when gas is 4/5 dollars a gallon, what will you have to give up

[greenbriar]

We won't be going to visit any out of town family

We won't be going to the movies

Our consumer spending will drop

Our grocery bill will drop


We won't be able to do much of anything and will only drive to and from work and church and That is All

[greenman3610]

1. eating out

[greenbriar]

2. we had already stopped that

but yea, no more Olive Garden, Outback, Red Lobster

[Daphne08]

3. We've already given up on our groceries. My husband's job

requires that he travel, and it really has hurt us.

[OhioChick]

4. Gave up much already..........

Have no choice with work, but I'll soon be walking to the grocery store and church, as well. Forget shopping, dinners out and any weekend getaways.

[libnnc]

5. We've already begun to walk to the grocery store more

Not much else we can do. My partner has a wicked commute (Winston-Salem to Charlotte) and I start grad school in Greensboro this fall which will kill my piggy bank. A lot less eating out for us that's for sure.

[earthmama]

57. WS to Charlotte ... icks

I am in Charlotte. That is one heck of a commute. Maybe he can sleep on my couch!!

[400Years]

6. nothing

I structured my life to not be auto-dependent a long time ago, not because of gas but because I hate driving.

Yes food will go up, but I'll be able to afford it.

[Lib Grrrrl]

7. I Already Don't Go To Church Every Week, Anymore

my church is 30 miles from where I live. I can't afford it.

[LifeDuringWartime]

8. hm

i walk or take the T everywhere. i guess i'd have to give up traveling for gigs :wow:

[redwitch]

20. hmmm

I commuted almost 19,000 miles last year. Good thing SOMEONE in the family is conserving! Actually, since Da telecommutes and brother walks to school too, I am the only family member that isn't!

[Inland]

9. A car bigger than a walnut shell.

I'm going to be in the market as soon as my 1992 Saturn dies under me, and there's NO WAY it's going to be bigger than a subsubcompact.

[Sammy Pepys]

10. Nothing really....

I use a car very rarely these days.

[movie_girl99]

11. eating out and only one movie a week

i have talked with a lady in my office about carpooling. The only thing is she is salary and stays late. I'm hourly and am not allowed OT.

[uppityperson]

12. food.

seriously, our eating habits are already changing. Food costs are going up fast.

[depakid]

13. Seats on the light rail

and probably a place to hang my bike.

[catmandu57]

14. Dining out

Munchies will be scaled back and we'll be eating much cheaper and basic food.

[gatorboy]

Driving?

I suppose I could start emailing my ad work in.

[Imagevision]

56. just being not being able to make as many pleasure drives

cheaper to fly...!

[LynneSin]

15. I won't be doing as much campaigning in Pennsylvania

In 2002/04, I made many many trips up to Pennsylvania to help out with campaigning for races in a state where there was definately opportunities to make a difference (Delaware is pretty much solidly blue). Philly is about 30 miles away and I would use about 2-4 gallons driving up to the city, plus another $15 for parking (it was downtown). Hell for Rendell's 2002 campaign I spent just about every weekend up there doing work. But with gas now double the cost AND the fact that I was transferred to a new location on my job that is now 10 miles from my home instead of 2, I probably wont' get out as much as I use to. Hopefully someone will have some phoning I could do from home or maybe I'll see if I can find some races right on the PA border so the drive is shorter and the parking is free

[starchimes]

16. no more going home for lunch. I am about 5 miles from the office.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

17. spending sundays with my grandchildren ...

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

18. Nothing. I don't drive.

Public transportation for me.

[MadHound]

19. Hopefully not much

I'm already riding a scooter to work, and my wife carpools with a neighbor. Growing a garden this year, so that will help keep food costs down a bit.

Right now, the biggest impact this would have on me is mowing the yard. I've got five acres to mow, and the price per mowing is starting to get steep. Might have to get a couple of sheep to keep the grass down.

