What, if anything, have the current gas prices done to your driving habits?

[Katie H]

After talking to our daughter in Los Angeles this afternoon, I wonder what others are doing to get along during the present gas price situation.

She related that they are paying $3.59 per gallon for regular unleaded gasoline. Thankfully, she and her husband live within a couple of miles of their places of work, so they don't use a lot of fuel commuting.

She did say that they have now changed the way they look at recreational driving. That is, they don't tarry far from home for fun as much as they used to and "batch" their other driving chores even though they live in a large metropolitan area.

Buck and I live in a rather rural area. The closest grocery/shopping is 25 miles away and we have curtailed our trips to "town" considerably. Luckily, Buck's daily commute is less than a half mile, one way, each day.

What say the rest of you? How are you adjusting/coping?

 

[kitchenelf]

I say we will have to adjust another area of our lives - there is a certain amount of driving we HAVE to do. Maybe we'll quit going out so much - that would suit me just fine!!!! lol

 

[GB]

All it has done is make me cringe every time I get in the car. We have to drive a lot. My wife's commute is 45 min to an hour each way. Mine is an hour to an hour and a half each way. My parents are 30 minutes away. Hers are 45. We need to see both sets regularly. My wife had a birthday party for a close friends son 45 minutes away today. Next weekend we have a wedding in NY. These are things we need to do and it hurts each time we get in the car.

 

[PA Baker]

Ouch, GB! I cringe just reading your post! We're trying to consolidate trips, too. It's hard with a toddler--sometimes it's easier to run a couple errands in the morning, get home before she melts and then head out later in the day to finish up. But we're trying to stretch things so that we can do them all at once or find places where we can do a little more "one stop shopping." For instance diapers may be cheaper across town, but even though they cost a little more at the warehouse club close by we'll get them there because it's still cheaper than driving farther.

 

[Uncle Bob]

I make every trip count...accomplish as much as I can on every trip.

 

[bullseye]

I make every trip count...accomplish as much as I can on every trip.

That's me, too. Whereas I used to just get in the car and go whenever for a single errand, I now plan ahead and try to run all my errands at once. Probably not a bad thing and probably something I should have done long ago. Still, there is a lot of driving that just has to happen, so I just suck it up and pay.

 

[turtledove]

Since I am a stay at home wife who hates to go shopping (unless I really have to), it hasn't done much except give me more power behind my excuse of not wanting to waste gas. The post office is about 7 miles from here (I only pick up the mail twice a week), the nearest grocery store is 35 miles away, the bank is another 20-25 miles farther. When DH is able to, he will pick up his paycheck and whatever else I might need on his way home; we have done this for many years. Makes me happy that I have always been a home-body.

 

[foodstorm]

All it has done is make me cringe every time I get in the car. We have to drive a lot...

Yeah, me too, GB.

 

[Green Lady]

My husband and I both work at home so commuting isn't an issue. We live in a busy, growing, congested suburb so I shun driving across town for that reason alone. However, I do find that I lump my errands together because of gas prices. My son is in travel baseball this summer so we don't care what the gas prices are, we will drive wherever to see him play. Some things are priceless, and time watching our son play ball is one of them!

 

[StirBlue]

My husband and I both work at home so commuting isn't an issue. We live in a busy, growing, congested suburb so I shun driving across town for that reason alone. However, I do find that I lump my errands together because of gas prices. My son is in travel baseball this summer so we don't care what the gas prices are, we will drive wherever to see him play. Some things are priceless, and time watching our son play ball is one of them!

Green Lady: Car Pooling to a sports event is a nightmare that I never want to think about again. The traveling leagues in our area never play more than 35 or 40 miles away. If they have two games a week usually one is in town and the other is away.

 

[Green Lady]

Green Lady: Car Pooling to a sports event is a nightmare that I never want to think about again. The traveling leagues in our area never play more than 35 or 40 miles away. If they have two games a week usually one is in town and the other is away.

We don't carpool. Just the three of us and maybe a friend. In travel ball at his level of playing, we play hours away from home so it is a weekend away in a hotel somewhere. My son will be starting college in the fall on a baseball scholarship. It is important to do the travel league and get exposed to players from all around so that his skills remain sharp and challenged by quality players. The local leagues allow anyone to play and the level of competition leaves much to be desired.

 

[Claire]

About 10 years ago we sold our suburban "dream home", bought a travel trailer, and spent 3 years looking for our dream community. One requirement was that it had to have most of what we needed w/i walking distance. Now I take the truck out once a week and do everything I have to every Friday. We tank up less than monthly. I don't think we can reduce it any more than that!

 

[fliggie]

It has me considering switching job, from my current 45 min./day (one way) commute to something local. I've only been at the current job for coming on two years, and its a good job, but gas was under $2/gal when I started. There are certainly other reasons I would switch jobs, but this does play into it.

 

[GotGarlic]

Last year I needed a new car and bought a Ford Escape Hybrid. I love it. My commute is short but congested and I love watching the gas engine shut off and the electric engine take over

 

[Half Baked]

My dr/hospital is about 45 minutes away and now I make sure that I combine 2 appts even if I have to wait for hours between them. I just take a book and sit it out.

I have quit going to my favorite International Market (50 min away) but fortunately there are 2 that are closer and although they don't have the same quantity of products, I'll make do.

 

[Robo410]

years ago, my first job out of college, my first car a basic chevy off the lot. and gas had just hit $1.00 a gal...a price that was "never gonna happen in a million years! I mean the gas pumps didn't have spaces for prices over .99.9!" (so they sold half gallons for .51.9) anyway, in relation to my salary and all other costs then and now, gas would have to be over $9 a gallon to equal the same bite it had on me back then...1978.

It does require that I budget for it once again, but who does this really hurt? The young folks just starting out, and the poor and elderly on fixed or low incomes.

Same with the cost of tobacco ( for those who still smoke, I don't btw). But a pack of cigs would have to be over $10 to have the same effect on my wallet that it did back in the late 70s when it was hitting a buck.

 

[Toots]

When I run errands, I try to combine stops and get everything I need in one trip- somtimes hard to do. I live 10 miles from Cincinnati and I've cut my weekend trips to the downtown library or Findlay Market way down. I try not to drive somewhere just for one thing.

 

[Claire]

Toots, I do the same thing. I guess it helps if you don't really like to drive anyway. I don't, neither does my husband (this astonishes people, after all, we spent three years on the road, driving many, many miles every day. Husband towed the trailer, then I did every-day driving, every day. We only stayed in one place for more than a week when we needed our mail to be sent to us). But now that we are settled, I plan those Fridays. Which stop is furthest away? What stops along the way are in order? For me a big one is that our library doesn't open until 11 a.m. This drives me crazy because sometimes I finish my errands at 10:30.

But, no, gas prices haven't changed our driving habits, because we aren't that attached to driving everywhere. An old hippie friend of mine took me to task for owning a gas guzzler (Ford 150 pickup). I told her I drive it once a week, and only fill her up about once a month. That issue went away pretty quickly once she realized that she drove her (less gas guzzling) car just about every day.

 

[bethzaring]

Yes, it has effected my driving habits. I come up with any excuse I can think of to not leave the farm. It has to be a dire, dire need for me to get in the car to go somewhere. Not just someting I may need for a particular recipe, nope not good enough reason, just make something else with ingredients I have on hand. Animal feed is the only thing that really gets me out on the road. And it is only 2 miles away. Post office is 12 miles round trip, as is the nearest grocery store that has very limited offerings. I have cut down on selling on eBay so I do not have to travel to P.O.

 

[Barbara L]

Even though the price of gas is ridiculous (lower for us than some of you I guess--$3.09) it hasn't had as much effect on us as just not having the money to do anything even if we could drive there! Since we can't afford to eat out, go to the movies, etc. we don't drive there. We actually had to sell my little refrigerator that I had in my classroom so that we could get gas so I could get to work this last week of school (and I only work 6 miles from home). Sheesh. Fortunately our car gets pretty good gas mileage.

Barbara