<p>$3.97 in South Florida, 80 bucks to fill my tank! Thankfully, I only fill up every 2-3 weeks. Husband and daughter both use at least a tank each week, monthly budget fo gas approaching a mortgage payment!</p>
<p>When we drove from PA to Boston a couple of weeks ago, I knew that gas would be lower in NJ then both PA and NY (wasn’t sure about MA) so we stopped in NJ for it, and sure enough it was a about 5 cents per gallon lower in NJ then PA’s prices and a good 10 or 15 cents lower per gallon then NY’s price. Can’t remember the exact numbers, but it was quite expensive in NY.</p>
<p>A bit over $4 per gallon here and I’m considering dropping clients an hour’s drive away due to gas prices. Hard decision. Cost/benefit marginal…</p>
<p>Gasoline should start dropping like a rock as crude has dropped over 10% this week.</p>
<p>
Really? How much extra are you spending to get to the client and back, compared to 6 months ago when gas was $2.50/gal?</p>
<p>I’ve seen people on the news who state they are not driving to their vacation and are staying home because of gas prices. Really? You are giving up your vacation because you can’t afford an extra $50? That must have been one cheap vacation…</p>
<p>I haven’t paid over $4.00/gallon yet (west of Boston), I’ve come close though.</p>
<p>In HI, the latest prices range $4.36-$4.99/gallon ([Hawaii</a> Gas Prices - Find Cheap Gas Prices in Hawaii](<a href=“http://www.hawaiigasprices.com/]Hawaii”>http://www.hawaiigasprices.com/)). The issue for may people is not that JUST the price of gas makes ONE tank more expensive but the price of gas basically affects EVERYTHING in our state–food is shipped or flown in, which is affected by the price of gas. If folks commute every day, they have to pay more each time they fill up, NOT just the once, it it all adds up.</p>
<p>If they were barely making ends meet BEFORE, with the increased price of gas (& also some employers including our state) are having all employees take a 5% pay cut, I can see how it would affect decisions on a discretionary thing like taking a vacation which might involve driving instead of doing something else–maybe staying home & having a few nicer meals instead or what have you.</p>
<p>As I posted earlier, our local news reported prices above $6/gallon at one or more locations in our state. That does start to add up pretty quickly. We don’t have much mass transit & some of the outer islands don’t even have ANY bus service, to it is challenging. In our more rural areas, you can spend quite a bit of time getting, miles & gas from one community to the next one. Many of them can’t afford to live near the resorts & places where they work, so commutes that span hours and many, many miles are all too common.</p>
<p>$3.73 today near Nashville airport.</p>
<p>“Really? How much extra are you spending to get to the client and back, compared to 6 months ago when gas was $2.50/gal?”</p>
<p>Well, spending a quarter tank of gas to go teach a tiny class (love my students and don’t mind the drive and it was already $$ marginal, actually) and then gas jumps up suddenly, it’s just that much less feasible. Not like it was great before, but decisions on marginal situations can reach a tipping point. So far I’ve raised the per class fee but gas is the main cost in this situation so gas prices can be decisive. I’m sure I’m not alone in this.</p>
<p>CCBlinker gas prices here change almost daily! </p>
<p>Wednesday here is “cheapest” day to buy gas but I’m usually not in need of gas on that day. I have to change my gas buying schedule.</p>
<p>Another question, has the rise in prices changed your driving habits?</p>
<p>NJ- Yesterday it was 3.89. Today it was 3.94 at the same station.</p>
<p>I run a tiny non-profit & rely upon volunteers & on-call hourly staff that I have work for me a few hours/month max. When I only have them work a few hours a month & we have to drive to clinics all around the state, gas prices DO add up & make us carefully consider which clinics, how many, transportation expenses, etc.</p>
<p>There are MANY who operate near the tipping point and the increasing gas prices are just one more thing that makes it tougher to keep operating. Most of us are NOT compensated for travel & gas, so that is one more expense we absorb but keep track of in deciding whether to keep doing things “for love” or spend our resources elsewhere.</p>
