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Have you driven any less with increased gas prices?

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Ya, I've cut down where I can. I've even started going the speed limit on the interstate (90% of my driving), and it cuts down on gas usage a TON. I can easily get an extra day or two of driving to work and back just by cutting my speed by 7 or 8 MPH.
 
I moved and no longer visit family nearly as much. Went from about 18,000 miles/year to about 8,000. I was spending an hour at work making money to cover the cost of getting there and back. And my car is paid off.
 
Wife and I have cut out a lot of driving on the weekends and after work. I also dont drive much for lunch anymore & just eat at the office.

Odd thing is that I can afford it, but just choose not to cause the profiteering is ridiculous and I don't want to contribute to it.
 
Originally posted by: RedShirtI'll give an example that pertains to my life:
I usually drive, every few weeks, 100 miles (200 round trip) to visit some high school friends. I have stopped this because the trip costs me over $30 in gas.

Please Discuss! 🙂
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So, lets say gas cost $2.00 a gallon, your car gets 20 miles to the gallon. Your driving expense is 10 cents per mile? So 200 miles cost you 20 dollars?

At $3.00 a gallon its 15 cents per mile, so it cost you 30 dollars?

ten bucks makes the trip not worthwhile? skip the latte, eat out less, whatever.



the more mileage you car gets the less impact even this price change has
 
I said yes but really it didn't change how much I drove, it just happens to have changed my driving habits. I actually have a car that runs off either CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) or regular gasoline. I used to fill up every-other day with natural gas. I could make it homeo n the second day, but would have to drive back to work on regular gas before filling up at lunch (It holds 5 gallons =/). I have been filling up everyday since gas prices have shot up.
 
Definitely. I've been taking better advantage of the public transportation available in my neighborhood, and I'm actually going to be moving in a few weeks to a place just off campus so that I won't ever have to drive to school again.
 
No, I still drive when I have to.
My work gives me money to ride the train. However, I am lucky to break even each month vs. driving the car. The stupid train is expensive around here.
 
I didn't drive much with low gas prices. I fill up about once a month.

I used to carpool partway when I had a 150 mile round trip commute. Now I have an 8 mile round trip and work with my wife, but we drive separately because we get to work and leave work at different and unpredictable times.
 
My job moved out 10 miles, so my commute is longer now 🙁
On the other hand, I don't go home for lunch anymore, and I drive much slower so I now get 400 miles to a tank instead of 300 miles to a tank.
 
Over the weekend I thought about driving 18 miles to pick up something I forgot at work. Then I did the math and it'll cost me $7 of gas and I said fvck it. I don't need it that bad.
 
yes and no. I have a sweet road bike that I love to ride so if its not raining outside i'll get my backpack and ride that to the store or my friends house. Its more fun, cheaper, and better for your health...really a win win situation unless you are in a hurry.

The no part is that I like to go to concerts and road trips. I haven't in a while since I have school and no concerts to go to but last month I think i drove over 600 miles in 3 days. I would would to take the train or another public transport system but it just does not make as much sense usually. Its roughly 3 dollars a gallon here. To get to NY on a train its like 60 bucks one way..I can drive there and back on a tank of gas for less then that, keep my schedule, and leave at 2am if I so wish. Philly is a 14 dollar one way train ride. Again...I can drive into the city for less and I don't have to catch the last train to go home. I know its a catch22 but if more people used the trains, they could lower prices, and then I would use the train more. If the train was cheaper I would pick that every time I travel. Sit in traffic as I try to get into the city? or zoom into the city while I read a book? I choose the zooming one...
 
Yes, but not because of high gas prices. It's merely a coincidence that gas prices have gone up and that I'm driving less.

I ride a bicycle to work 3 days a week because I enjoy it and it is good exercise. The fact that I'm saving money on gas is just a bonus.
 
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Yes, but not because of high gas prices. It's merely a coincidence that gas prices have gone up and that I'm driving less.

