I was talking with my mom the other day about the absurd amount of money she is shelling out for gas. She lives in California where the price per gallon has well surpassed the $4 mark (and is teetering dangerously close to 5). I’m lucky to live in a city that ranks among the ten where prices are lowest in the country. With our 10 cent discount at the grocery store we’re paying $3.77 I think. At least we were on Wednesday.
Of course we all know that when the price of gas goes up the price of everything else follows. And when we’re paying more for gas, food, diapers, you name it, then we have less to spend on everything else. So for Finish This Sentence Friday, I’m wondering what kinds of things your family is sacrificing to compensate.
As for us, we’re driving less. We live a good 30 minutes from any real shopping/restaurants that are worth patronizing. And since it costs us twice as much just to get there, we’ve taken to staying home more often. I’m the kind of girl who can be easily entertained by perusing the aisles of Target trying to find a great deal on the clearance stuff. No more though it seems. The purse strings are tightened up a bit.
To help on the other end Jeff is working more hours at work. The overtime goes a long way to pad the budget.
I’m pretty cheap frugal all the time anyway, so other than that I haven’t changed my ways too much. How about you? Have pedicures and dinners out gone by the wayside?
Our big problem is takeout, and we’ve curtailed that quite a bit.
Our city has a free bus shuttle, so the boys and I have been using that. We can walk a block to where we catch the bus, so it’s not bad, the buses are airconditioned and nice. It is hot outside, but it’s nice to save gas and nice to get a little exercise.
We’ve not been driving a lot either, gas is $4.09 here.
I’m a sucker for Target as well, I’ve been banned by my husband, ha ha.
Gas here was $3.89 (before Kroger discount) the last I looked.
Chris drives about 45 miles each way to work so that stings. He therefore decided recently to give up his beloved pickup and snagged himself a snazzy Ford Focus instead. It’s a darn nice little car really, and our wallets are much enjoying the break on gas.
That’s pretty much the only thing we’ve changed.
I asked about gas prices on my Aloha Friday post today and am surprised at the range. I paid $4.15 a gallon in MI today. :(
I think a lot harder about every car trip right now and I know it’s going to make a difference with our summertime activities. It already had over the past couple of years anyway. I’m very worried about the state of our finances, especially since I’ll be on unemployment in a couple of weeks. But hey – at least I won’t be driving to and from work every day, so that will save some gas $! ;)
Absurd is right. It’s sad when I get excited that my hubby paid $3.73 a gallon.
We’re also fairly frugal, so we haven’t really been doing too much differently. My hubby did cancel our cable yesterday. We don’t drive as much, and try to bunch all of our errands together. We never really went out to eat anyway, so that hasn’t affected us. I started making weekly menus which actually helped a ton as far as not buying surplus groceries.
My story sounds a lot like yours. Trying to stay home, hubby working OT. it is hard with all the summer goings-on every weekend, and that is hurting us. Most are out of state and require a gift. Ouch.
I’m stuck commuting, so have given up our little weekend getaways. I love a weekend, or even just one night, in a hotel at a place that we can explore. We’re not doing that these days, and while I miss it, I’m enjoying being at home, too. Thank God for Target five minutes from my house!
I too am trying to stay home several days a week. And if I do go into town, I make sure I run as many errands I can while I am there.
But give up hair cuts and coloring? Live to learn with a uni-brow? NEVER!!!!!!
I’d eat ramen (at 10 cents a bag) first. And I really dislike ramen.
I wish I lived where you live. We’re paying $4.35/gallon here for REGULAR. And my husband commutes from NY to NJ every day so we’re basically working for gas. So what are we giving up? Hmm..I try and bring lunch to work. I’m not shopping as much. And using the library instead of the bookstore. Small steps….
I can’t say we’ve given anything up or made big changes. I am trying to consolidate trips and errands. That makes it a bit tough dragging three boys to 5 places because I don’t want to waste gas making 5 separate trips. Gas is at $4 and I am hoping it doesn’t hit $5 because that is when it will get tricky.
I’m also a very frugal girl (or, as my husband says, I’m a “super saver”). But I, too, have been staying in a little bit more instead of making the 20+ mile trek into town because of the high gas prices.
We’ve been trying to stay close to home, only traveling for my daughter’s allergy treatments (which is a small fortune in gas). I’ve also been trying to be more cognizant of what we need/use grocery wise. I’m trying to cut the bill a little.
I haven’t had to give anything up, but I do think twice before firing up the SUV. Gas here in CT is about $4.50.
i can so relate. we’re paying $4.00 here in FL. an idiot local columnist wrote that Europeans are paying $8-10 / gallon and truth be told, americans can afford to pay more. of course, he forgot to consider that Europeans don’t pay for healthcare. but that’s another story. feeling your pain.