up....and that is one thing I won't miss. But the savings is already spent in increased costs for diesel and groceries.

We are in a drought here. We as a state were put on a mandatory 10% decrease in water usage. So now our rates are higher so our bills did not go down. The electric companies are now raising rates. But our employers are not raising pay and are actually downsizing everywhere they can.

The good news is that all the things made in China are now going to cost more due to the devaluation of the dollar...so maybe we will begin to buy American again!
 
I sure hope not. I struggle now with gass at 3 somthing a gallon and driving 400 miles a week
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When we stopped at our local "small-town" gas station last week to fill up our pickup, the total bill was just a few cents over $104, and the pump showed it as $4.00, which got the gas station owner talking to my husband about the gas pumps. He said if the price actually goes over $4.00 a gallon, his pumps will have to have a new "computer thingy" installed, and the new ones register up to $9.00 a gallon, so yes, I do believe the plan is to keep increasing until we all decide to stay home whenever possible. I do have 2 Buckskin miniatures that are broke to drive, and on a whim last fall we bought a little buckboard wagon that we have been restoring, but COME ON, my grocery store of choice is 25 miles away (as are most other things, we live in a really rural area). Guess it will rule out buying ice-cream if we have to drive "the team and wagon" after supplies LOL.
 
Have you noticed that when they announced the rebate check from the government a week or two before it shot up even higher along with groceries...mmmmm....maybe they need to check into THAT! Seems the oil co. want to get their hands in that cooky jar too.
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I hadn't heard $10 gallon, but if that happens, more importantly, how will many people even be able to afford to drive to work???
 
$10 a gallon???!?!?! God I hope not. Thankfully My husband and I work at the same place and on the same shift.

Heather
 
Well, all the talk about carpooling and etc., is just fine for you folks in larger towns, but just move out here in the boonies in Texas where the nearest town that doesn't have more than a post offfice, a sky high prices grocery, and a drug store, and see how far that gets you. We have to drive at least 25 miles in any direction, yet the interstate is only 5 miles away from us, to get to the nearest town. Yep, my grocery bill is higher, and gas is horrible. I have started trying to stock up, so I don't have to make so many trips to the grocery. I am even going to start making my own bread again, as that is the one thing you run out of fastest, and with a loaf of bread that has all the preservatives that burn my tongue in it going for nearly $3.00 per loaf, I think mine will be better in the long run. We have been tightening our belts another notch or so every time gas takes another hike, and groceries continue to go up, up, up, and we're about to run out of belt! Don't know what everyone is going to do if things continue to spiral up! Maybe elect a president that isn't afraid to tell the gas companies where to go? How about letting loose of all the oil we have here? You do realize there are hardly any new wells being dug, and most of the producing wells have been capped off? Most of this is a political ploy! I have long said that the oil producers are pixxxxed off because we won't let them drill those huge wells in Alaska, and if they were allowed, gas would go down again. I am not saying we should let them drill, just take the oil companies to task. You also know we are being gouged when diesel is higher than gasoline, because diesel is much cheaper to make. The oil companies want to hit where they can make the most money.
 
I had also read that it is conceivable that it could go that high and I too think that much more important than horse shows and I mean no disrespect but here in the Northeast that translates to many who wont be able to stay in their homes because they cant afford to heat them. This winter it was just under $ 800 to fill a 250 gal tank and at 10 that would be 2500 dollars to fill one tank of fuel. And the fuel costs translate to higher costs for everything that we use. We are starting to try to stockpile some necessities and plan on adding another woodstove before another winter if we dont move further south to save money. While gas and oil prices are the same wherever you live the amount of time you need heat is far less. We heat from Sept through April at the least and sometimes all the way to June.
 
This is a very serious situation, and likely to become even more so, I'm afraid. Those in the UK and Europe have little sympathy for us (and that's understandable!)-- as they've been paying more than twice(even three times?) what we pay for fuel for YEARS--while those of us in the US(not sure about Canada, but I've had the impression that they are having issues similar to those of the US w/ fuel price run-up?)have for quite a while managed to 'sidestep' the bigger issues of fuel prices...?

