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Gas prices, why is everyone so freaked out?

N

notfred

Lifer
A year or two ago, when gas was $1.79/gallon, no one complained. People seemed to be pretty satisfied with $1.79/gallon. Now gas is up to $2.25/gallon. That's roughly a 25% increase in the cost of gas. That means if you were previously paying $20 to fill up your tank, now you're paying $25. Wow, $5. About the cost of a big mac combo meal. Maybe you fill up once a week, that's $20/month. That's about the cost of a new DVD, or half a video game, or one night eating dinner out. That's really not a whole hell of a lot of money.

Maybe you're saying "But my $30,000 SUV doesn't cost $25 to fill up, it costs $75 to fill up!"
The payment on that SUV is what, about $500/month? How much is your insurance? Another $100 or so? And the price you pay for gas has increased by maybe $50/month, and that's supposed to worry you? You can afford $600/month for a car. If the gas really is making your budget THAT tight, you could always cancel HBO and the playboy channel, that'll get most of your extra money back.
 
It's a mystery to me.

I don't particularly LIKE paying $2.35 for regular, but it's just not that big of a deal.

If I was truly interested in saving money on gas I'd try harder to keep the gas pedal off the floor.

Viper GTS
 
For the most part, Americans aren't complaining seeing as AAA have stated they expect this weekend's travel numbers to be the highest ever.

ATOT on the other hand....who know's other than most members like to bitch about silly things.
 
Originally posted by: notfred
A year or two ago, when gas was $1.79/gallon, no one complained. People seemed to be pretty satisfied with $1.79/gallon. Now gas is up to $2.25/gallon. That's roughly a 25% increase in the cost of gas. That means if you were prevoiusly paying $20 to fill up your tank, now you're paying $25. Wow, $5. About the cost of a big mac combo meal. Maybe you fill up once a week, that's $20/month. That's aboutt he cost of a new DVD, or half a video game, or one night eating dinner out. That's really not a whole hell of a lot of money.

Maybe you're saying "But my $30,000 SUV doesn't cost $25 to fill up, it costs $75 to fill up!"
The payment on that SUV is what, about $500/month? How much is your insurance? Another $100 or so? And the price you pay for gas has increased by maybe $50/month, and that's supposed to worry you? You can a fford $600/month for a car. If the gas really is making oyur budget THAT tight, you could always cancel HBO and the playboy channel, that'll get most of your extra money back.
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I've always said the same thing.

Prices can jump 10¢ overnight and people cry foul, yet that's only $1 extra on a 10gal fillup.
 
as much i dislike paying $2.57/gallon for regular unleaded, the way i see it, its only a few bucks more than what i paid when it was at its recent lowest. i would've took that extra $5-10 and bought fast food or something. now i see myself coming home and cooking more and making b.l.t.'s and such.
 
It's about how people take their cars so personally. (Which is something I've always found fascinating.)

If someone cuts you off on an onramp, people go ballistic. If you are walking down the hall and someone cuts in front of you, who cares?

If someone wants to change lanes, many people get all uptight and won't let them get in front. Not hardly the same issue when biking through a park.
 
Originally posted by: Francodman
maybe on a small scale yeah, but what about business that use fleet vehicles, or buses... it adds up a lot.
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thats when they increase their price as well. simple as that. but i agree, they are the ones that may get hurt if they don't adjust their production/pricing appropriately.
 
Gasoline in cars is just one part of the picture. In fact it is the smallest part of the picture.

If your house is heated by oil products and you pay $300 a month for heating, what does a 25% increase do to a budget? Note: I'm not saying a 25% increase in gasoline is a 25% increase in heating costs - they are not directly related. But the price of oil has increased by ~100% recently. It will increase the cost of heating.

What about consumer goods. Industry uses tons of fuel - for manufacturing, for raw materials, for transprotation, etc. A 25% increase in gas will have a signficant impact on price of things we buy every day.

The list goes on and on. All of the factors add up.
 
Originally posted by: Francodman
maybe on a small scale yeah, but what about business that use fleet vehicles, or buses... it adds up a lot.
Click to expand...

Maybe you talk to a lot of CEOs of transportation companies, but I mostly talk to people who are just driving themselves to work and the grocery store.
 
