How are the gas prices in your area?

[Dunkopf]

Not even May yet. Usually they wait till summer to start the reaming. I think a lot of people won't be taking vacation this year. It sucks that the economy has to take a hit for people to conserve gas. I bet it gets in the 6.00 range this time around.

 

[FarmerChick]

I won't let gas prices stop my vacations. Heck I gotta spend my money somewhere lol but I am WAY much smarter in consumption.
trips close to home. I cancelled our 10 hr one way drive to Hatteras.
Instead I am doing 5 hr. one way to the beach.

yea it isn't great in the way of using less, but I won't let anything stand in my way of enjoying life (as best I can under my personal circumstances)----but definitely driving less in general.....like everyone.

vacations are so important to me now. I shut down this farm to find time to enjoy life, and darn it I have to find ways to see the sights and have a blast lol but not in jest, it is hard on everyone. when we hold gas in the $2.49-2.79 range and budget for that and then it flips into the $4 to $5 range it is serious money in the gas tanks.

but do the math truly on a vacation. if you drive a 20 mile per gallon vehicle and are going 1000 miles at $4.50 per gall.....that is 50 gallons.
at $4.50 that is $225 -----at $2.89 it would be $144.50 (that is only a $80.50 difference)

so truly it is not a huge difference truly in gas for a vacation. eat one less restaurant meal, find that "25% off room" for the night, instead of 3 things you want to buy or pay for entertainment, do 1 or 2....etc. that gas diff can be made up actually.

 

[me&thegals]

I think we have 3.49 around here. I need to pay more attention. We got an extended-cab truck this year for a farm truck, and wow does that thing suck the gas! My car is a 15-year-old 40 MPG Saturn, so I cannot handle the gas guzzling of the truck.

I'm already hugely conservative about gas. I just am nagging DH more about it since 1 trip to town can cost $4-5 just in gas. So I'm reminding him to please, please, please not drive in for just 1 thing.

 

[chickenone]

I am getting my bonus at work this Friday and I am going to use it as a downpayment on a newer, smaller car. I have been driving around in an SUV and I no longer need one. I no longer have livestock so I don't buy hay and bags of feed any more. So I am going for a small sedan type car.

 

[Wifezilla]

Get a hatchback

My VW Golf is my "farm truck" and I have the straw all over the back seat to prove it!

 

[chickenone]

Yeah I was thinking of a hatchback. It will make the transition easier. The key is that it has to be much smaller than my SUV, with 4 cylinders instead of 6. I think that will save me a bunch over time. Plus, the SUV has almost 200,000 miles on it. I am not being hasty here, but the timing is perfect.

 

[Wifezilla]

I like the size and shape (AND gas mileage!) of the Golf. In the past I also had a Ford Probe and a Chevette. I have always loved having the option to haul stuff if I needed to. One thing to consider is how flat do the seats fold? If they don't make a nice flat deck, it can be a pain.

I also consider 4 doors to be a must. I hate having to lean over seats to get to the back. It is also easier to carry passengers.

 

[mrbstephens]

$3.73 today. I LOVE MY PRIUS!

 

[FarmerChick]

when I owned my Taurus which I loved, it was a farm car too.
hauled hay in the back seat and trunk when it got old. sold it to my friend Barb who owns the dairy. Her hubby drives it for farm chores instead of the big truck. Now my 'green monster' Taurus smells like cow crap....whew big time nasty lol

I think changing vehicles when the time comes is smart.

 

[MorelCabin]

You'd be surprised what you can get in a car...haha! Everytime the garden guys see me coming they freak...and they say there is no way I am going to get all that in there...but I have every time...now they just belive me. Last summer I took home two 8 ft tall apple trees in my trunk Along with a whole bunch of plants, topsoil, mulch...heehee!
Sometimes my poor car almost sags in the middle...but I have never had to make two trips...much to thier surprise.