I'm looking at a small tractor that would be perfect for my operation. Not only does it come with a six foot finishing mower deck, but it runs on diesel, hence would run on bio-diesel.

Out of town trips will probably suffer, but hopefully that will be the only thing.

[midnight armadillo]

44. why mow 5 acres???

Just let 4.5 acres become meadow...plant wildflowers instead of grass.

[MadHound]

81. Let's see,

There's the .5 acres surrounding the house. Then the two acres of new orchard. Another .5 acre surrounding the currently occupied trailer. And finally another couple of acres surrounding gardens and connecting it all together.

This is the front part of the property. I'm turning it into veggie gardens, CSA gardens, and an orchard, probably a u pick 'em operation. It helps the business if the grass is kept under control. It looks better and my new plants like the berries and trees don't have to compete for nutrients and sun if the grass is kept low.

I'm slowly but surely transforming the lawn over to zoyza grass. Slow growing dense spongy grass that does well in drought, and doesn't have to be cut nearly as much.

Still might get a couple of sheep though.

[midnight armadillo]

82. Ok, that makes sense

I was thinking you just had 5 acres of lifeless suburban lawn...

White dutch clover only grows about 6" tall and fixes nitrogen too.

[greenbriar]

21. we only have one vehicle

and 4 of us ride together every morning and hubby rides public transportation home

I don't know how much more we can cut back there, so food and luxery items will have to go

[demosincebirth]

22. I've been retired for seven years and have been

doing a lot of traveling in my RV. Since Katrina, and at 7 mpg, I have been using it less and less. How high will gas go before I park it completely? I don't know, but the trips I take in it are getting shorter and shorter.

I thank God that I'm in a position to be able to do that. What I really feel for are the poor and the underpaid in this country. What do they do. Walk?

[greenbriar]

23. they work for a full day just to put gas in their car for a week

so they can go to work


forget eating...

[Lib Grrrrl]

32. No...We STARVE

Fuck us. That's the Bush attitude. Remember, we shoulda thought about that before we chose to be poor.

Fucking asshole Bush...goddamn rotten economy, I still can't find a decent goddamn job that isn't crazy miles to commute to - over 50 miles and more away...this is real bullshit.

[greenbriar]

35. sing it sista

loud and proud

[demosincebirth]

36. When they give that answer I want to puke.

Like everyone should be white and good looking... being that they get the best jobs.

[Greylyn58]

52. I hear you

I lost my good paying job to out-sourcing in Oct 2003. I finally found one but it doesn't pay enough and even though I continue to look and apply for other jobs, I so far haven't had any luck finding something better. I don't have any health insurance and am basically bankrupt. Bush's economy has screwed this country over royally for most of us.

The only thing that is good about my current job is that it is 5 mins from my place. So the rising gas prices haven'y killed me yet. I have to watch every penny though and my health.

[Mr.Green93]

24. Republicans

They will have to go.

[Zech Marquis]

25. overheard on the way home

I stopped by my local Food lion, and 3 cashiers were very upset about how it ws getting very hard to buy gas for their cars. One even said,"we might as well get bicycles"..

[lectrobyte]

85. If your car gets 30 miles to the gallon, and you drive 12,000 miles

a year, that's roughly 8 gallons per week, or $40 at $5/gal vs. say $20 back in the good old $2.39 days... I'd probably pack my lunch instead of jumping in the car to go to McD's or Wndys, and not give up much of anything, and probably come out further ahead.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

26. My Son! I don't only pay for my gas, I pay for his too! Seriously....

I'm going to give up bringing home take-out a couple of times a week. I also have an Internet business and I go to the post office 3-4 times a week. I'm going to have to cut that down to twice a week and let my customers know why.

[Inland]

39. Won't PO

pick up priority mail at your house? I think I remember that in ads once. The Priority Mail you can bill back to your customers, maybe......