Originally posted by: Xiety
Originally posted by: Francodman
maybe on a small scale yeah, but what about business that use fleet vehicles, or buses... it adds up a lot.
Click to expand...

thats when they increase their price as well. simple as that. but i agree, they are the ones that may get hurt if they don't adjust their production/pricing appropriately.
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Yeah, and when they increase their price, we pay more. DONT YOU SEE!!!??!?! CHAOS!!!!
 
Originally posted by: Xiety
Originally posted by: Francodman
maybe on a small scale yeah, but what about business that use fleet vehicles, or buses... it adds up a lot.
Click to expand...

thats when they increase their price as well. simple as that. but i agree, they are the ones that may get hurt if they don't adjust their production/pricing appropriately.
Click to expand...

and we're the ones who pay for it, once again.

it all adds up.
 
Originally posted by: notfred
Originally posted by: Francodman
maybe on a small scale yeah, but what about business that use fleet vehicles, or buses... it adds up a lot.
Click to expand...

Maybe you talk to a lot of CEOs of transportation companies, but I mostly talk to people who are just driving themselves to work and the grocery store.
Click to expand...

Some people don't work in offices all day.
 
Originally posted by: Francodman
Originally posted by: notfred
Originally posted by: Francodman
maybe on a small scale yeah, but what about business that use fleet vehicles, or buses... it adds up a lot.
Click to expand...

Maybe you talk to a lot of CEOs of transportation companies, but I mostly talk to people who are just driving themselves to work and the grocery store.
Click to expand...

Some people don't work in offices all day.
Click to expand...

That's true, but most of these higher up people at transportation companies and people in charge of fleets of vehicles probably do. What's your point?
 
Originally posted by: dullard
Gasoline in cars is just one part of the picture. In fact it is the smallest part of the picture.

If your house is heated by oil products and you pay $300 a month for heating, what does a 25% increase do to a budget? Note: I'm not saying a 25% increase in gasoline is a 25% increase in heating costs - they are not directly related. But the price of oil has increased by ~100% recently. It will increase the cost of heating.

What about consumer goods. Industry uses tons of fuel - for manufacturing, for raw materials, for transprotation, etc. A 25% increase in gas will have a signficant impact on price of things we buy every day.

The list goes on and on. All of the factors add up.
Click to expand...

While that's obviously the case, most people aren't smart enough to see that.

They only see the price on the pump once a week & flip out.

Viper GTS
 
Originally posted by: notfred
Originally posted by: Francodman
Originally posted by: notfred
Originally posted by: Francodman
maybe on a small scale yeah, but what about business that use fleet vehicles, or buses... it adds up a lot.
Click to expand...

Maybe you talk to a lot of CEOs of transportation companies, but I mostly talk to people who are just driving themselves to work and the grocery store.
Click to expand...

Some people don't work in offices all day.
Click to expand...

That's true, but most of these higher up people at transportation companies and people in charge of fleets of vehicles probably do. What's your point?
Click to expand...

My point is that you should take an econ class
 
They only see the price on the pump once a week & flip out.
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It has a whole lot to do with the rate of the increase and not simply the increase itself.

What if your cable/internet/whatever bill went up 25% next month? Would you be upset? Yes, you would.
 
All things being equal I prefer it to be cheaper, of course. But I agree with you. If I were really bothered I wouldn't be "playing" with my car nearly as much. 🙂

ZV
 
Originally posted by: Francodman
My point is that you should take an econ class
Click to expand...

My point is that you missed the point entirely. This post isn't really about economics, it's about people people seeing the gas pump run up to $35 and freaking out. These people aren't thinking about the effect of gas prices on the cost of other goods, they're jsut looking at the gas pump and saying "AHH! That's a lot!".
 
Originally posted by: notfred
Originally posted by: Francodman
My point is that you should take an econ class
Click to expand...

My point is that you missed the point entirely. This post isn't really about economics, it's about people people seeing the gas pump run up to $35 and freaking out. These people aren't thinking about the effect of gas prices on the cost of other goods, they're jsut looking at the gas pump and saying "AHH! That's a lot!".
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, i gave too much credit to the spending public. I forgot their all a bunch of misguided fools constantly misisng the big picture.
 
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