<p>Just yesterday, when I was talking with my mechanic, he says he’s not sure whether he’ll keep operating, as after he pays salaries & expenses, there is nothing left at his business with the high cost of doing business. He paid $10,000 in CC expenses as part of his expenses in just ONE year! His mortgage is $3K/month for a 3 bedroom home and he feels like he’s barely making it on his single income, supporting himself & 20-year-old D. There are many similar stories all over.</p>
<p>$4.149 today which was a deal in the NYC area.</p>
<p>$4.09 suburb of Albany, NY.</p>
<p>Drove from one end of NC to the other yesterday. Prices seemed to average around $3.88 for reg.</p>
<p>
And what’s the deal with the .9 cents? This has always annoyed me. Who is it fooling? Whose behavior is changing because the gas appears to be a penny less from a distance?</p>
<p>Just round up to the cent, for Pete’s sake.</p>
<p>Let’s see which agency SHOULD be reigning in and overseeing all of these speculators fraudulently driving up the prices of oil? Oh wait that’s right it SHOULD be the CFTC. Who runs the CFTC?</p>
<p>Gary Gensler-18 year employee at Goldman Sachs</p>
<p>Michael Dunn- Former lobbyist worker for farm banks (leaving in June though, which big bank employee will replace him next)?</p>
<p>Jill Sommers- formerly worked for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (jeez no conflict of interest there!)</p>
<p>Bart Chilton- (maybe the only reliable one in there)</p>
<p>Chilton on the impending budget related govt shut down: “Our agency will not be able to staff key market surveillance and oversight functions during this periodonly the most minimal services necessary to protect property and prevent market dislocations will be undertaken, and even then only in the event of emergency situations. We will go from several hundred people overseeing the markets to less than a handful. Other oversight functions, such as contract approvals, registrations, and other important transparency functions such as the availability of certain public reports, will not be done, and anything currently on our plate will be suspended and the timetables tolled. In other words, current Commission activity, but for necessary market oversight, will come to a screeching halt.”</p>
<p>And last but not least</p>
<p>Scott D.'Omalia- founder of the Washington office of Mirant Corporation, which is no surpise, AN ENERGY COMPANY. </p>
<p>Wake up America, all you see are the people put in front of you in the news like the President and Congressmen in office. The real people running the show are in charge of government agencies like the CFTC that have long ties with big banks and the energy industry. Why would the CFTC ever reign in these speculative crooks when almost the entire board running the CFTC are former big bank members, have friends that work for big banks, or are associated with energy companies? Talk about a conflict of interest!</p>
<p>Since 1991 the CFTC has given 19 secret exemptions from hedging regulations to big banks that were only brought to light after Congress investigated AFTER the 2008 economic meltdown. A bank or trader granted an exemption can affect the price of a commodity LIKE GAS/OIL, without being a producer or consumer. As of now, there STILL is almost no transparency with regards to the oil market and speculation. Why would there be anyway? Agencies like the CFTC are loaded top to bottom with former big bank employees or have friends there. </p>
<p>Americans are too blind to see just how corrupt to the core our system really is. The corruption permeates almost every level of our society at the cost of continually destroying the middle class.</p>
<p>It was 4.95 (premium or something) at shell.
California.</p>
<p>Down to $3.99 at a few stations.</p>
<p>It was $3.77 today at my local Kroger station. It was $3.79 there two days ago, but we got a $0.40/gal discount with our Kroger card, making it $3.39/gal. How sad that $3.39/gal is exciting.</p>
<p>Now my fuel, skim milk, costs significantly less than my car’s. I read something about gas prices going down soon, but in reality, a few of the stations actually cracked the four buck barrier today after all of them had converged to 3.99 this past week - almost as though they were afraid to be the first one to break through.</p>