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

80. Thanks for your suggestion! They do but I send most of my offerings

out by first class mail and I also have International customers whose packages have to be sent from the post office. I cannot charger higher S&H fees. I am trying to keep my customer costs down. Thank you again! :)

[xultar]

27. I've already stopped my animal rescue work.

[greenbriar]

34. that is a shame

I am sorry

[xultar]

40. Me too. I spent all Saturday night crying about it.

[HamdenRice]

28. Gas -- I live in NY and will use public transport or walk nt

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

68. I spent more than half of my life in the city and now live in northern

Westchester. You have no idea how much I miss the convenience of excellent public transportation or have everything necessary in comfortable walking distance.

I didn't learn how to drive until I was 25.

[1monster]

29. First, life insurance, then health insurance, then reduce the amount

of home insurance to only what is required by the mortgatee, then reduce car insurance to what is required by law.

After all that, I might even have some extra cash... but nobody in this family had better get sick or die, cause we can't afford it. And if there's a hurricane or auto crash, we're done for.

[shanti]

30. rough time for high gas prices

my son just got his permit too. how am i going to teach him if he doesn't DRIVE??? :shrug:

[greenbriar]

31. I hear ya

my daughter turns 15 shortly

[shanti]

53. yes

and once they get their permit, they want to drive ALL THE TIME!

[Samurai_Writer]

33. I live 10 miles from the nearest town

I used to do all my chores in town on Saturday -- laundry, shopping, bringing down trash and recycles to our dumpster and recycle center, taking the cats to the vet, etc. No more. I'm going to be picking one night a week after work and doing it to save on the gas. Probably get home around 10 pm that night after doing all those errands. I'll be staying home on the weekends from now on. Also, I used to go see my sister every week -- now I will be going every two weeks. Every three weeks if gas gets to $4 a gallon.

[lovuian]

37. I'll be eating at home more and not going to the movies

and since I won't be going out less clothes etc... etc...

So I see Tourism Restaurants and gas guzzling cars a thing of the past...

[greenbriar]

38. and when people stop buying the economy will really tank

and then we have a DEPRESSION

[Walt Disney]

41. Nothing. I will pass the cost along.

[greenbriar]

42. ok

?

[TheFarseer]

51. how do you pass along

the cost of going out to eat or visiting friends? or are you Lee Raymond?

[Walt Disney]

84. If I told you, I would have to kill you.

Just kidding. I shouldn't have brought it up.

[SammyWinstonJack]

83. Are you an Oil Exec.?

:shrug:

[Buddyblazon]

43. We are planning on giving up on:

Eating
Heating
Washing
and
Shelter.


Bush would be proud of us...it's truly an American experience.

[Giant Robot]

45. Food, shelter, heat, electricity

n/t

[Raine]

46. Nothing...

I'll just have less money in my bank account.

[BooScout]

47. Nothing....

I do all that now and it's $6.40 a gallon where I live. We do manage to take the train, walk and ride the bus occasionally and if we are really feeling spiffy we take the car out for a spin.

BTW, your grocery bill will go up.........it costs more to truck the food in when gas is pricey.

[SammyWinstonJack]

48. How about we ask Bush's base, the Elite, the haves and have mores,

that question. You know, the ones who are shopping for vacation homes ( travel channel's vacation home search). Those richey riches who are scouting out their next luxury vacation. Or adding a third bathroom on to their five bedroom house. Ya know, those who don't deserve a tax cut, let alone four years of tax cuts. I don't think they are affected by a 60 cent rise per gallon in gas prices. It's a pocket change to them.

[mandyky]

49. We already don't have a car, but

I imagine prices will go up. As it is, I shop once a month and spend $200 on groceries. Probably, the cab fare will go up.

We don't go out at all, unless it is walking distance anyway.

[Cha]

50. I just gave up my

car...it needed to be done. It was convenient but I'm rising to the challenge of walking everywhere now. I know a lot of peeps couldn't do it but everything is pretty close around here.

I'm thinking about all the money I'm going to be saving and by the time winter rolls around again I'll be used to it.

