We're almost there...

[Regina]

I remember it was a big deal to go to the gas station with my dad when I was younger, and he would complain about 70 some cents a gallon. : ) I am not that old....33 years old, and the prices have went up past 3.00 a gallon in 20 or so years.

I was talking to my husband about this last night, and in my opinion, as long as people will pay it, the prices will stay there. The government has alternatives to getting this foreign oil, but they don't have the so-called need or even outcry from us to force them into exploring other options that would bring prices down and not have us reliant on foreign countries.

It's like agriculture, my husband's family had a farm growing up....not a working farm, just land for their horses and such. The government wanted to pay them for how many sheep they wouldn't raise on the farm. Well, they weren't planning on raising sheep, so they told the government that. The government said something like, "Yes, but if you were to raise sheep, how many would you raise? We need to pay you accordingly." This went back and forth and back and forth, with my husband's family repeatedly telling them they weren't raising sheep. Just doesn't make sense to me, wasteful spending...

Okay, back to the topic.....

[katbuad]

Gas is $3.19-$3.25 here in Nashville. I hate to admit but I haven't changed my driving habits. Everything is so close together, it doesn't seem like a lot to run here and there on various errands. I have changed my fill up habits though. I don't like seeing $45 go into the tank at once, so I fill up before it gets empty. Spending $20-$25 makes me "feel" better even though I have to do it more often. I know its stupid.

I would like to add the cost of milk to the gripe list. I drink a gallon of white milk every 3 days and a gallon of chocolate milk each week. Good grief my grocery bill is over $10 with just those items in the basket!!

[Londoner]

Errr, ladies, currently (and I hope I've worked this out right) we're currently paying $9.77 a gallon for diesel in the UK! It's a few pennies less for unleaded, but there's not much in it.

So count yourselves lucky!

[spotty4]

Originally Posted by Londoner

Errr, ladies, currently (and I hope I've worked this out right) we're currently paying $9.77 a gallon for diesel in the UK! It's a few pennies less for unleaded, but there's not much in it.

So count yourselves lucky!

So Londoner, you're living the life that the USA is headed for. Do you live *in* London, or in some surrounding area? I assume the price per liter differs by location. How have you and other Britons/Londoners changed their lifestyle? Granted, if you're in a city you can take public transit. But have you eased off on vacations? Changed your driving habits? Etc ... Don't folks in London have to pay some hefty fee to even own a car in the city?

[Londoner]

We live just outside London. Prices vary slightly around the UK (usually by a few pence a litre) but not hugely.

There isn't a viable public transport alternative where we are, so we have to drive - although of course we don't drive into the centre of London - as you say, there is a congestion charge now of £8 per car, so it's a real incentive not to (and actually driving in Central London is completely unnecessary, as public transport is so good).

As for changing our lifetstyles - well, we have very efficient cars. Mine's a small diesel and it does an average of 62 miles per gallon!

[madlibs]

We have a diesel, too. 50 mpg highway... usually around 42-45 combined city/highway. Since the US has switched to low sulfur diesel it's been more expensive than premium. We're paying $4.09 a gallon here now... while i think regular is around $3.25. Since our mpg is better we're still coming out ahead -- for NOW. I guess we shall see what happens in the future.

Honestly, I'm kind of glad the price of fuel is going up so much. It's going to force EVERYone to research and find fuel alternatives. There's only a finite amount of oil on this planet anyway... no escaping that fact.

I guess the price has been affecting us a bit... I now think out my grocery shopping trips before going on them-- try to figure out everywhere I need to go before going, plan out a route. Also, making sure the tires are filled properly, excess weight is left at home (except our 115 pound dog-- hmmm I wonder how much fuel she's costing us...), oil changed at proper times. We're not doing much more than that, though. Buying our car a year ago was our major saver. We're already talking about getting a Prius... we're greedy with our mpg's!