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Thrifty Mommy

New Poll: Gas Prices & Driving

by Karen on April 28th, 2008

We have a new poll up. Please take a moment to vote and comment below. Thanks!

If you’d like, you can view the results of the last poll about reusable grocery bags.

Have the rising gas prices changed your driving routine?

Tags: driving, gas prices, poll

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DramaMama
Apr 28, 2008 at 9:39 am

I’d like to add that it’s not that we avoid going out at all, but we avoid going out in the car. We walk and bike lots of places =) I’m starting to carpool w/some other stay at home parents too, so it’s not that I don’t go out…I just plan my outings a lot more.
Karen
Apr 28, 2008 at 9:45 am

Good point DramaMama. While I live fairly close to town, it is not walking distance. I wish it were. I’d definitely be walking. Thankfully, we usually don’t have to drive more than 5 miles to get anywhere.
Shawn
Apr 28, 2008 at 9:46 am

Gas prices are crazy here right now, I would try to use something else, like a bike or a scooter or something motarless. Or try and get a Hybrid. If you use a motar user, it will cost you a lot of money.
Jen
Apr 28, 2008 at 10:02 am

We are actually thinking about MOVING into town, where the buses run!! We are cutting EVERYTHING back to try to save… Gas prices are just insane right now, but along with it, groceries have went up and so has everything else… Blah!
Owlwings
Apr 28, 2008 at 10:49 am

You guys in the US don’t know how lucky you are! Here in the UK, gas prices are (and have been for a long time) about two and a half times as much as yours, which is why there are more gas-efficient cars in the UK.

While on a visit to LA, I found that, though the public transport system was good, it seemed to be used mostly by ‘Hispanics’ (a word which, in England, would be translated as ‘the lower classes’) and I was told by my host that on no account should I consider using it (much to my disgust - I find it hard to live with such classifications and labellings!)

America is a large country and I suspect that such an attitude is, perhaps, not typical. I have heard it from several Californians but not so much from people from other parts of the US.

Just as in the US, the gas prices in the UK are hitting hardest at those who don’t live in towns and for whom public transport is not a viable option.

The crux of the matter, it seems to me, is how much the rising prices of gas (and food) is changing the balance of the household budget. It is certainly a fact that each country’s economy has, for many years, held the prices of some things at an artificially low level. That kind of economy is showing signs of crumbling worldwide and it is really necessary for people to begin to ‘think globally’ and to ‘think green’! If the price of rice doubles, for example, it affects Westerners very little but for those for whom rice is traditionally a major part of the diet (and who, incidentally, may feel rich on a tenth of the salary of most Westerners), it is a very big concern indeed.

Our use of gas (and of fossil fuels in general) is long overdue for revision. It is time to think seriously about the way we use our planet’s resources because, if we don’t, our children and grandchildren may simply not be there to remember us! It is sad and uncomfortable, perhaps, that pure economy has to force these thoughts on us when, in truth, we should have been listening to the warnings about global warming and our lack of concern about the replacement of renewable resources a long time ago.

‘Greenness’ is still not one of the most popular political platforms, especially in the US and it still seems to be somewhat associated with ‘Liberals’ and ‘hippies’. It should be the concern, however, of ALL parties and, above all, the concern of you and me - the people who are responsible for putting the politicians in government.