[AztecGringo]

54. What I am Already Giving Up

Just moved to a house about 20 or so miles from work south of downtown L.A.. When I go back to teach after my break (a year-round schedule due to overcrowding) this Friday, I will not drive unless absolutely necessary.

Will leave at 5:45 a.m and take public transportation to get to work by 7:15 and then return in the afternoon.

The money I save will help buy all the books I will read during the commute (or a pillow upon which to rest my head).

[TheCentepedeShoes]

55. Already cutting down on

unnecessary driving. Trying to limit just to work and an every 2 week trip to the downtown library, although I may start requesting books sent to the branch near my office. We have an 80-90 mpg moped that can haul non-bulky type groceries and the store is close by. Didn't go visit Mommie Dearest this weekend, told her we were cutting back on driving. Didn't say that no way in hell was I going to spend gas to drive out there to look at her picture in the LR of Prez Pissypants doing his melon-walk next to Darth Chaney.

[MrSlayer]

58. Nothing. I don't drive.

Well I do drive but I don't own a car. You don't need one in the city. Nearly everything is within walking distance and we have a decent public transportation system in Philly. Fuck the oil barons, they get nothing at all from me.

[LostinVA]

59. It'll be like 20 years ago right out of college: Ramen and peanut butter

CHEAP peanut butter.

The gym membership for sure, even though the monthly fee isn't even one tank of diesel in my car.

[Strelnikov_]

60. Very Little For Me

I only went through 4 gal. of diesel from Jan. - Mar.

The fuel used to deliver food to my grocery store is another matter.

The 'Long Emergency' is looming.

[opiate69]

61. My job...

I currently live about 25 miles away from where I work, and if gas gets that high, I simply won't be able to afford to get to work and back every day.. I'll probably wind up having to look for work at the local WalMart, Costco or Best Buy (since that's really about all there is close-by).. it'd totally suck since, even though my job is by no means making me rich, it is so laid back and flexable that I'm able to devote a lot of time and energy into my band's business.

[earthmama]

62. beer, netflix, ymca

HBO, digital cable, cell phone.

Stuff I need to cut back on now. I will have to be more creative with food. I have a family of 3 to feed and so far I only spend 300$ a month but I will have to give up alot of snacks and other stuff.

Reduce insurance premiums.

[Nicole]

63. Nothing

I'm not much of a consumer or driver now. I don't work or go to school so my vehicle hasn't moved since April 12. I only drove 6 miles round trip for groceries that day.

Most of my entertainment is at home. Gardening, renting movies via PPV & internet for music downloads. None of which require gas. I ride the bus to the library for books & walk to local restaurants.

I will have to pay more for the things I do buy so I guess money is all I will be giving up.

[Habibi]

64. We've already given up restaurants and entertainment out

since both of us were laid off 3 years ago from good-paying jobs. We're *extremely* fortunately to have landed "jobs" that allow us to work from home, but there are no benefits, and the pay is about half of what were were making. Probably as gas gets more expensive I'll give up the daily trip to the grocery store and just do one or two weeks' shopping in one trip. If things continue to get worse, I'll give up my gym membership. Unfortunately there are no groceries within walking or biking distance, and mass transit in Rochester pretty much sucks unless you're going downtown (where there aren't grocery stores). We visit family in Syracuse regularly; I can see that diminishing, although I drive slower than most people for the increased fuel efficiency. We replaced our furnace last year with a more efficient one; I expect, though, that we'll be lowering the thermostat in the winter, which is not a big deal. I am praying that we won't have to give up our outrageously-priced health insurance. If things continue to spiral downward, it wouldn't surprise me if we moved in with my in-laws to help them and us save money.

[Jose Diablo]

65. Not much

probably breakfast each day. I could loose some weight anyway.

[A Brand New World]

66. We'll have to give up my vacation to see our son in CA. He moved

there last August from Ohio and we haven't seen him since. Of course, we talk with him on the phone but that is still not the same as hugging your kid. I'll be so sad and mad if I can't see him this summer!!