To me, one of the BIGGEST problems is that as a nation, we are "spoiled". We are 'way too accustomed to things like: hopping into a motor vehicle ANYTIME we want, usually BY OURSELVES, to go and get ONE item at some store, every time the whim strikes; to WHIZZING along at speeds that 'gobble' fuel(and at ABOVE the already HIGH speed limits--we all know many do it, if not most), to chauffeuring children to activity after activity, even to living MILES from our work and driving LONG distances(again, usually ALONE in the car)to commute daily. Don't get me wrong--I understand that this is how our society has 'evolved'; also, we live in a BIG, spread-out country, so fuel usage is going to HAVE to be different from that of the countries that are all relatively small and/or packed together--BUT, I also feel strongly that it is going to be vital for people to CHANGE THEIR PERCEPTIONS of what they are 'entitled' to do, to put it plainly--and I see VERY little evidence that as a country, we are willing to do that?

One factor that we have no control over is the increasing demand, AND the increasing ability to afford to pay for, motor vehicle fuel AND other components of a more affluent populace, in several VERY large countries. This is NOT going to change; nor do we as North Americans have ANY control over the phenomenon--and this WILL change the 'picture',once and for all.

I clearly recall the 'gas crisis' in the early '70s, when gasoline prices went very high(for that time), and supplies were actually 'rationed'-i.e., gas stations CLOSED on Sundays. SPEED LIMITS on federal highways were dropped to 55 MPH(stated to be the most fuel-effiecient highway speed, even today). Know what? Most people cooperated in this effort! But nowadays?? I have driven to the city in recent months at around 55, w/ flashers on to let others know I was going slower than the posted speed limits(between here and the city, 75, then 65--and NO posted minimum speed, like I have seen in other places). It can get exciting-almost NO one besides me slows ONE BIT when the posted speed drops to 65; the flashers do help, though--and no one shot me!

I do feel badly for those who are 'locked into' a long commute from where they live, esp. when they chose their place to live BEFORE things 'went to H*ll in a handbasket', as my husband would have said I also know ONLY too well what it is to live 25-30 miles from the nearest city; I've BEEN living like that for the past nearly 28 years! I ALWAYS combined trips, etc---it's just part of my conservative nature---and believe me, I know all about belt-tightening, and you're darned right, it is NOT easy nor 'fun', but it IS DOABLE)...that said, a 'park and ride' service has been instituted out here(a largely 'bedroom community' of Albuquerque), and it gets almost NO ridership. We as a nation are largely UNWILLING to 'give up' much of ANYTHING that we have come to feel 'entitled to'--and I strongly feel that attitude is going to HAVE TO change in order for us to learn to cope with things as they are going--especially among those who 'have', and therefore, don't feel they should have to change ANYTHING about they way they live....again, that culture of entitlement. It will require people to think BEYOND themselves and their desires, and today, that is a rare ability, I fear.

Flames to Joe.

Margo
 
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I heard that also! I guess people will get back to just buying the basics again and growing some of their own food. I may have to increase my little garden area................... We have our mini farm up for sale and we may have to go lower on the price than we wanted to.
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Portland, Or and several surrounding towns have an amazing bus system out here. They've even been expanding it south! It's not just a bus system, there's light rail too. Tri-met and Maxx are a godsend- but only if you live and work in the areas they service. And they do service a huge area, just not enough, sadly. Vancouver, WA has a bus system that connects to Portland's Tri-met busses (and from there Maxx, the light rail), and when the new Maxx line is done there will be a "fast track" Maxx line from Portland to Wilsonville, and from there you can get a bus into the Salem, OR system. Honestly, it's an amazing and useful system- I used it A LOT when I lived up there. It was 75 cents to $1.50 to hop on and go as far as I wanted, really- and I could read, play handheld games, etc.

