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.