I ride a bicycle to work 3 days a week because I enjoy it and it is good exercise. The fact that I'm saving money on gas is just a bonus.
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Isn't it great? I wish I could ride to work now...my work is 25 miles...while that is doable its gonna take me over an hour to get there in the morning and I am really not a morning person:/ Maybe i'll give it a try when its a nice day and I can get into work a bit late.

I wish Amtrak would make it a little cheaper to ride their trains and make them more frequent. In Japan you can take a train anywhere not just in tokyo and its pretty damn cheap.(yeah if you want to take the bullet train its expensive but thats also going really ****** fast). Of course their country is smaller and their population relies on trains a lot more then we do so they can do that.
 
No. Only drive 8 miles a day round trip, the grocery store is on the way home and I fill up once a mth. YeeeHAW!

I have family from MI coming down to TN in July and they're driving together to conserve some cash................. I was wanting them to come seperately but 'aint a happenin'.

Wish me luck guys. It's going to be one hectic week.
 
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Yes, but not because of high gas prices. It's merely a coincidence that gas prices have gone up and that I'm driving less.

I ride a bicycle to work 3 days a week because I enjoy it and it is good exercise. The fact that I'm saving money on gas is just a bonus.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:

Weather is getting nice here and the Trek is going to get a workout this summer.
 
Originally posted by: Shivetya
Originally posted by: RedShirtI'll give an example that pertains to my life:
I usually drive, every few weeks, 100 miles (200 round trip) to visit some high school friends. I have stopped this because the trip costs me over $30 in gas.

Please Discuss! 🙂
Click to expand...


So, lets say gas cost $2.00 a gallon, your car gets 20 miles to the gallon. Your driving expense is 10 cents per mile? So 200 miles cost you 20 dollars?

At $3.00 a gallon its 15 cents per mile, so it cost you 30 dollars?

ten bucks makes the trip not worthwhile? skip the latte, eat out less, whatever.



the more mileage you car gets the less impact even this price change has
Click to expand...

I'd make the trip for $10 🙂 But it's over $30. You can't look at it only costing $10 when it costs $30. Sure it's only $10 more than before, but you can't really think of it that way. There is an eventual point where you won't pay.

Let's say the cost of a Gallon of milk increases $1 per year (and let's also say there is no inflation). Every year you tell yourself, "it's just a buck more than I was paying before). In 50 years you are paying 53 dollars for a gallon of milk. Hopefully, at some point in there, you'll make the claim it's too expensive and decide to stop buying milk.

By not going, I save $30. Plus we all go out to eat, etc. Many times I can easily spend over $100 per trip. Not to mention many other people decide not to go as well due to the high gas prices. We all think it'll be temporary, but if gas doesn't fall, I'm sure we'll continue to meet, just not as often.

But really, the comments in this thread do not surprise me. While there are a few people who make a conscious decision to drive less, most either drive less due to an unrelated issue, drive slower to save a little gas, or drive just as much as before. If the oil companies can raise the price of gas by 50%, and people only use 10% less oil, they'd be dumb to lower prices. This is exactly why prices are increasing, consumption does not noticeably go down. The oil companies can't blame the price of crude because it's actually priced lower than the price 1 year ago and we are now seeing record prices.

In a free economy, supply and demand dictates price. I'm willing to bet oil companies could charge $5+ per gallon and easily make more money than they are making now (because demand would stay somewhat constant). Until the majority of people figure out ways how to reduce their intake, without direct government intervention, we'll probably never see the days where gas is under $2.50 again.
 
Nope. In fact, the wife is on her way back from Michigan where she picked up 3 goats. Since you really can't stick goats in the back seat of a Neon or some other small car, she had to take the grand caravan.

I did, however, cringe at the thought that I had to purchase $13 in gas for the lawnmower today. Maybe I'll stop mowing the lawn and just let the goats and llamas eat it. 🙂

Hey, on another note, I wonder if they'll change the deductable per mile for business trips? At least we get to write off all the mileage for the trip to Michigan and back.
 
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