I know: It's definitely not price gouging (insult away, BTW)

OK, gouging or not, it still doesn't address the problem, and that is it's getting too expensive to fill up. Not every one of us drives a gas-hog SUV. Some of us have reasonably fuel-efficient cars and don't drive wastefully or take unnecessary trips. I really don't use my car except to drive to and from work and to the store and back, with occasional trips to the city pool.

But public transportation isn't an option in our city (too small for that, too big to walk everywhere), I don't have the ability to develop my own electric car and there's little to nothing I personally can do to lower gas prices.

So while all of you argue the free-market system and supply and demand, I'm over here shelling out big bucks I can ill afford to spend to get to my job and see my son.

Let's keep our focus, shall we?

 

But doing the things you talk about in your last graph won't change things immediately either.

 

Ace, you are spot on. Have you seen the price of gas lately? Those yachts, private jets and flights to their vacation villas are going up. It is all about keeping up with the same quality of life.

 

OK.

Let's say someone drives 15,000 miles a year in a car that averages 20 miles per gallon. In my area, right now the average gas price is $3.05 per gallon. At that price it would cost $2,287.50 for a year's worth of gas. A year ago gas was $2.48 per gallon. That's $1,860 per year. A difference of $427.50 per year, or a bit more than an dollar a day.

 

Just a hunch, but there are probably a lot more variables than that.

 

Good math example. Problem is, gas ISN'T $2.48 a gallon. And until it is, all my efforts at trying to economize go for naught while everyone else debates free-market economies. Like that actually helps.

 

That's the essence of it.

 

A serious question was posed that has gone unanswered:

Is there ever such thing as price-gouging?

 

I was just trying to point out that, despite price increases, the actual pocketbook impact is pretty minor.

Also, debating free-market economies is about as much help as what most people are doing about the problem -- complaining. As consumers, we have no control over what gas costs. We have control over how much we purchase.

 

So you're arguing production costs are static?

 

Minimizing the impact of $1.20 a day coming out of your bank account is a little perilous.