[kineneb]

67. any kind of social life

My sanity is maintained by my Rotary membership and ballet lessons. Yes, I understand I have wierd priorities, but when you are caring for a chroniclly ill person, you need sanity-savers. Unfortunately, we live in the country, and all these things require lots of driving. After that comes cutting back on food or visiting the food pantry.

With luck, the new dialysis clinic will be built in a town 10 miles from here, so the 3x/week 50-mi. round-trip commute to the current clinic will go away. Besides housing/utilities, our biggest expense is gasoline.

[leftofthedial]

69. I don't have anything left to give up

I'll have to find a safe place to park long term, because I'll be living in my car.

[Cobalt Violet]

70. Day trips. No more White Mountains or Cape Cod.

Day trips are the closet thing to a vacation that I take.

[Jamison]

71. Probably my job.

It won't be worth it to commute 100 miles per day round trip, not for $16 an hour. I'll have to take something closer that pays less, but maybe if I found something close enough, it would all even out b/c I'd be paying out much less for gas.

[greenbriar]

72. all these responses make me sad

to see how the war on the middle class is making us


and knowing that the have and have mores are yukking it up in luxery and theft

[nonconformist]

73. Everything but the necessities

Even those may start to become a struggle, I fear.

[Mr_Spock]

74. sex

:rofl:

[mwooldri]

77. No need to give up on that... just you'd have the same view...

... you can always have sex in your car. That don't need gas. And the same passion will still steam up the windows.

Unless you have a convertible of course. Then there are no windows to speak of, and you just better park that car in a secluded, walk-to location. Preferably in some nice woods.

Mark.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

75. An Extra Buck Or Two Per Gallon. That's About It.

[lonestarnot]

76. Some more freedom!

[mwooldri]

78. I'll give up my free time.

If things get bad (and they're beginning to get real bad) then I am in a fortunate position that I am able to work overtime pretty much as much as I want to and when I want to. I could in theory work 6x13 hour days - the maximum the company would allow me to work (and they'd probably not notice the 4 hours that I would work on the 7th day too). Right now I'm only working 5x8 hour days... but this could easily be increased.

There are enough "wealthy" people who are fed up of having to speak to customer service in India that they're willing to speak to me.

Mark.

[Roland99]

79. I reckon I'd be changing a few things

Cancel my Blockbuster DVD rental subscription
Simplify my grocery purchases to go to cheaper foods and more leftovers
Stop visiting family/friends as much
No going out to eat
Would probably sell off a large portion of my DVD collection.

[lectrobyte]

86. If you don't mind me asking, how much gasoline do you use now?

I'm kind of amazed that folks act like $5 gas is the end of the world. Every car I've ever owned, I'm pretty sure I've spent more on a monthly basis for insurance for the metal beast than gas for it, unless I'm on a Cannonball run from Va. Beach to Dallas and back again (you had to be there).

[underpants]

87. I stil see a lot of windows UP on cars

I noticed this yesterday driving home. It was too hot to not either have the window (s) down or the AC on many people must have had the AC on.

[CountAllVotes]

88. I plan to cut way down on my phone bill

That is one thing I can do - no more long distance calls.

There isn't much left I can cut other than returning back to a NetZero dial-up account and drop the call waiting I have on my phone line.

I'm no longer going to the local Indian casino for dinner and fun. That is just too costly most of the time. So that is out.

As for groceries, no big difference there except I will cut down more where I can see it.

I drive into town maybe once a week. I'm stretching it to once every 10 days now and consolidating chores to occur all the same day I plan to drive.

I do have one of those credit cards that is temporarily giving 5% cash back on gasoline purchases. I'll be certain to fill it up before this expires on June 30, 2006.

I'd switch back to the bare basics on cable TV if I could. I don't think that would go over so hot around here though. I'd love to do it though - get rid of all of those damn sports channels that are on 24 hrs. a day! }( This is the only positive effect I can see perhaps. :evilgrin: