Gas Price and Behavior
Gas prices are up about 30-40 cents locally in the last 10 days or so.
The discussion on the business networks, and papers is whether the economic sky will fall as us consumers get shocked at the pump.
Shock Number
33 cents?
The big discussion is what is the “shock” number? What pump price cause spending pauses or change in our behavior?
Is our increased spending that is fueling our economic recovery going to be stopped or slowed by our addiction to gas gulping gotta go-go-go machines?
If I knew the answer I would buy calls or put options on the stock market and make a killing. (If you don’t know what calls or put options are don’t worry. They are a sophisticated slot machine….)
I don’t know what the market is going to do, so I will just adjust my driving/spending/bike riding to keep my bills paid, and keep on adding to my retirement funds…I am blessed with a short commute-I can drive for a month on one tank of gas-if I don’t have a trip planned.
Drilling-Fer it or agin it?
It will be interesting to watch our President’s reaction to the new push for oil drilling. He was against it, for it, and against it again in his 2 short years. I wonder if he will change his mind when gas is 4+bucks all over the country….I’m guessing he will, but I am not a great handicapper in Presidential Politics.
Reading
Here are a few articles I read this week:
Mark at Buy Like Buffett has written about 3 questions to ask as you keep your finances monitored.
Len @ LenPenzo.com has written about the many uses of plastic bags. He must have been looking in our pantry, I wonder where that secret camera is hidden…
Financial Samurai-Sam has a proposal regarding beginning an online store for a secondary income stream. Worth checking out if you are interested in an online business.
Khaleef at Faithful With A Few has tips for deducting job hunting expenses on your tax return. As usual it is not straightforward…
Invest It Wisely talks about Bitcoin, the digital currency of the future.…Fascinating discussion.
Money Reasons explains why paying off your mortgage early is like having a second job. It does seem like extra income whenever you pay off any debt and rid yourself of another payment! Boo Yah Baby!
Punch Debt discusses the fear of becoming rich, because he may be subject to criticism. We are all subject to criticism. You ought to run for office and see what people say about you. There are small minded, jealous, and cruel people who will try to crush you every day. Hit the ignore button and move on.
Tom at Canadian Personal Finance has a guest post about building your own computer. I would need detailed instructions and a coupla valiums…
And while you are at it, check out his weekly roundup here!
Barbara Friedberg discusses the good and bad. Economic activity is up, but so are prices… I see increased activity in our town-sales tax receipts are up ~5% year over year. Traffic at local restaurants is definitely up over last year.
Gas Prices
What are your plans to do with the increase in gas prices? Do you want to borrow my bike? It get’s pretty good mileage…Feed me a grilled burger and I am good to go!
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Photo credit by slideshow bruce c.c.
Tags: effect of gas price hikes and spending, gas price hikes, gas price hikes and spending, retail spending and gas hikes
I usually avoid driving once a week and batch my errands to cut down on the car trips. $3.49/gallon here in Raleigh today
I filled up yesterday at 3.35
I fill up at Costco where gas prices are below market by 10-20 cents and I receive a 3% rebate. I try to avoid driving on the weekends. I bicycle where I can. It saves a little bit.
I think the real shock is how quickly the prices are rising. It’s increasing by a dime or more overnight, and that’s what’s scary. If it was going up by a penny or two a week, it wouldn’t be such a big deal.
Personally I’m for more drilling because I think the US needs to be more self sufficient and because my husband is in the industry. He actually got laid off this week due to lack of work. Drilling would have the double impact of making our oil supply more stable AND stimulating the economy by creating/preserving real jobs.
I like the more oil and more jobs. I luv twofers!
I try to consolidate my driving trips to 1 trip and go on a loop, so I can save on mileage driven. I might also start carpooling again.
I personally think we should drill for oil and also do that oil shale thing in Montana…
Thanks for the mention, have a great weekend!!
I think when gas gets this high, we all start thinking more about our trips.
I fill up where it is the cheapest and have cut back on my traveling. It’s only a dime short of $4 a gallon here.
Almost $50 bucks to fill up the tank. Walking anyone? Thanks for promoting my inflation article!
Thanks for the link! I’m glad that no one mentioned participating in those silly gas boycotts!
I haven’t heard any real boycott stuff going on around here…
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