Sadly, living where we are now... there's one bus that hits the nearest town once a week, and only leaves/returns once a day that day. I miss the old bus system- and my bike. Gosh, when I was a kid we'd take off to go wherever in town on our bikes!

I can drive now. I don't, much. But I do like having the option! If Dave gets the job he's off to interview for, we'll be moving and be back on the bus lines, though- thank heavens- so if gas prices are too bad we can use it. Even still, the bus prices (And Maxx, even though it's electrically powered) will go up due to gas prices. So is $5 for a 2-3hr ticket to get anywhere worthwhile still? It's BAD when you have to ask that...
 
[SIZE=12pt]One of the main reasons I INSISTED we work on the garden last weekend (re:Zac and the cow poop post~LOL) was that we HAVE to grow more of our own food this year. We have the space to do it and we just don't eat canned (and rarely frozen) fruits or vegetables. If we want to be able to continue to eat fresh foods, we're going to HAVE to raise them. We are now raising our own cattle (for sales and our own consumption) and if my rescue hens will get back to laying, I'll have about 12 laying hens. [/SIZE]

I'm facing a hard choice about Mia riding the bus home from school. School buses are a wonderful thing, but the bus drivers here FLY up these mountain roads and there are no seat belts. It's not that far out of Steve's way to take her to school in the mornings, but it's costing about $40-$45/week now for me to go pick her up. Steve drives a super fuel efficient little Honda. I drive a Honda Odyssey, not so fuel efficent.
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We do combine trips. I prefer to shop at the Wal-mart Supercenter in Stillwell, OK (about 20 minutes away), but there is an OK grocery store where Mia goes to school, so even though they're a bit higher, we've been shopping there. Feed is purchased on school pick up runs. I am no longer going to the Chiropractor (ouch my aching neck), because it's an extra expense AND it's 70 miles round trip.

We won't give up country living, so we're just going to have to suck it up more and do for ourselves.
 
Guess I'll be buying those no-flat tires for the bike and training the dogs to pull this summer...
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All I can say is.....

Thank GOD for three riding horses
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This is utterly ridiculous...

So many people are losing homes because they can't make ends meet already anyway... this will just increase the problem. And as gas goes up, so does everything else...

I am single and have no one else to cut slack on the bills. I have not had a raise in the last couple of years, and if they decided to give us one, it would not be enough to keep up with the percentage of inflation at all- not even close.

We may be 'spoiled', however people have to make a living. I have a 30 mile drive one way every day to work, and where I live, there is no one to carpool with. I also have to work long hours sometimes. If I had to move closer, I would have to sell all the horses, etc..

I would have to give up the lifestyle I have been living most of my LIFE because of the price of gas and greedy companies? And a government who has allowed TONS of jobs to go out of the country? I have been saying for almost 20 years that it was going to catch up, and sure enough.. it has!

Someone needs to take a REAL look at why all this is happening... it cannot keep going this way. If it becomes $10 a gallon, I am done... I cannot afford it even now and am already worrying about this coming year and what I am going to do. I'm sure I'm not the only one!
 
You know, not to get morbid. But I've been wondering if the suicide rate has been going up too. We're all being backed into a corner with no way out. I live 25 miles from work and in a very rural area. I can't car pool and there sure isn't any buses! And if it goes to $10 gallon I had better be making several hundred thousand more a year! Or I'll be eating horse meat.......
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Gah, I think I'm going to need to invest in bigger horses. I'll never be able to survive if gas goes up to 10.00 I don't even make that an hour and I work part time so I can care for everyone.
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I did hear last night that it will go to $5 this summer. We are around $3.50 right now for regular unleaded. My husbands commute right now is 40 miles one way. We have a truck that gets horrible gas mileage and have talked about buying a car at this point. I think we will need to do it before they start jacking the prices up on the cars that get really good gas mileage.
 
They say that there already is a overabundance of SUV's traded in and that prices on used cars that good mileage have already gone up at dealerships.
 

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