Are You Changing Your Habits Due to Higher Fuel Prices?

[CaptainXeroid]

Apparanlty Volkswagon has a Jetta Hybrid and it's the best looking Hybrid by far...

Here's an article with some info about it. I hadn't heard about this, and that's kinda' funny because my wife & I own 2 VWs, and I hang out on a couple of VW related boards when I'm not here. According to this article, hydbirds are not catching on as much in Europe, but VW may make the Jetta hybird if they think they can sell enough in the US. I recall diesels are very popular in Europe, and that Mercedes is planning to bring diesel back to the US in 2006.

anders, that's neat that you live within walking distance of so many places. Do you live where you do for that reason or was that a fringe benefit?

 

[Original Freak]

Wow. I went through about $80 a month when I drove all over the place, and I was hanging out with friends everynight. I cut way back and now I go through about $50 a month. Since I started riding 8 miles to work, I only use about $20 or $30 a month. 8 miles really isn't that bad after you've done it a few times. I usually drove though when I close, since I don't get off till around 11:30 or 12:30.

I spend about $150-200 a month in gas right now. It's 99.9 cents/litre here right now. I don't know the US equivilant. I hope I get that colt soon, this last week has been expensive.

 

[fromthe heart]

When you are already trying everything to conserve and the prices still are a hardship I don't see what more some folks can do. If you live out in the country as we do the closest mall is over an hour away. We have a small grocery store but it doesn't carry all one may need all the time. I just plan to continue the way I have been because there really is nothing more financially to be done but ride it through as best as we can...fuel for winter for heating is supposed to double. I don't see how some will survive it all. Everything is going up except the paychecks...sooner or later the American Drean will be unreachable for a LOT of people!

 

[jamaesi]

Gas is way under a dollar American here in Brasil because they use sugar cane in it. : )

Go alternative and renewable energy sources!

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I spend about $150-200 a month in gas right now. It's 99.9 cents/litre here right now. I don't know the US equivilant. I hope I get that colt soon, this last week has been expensive.

Not very exact, but a gallon is about 2-2 1/2 litters. So about 1.99 to 2.44 USD for gas. Im probably way off, so feel free to correct me.

 

[Bastet]

Well, I don't drive very much really and my car runs on the smell of an oily rag, so my driving habits haven't changed much at all. I'm lucky to fill my tank once a month (and that's being generous...I have literally gone months at a stretch without going near a service station). I do try to fill up on the 'cheap' days, though. I've had to do some long distance travelling to do some training for work in the last couple of weeks, and the price of petrol went up 10c in a matter of 2 days (luckily work was paying for it ). It was $1.19/litre, which is probably the most I've ever paid for petrol.

 

[Original Freak]

Gas is now 106.9 CDN/litre. (I don't remember getting a 6% raise to cover that though) I think that is about 2.33 US/Gallon.

 

[Bastet]

Not very exact, but a gallon is about 2-2 1/2 litters. So about 1.99 to 2.44 USD for gas. Im probably way off, so feel free to correct me.

1 gallon = 3.785 litres. So, if I've got this worked out right (I'm using the currency converter at www.xe.com), I paid the equivalent of US$3.48/gallon last time I filled up.

 

[Bastet]

Gas is now 106.9 CDN/litre. (I don't remember getting a 6% raise to cover that though) I think that is about 2.33 US/Gallon.

Closer to US$3.37/gallon. I hope all you Americans on board are feeling a little better about your petrol prices by now.

 

[Bastet]

Just to make you all feel better the cost of diesel here is 87p per litre.
That is $5.87 per us gallon

Gah! You win.

 

[JAHLion]

I don't have a car.

But when I do, I plan to buy that's not as bad for the environment as others, and hopefully it will have 1,000,000,000,000,000 mpg. LOL!

Jah Love!

Lion

 

[Sunstone]

Higher fuel prices have certainly caused me to change my driving habits. I now, for the first time, avoid hitting pedestrians in crosswalks, since the fuel cost of making a high speed getaway afterwards has increased so much.

 

[Fluffy]

I'm putting off getting my first car for as long as possible. The on going costs are expensive enough and I can't now fit a job around my education and volunteering so I wouldn't be able to pay for it let alone with rocketing fuel prices.

Plus I'm a mouse potato so I need to walk as much as possible so that I get my exercise (thank god I have such a high metabolism )

 

[anders]

anders, that's neat that you live within walking distance of so many places. Do you live where you do for that reason or was that a fringe benefit?

It just so happened. I was planning to move from Stockholm to a very multicultural and multireligious suburb here, but my sister just happened to have her attic apartment free then at an entirely honest rent. A young family of three used to live here, and I hope that we'll soon be two here...

In one of my previous lives, things were less convenient. From my own house, post office, banks, and most shops of any kind were at walking distance, but for the university and the main city centre there was a bus ride of at least 20 minutes plus 5 to 10 mins. of walking. (Perhaps some 10 minutes by car, but who needs cars unless buying tons of stuff'.)

Another take on distances and hours etc.: Next Sunday at noon, I'm boarding the train to the very south of Sweden (just a very minor ferry trip from Denmark). That's 20 minute's walking to the central station and two plus hours by train. From there, me and my sweetheart will go by ferry to Oslo, Norway. On Tuesday I'll be back here, having spent two nights on the ferry and 7 hours in Oslo. Returning by train, because I don't want to be a DUI case... (Alcoholic beverages on the ferry are a fraction of the mainland prices.)

 

[Todd]

I bought an alternative fuel car (flex fuel / ethanol) 4 years ago in preparation for higher gas prices. Prices were bound to go up sooner or later. However, I'm in Texas (an oil state), and we don't have ethanol for sale to the general public here.

I've e-mailed my congressmen many times, but I don't think they care. Just keep getting a generic response back .

 

[CaptainXeroid]

...since the fuel cost of making a high speed getaway afterwards has increased so much.

Speaking of high speed getaways...August 31, 2005 was a strange day in metro Atlanta, GA. People obviously have been watching the news and grieving for the people affected by Hurricane Katrina.

The the news guys reported that the pipelines that supply us with gasoline were inoperable and that some stations could run out of gas. Then they said there was no need to panic and make a run on gas, that the supplies would be flowing before the weekend. Guess what people did anyway:banghead3. As my wife & I drove to choir practice, we passed 20 gas stations, and every one of them had cars lined up down the block, and prices were going up literally by the hour. Many places that started out at $2.49/gallon for regular gas were charging $3.29/gal by 8 PM

One item I didn't think about for the poll until today was for people to drive slower. I have a bit of a lead foot, and I've been trying to take it easy. Anybody else making a conscious effort to not drive as fast?

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Many places that started out at $2.49/gallon for regular gas were charging $3.29/gal by 8 PM

I watched a Swifty station yesterday rise its price from 2.99 in the morning, to 3.17 during the afternoon, and then 3.49 during the late afternoon/early evening. Im glad I filled my gas tank Monday. It cost me money I really didn't have, but at least I'll be able to go 2 or 3 weeks without filling up again.

 

[Original Freak]

I'm waiting for my little car. Hopefully this weekend, if not then next. I can't affored to drive my gas hungary van to work everyday.

 

[michel]

We bought a new car last March; the new one has a wonderful LED M.P.G gauge on the dash; I love going downhill, with a following wind, in 5th - I've seen the consumption apparently go to over 100 MPG!


I am far more 'aware' than I used to be, and that new car replaced an old inneficient car ten years old..........

 

[zron]

I stopped driving about 10 years ago. I ride my bicycle almost everywhere and if for some reason I need to go outside my bike range I use public trans. I got tired of the cost of keeping a car. And now I'm glad I did give up on cars.