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Old 04-21-2008, 03:43 PM
 
Location: Atlanta
314 posts, read 1,275,494 times
Reputation: 122

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I read a Wooten opinion article -

blogs/ajc/thinkingright/entries/2008/04/21/any_relief_to_high_gas_prices.html

made me wonder, as we live in one of the most disconnected, transit deficient, sprawled out cities in the WORLD, how many people are changing their habits?

is there anyone out there it doesnt really affect?

just wondering..
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Old 04-21-2008, 05:14 PM
 
9,124 posts, read 36,309,692 times
Reputation: 3630
Not really much I can do- gotta get to work every day. Since I burn through around 20 gallons of gas a week, even an increase of $1/gallon is only $20 a week- while I don't like spending the extra $$, it's not exactly budget blowing for me, and there's nothing I can do about, so I don't get worked up over it.
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Old 04-21-2008, 07:38 PM
 
Location: Avery Ranch, Austin, TX
8,977 posts, read 17,489,666 times
Reputation: 4000
Gives us a little to think about as we consider another drive out to Austin to house hunt!
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Old 04-21-2008, 07:52 PM
 
Location: West Cobb County, GA (Atlanta metro)
9,191 posts, read 33,807,983 times
Reputation: 5308
People are weird anymore. They place gas above food in some cases.

I'm in the burbs now, and the "average" family out here has two kids, and each kid seems to participate in at least 3 extracurricular activities outside of school. Sports, cheerleading, varied clubs, etc. At least 3 each. The typical set of parents around here make dozens of trips back and forth shuttling the kids to and from these things every single week in the family SUV. Some of them have told me their gasoline bills are exceeding $200 a week now. It's insane.

Now, I'm not going to get into the psychological aspects of how it screws up a kid's brain for them to juggle so much around AND school, but, from a personal finance bit, it's not doing families any good. I see these people literally switch from "real" food at the grocery store, to the no-name cost cutter store brand stuff in a box, just to save money to put back into gasoline. No no no.. they won't cut back on car trips and tell Britney and Justin to cut out one of their activities - they're going to substitute fresh organic vegetables for processed boxed mac 'N cheese dinners so they can afford that gas! (yeeeehaw).

I don't have kids. I work 3.5 miles from home. Even with that, I don't take as many joy rides as usual for the time being. I also eat real meat, and vegatables that aren't genetically altered and put into boxes that can be stored at room temps, just so I can afford gas. Call me crazy. LOL

Maybe folks are cutting back on vacations (in cars) and stuff, but I'm not seeing much in the way of family taxi services being cut down out here. They just cut back on food and everything else instead of gas.
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Old 04-21-2008, 08:06 PM
 
Location: Triangle, North Carolina
2,819 posts, read 10,381,326 times
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This is the second thread I have seen in regard to changing habits due to gas price increases.

All I know is today I had to drive from the Mall of Georgia area down to the Atlanta Airport. 2 hours after departing I finally made my destination.
My point? Considering it took 2 hours to drive 45 miles with every lane (4 +HOV) filled to the max, rubberneck after rubberneck, gaper delay after gaper delay, I have came to the overall conclusion that NOBODY has changed their driving habits.

PS: This was not rush hour, but 9:30 am.
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Old 04-21-2008, 08:52 PM
 
Location: Techified Blue (Collar)-Rooted Bastion-by-the-Sea
663 posts, read 1,859,359 times
Reputation: 599
Well, I am trying not to use as much gas by keeping my speeds down on the interstates ( to where they should be - at the speed limits.) I don't have to commute far, so I try and avoid driving in areas during rush hour where the car will be sitting and idling for long periods. I make sure the tires are always inflated sufficiently. Excess weight is removed (objects and passengers). Other than these things, there is not much I can do.

I find Atlanta unbearable if I can't drive around. Driving around is to Atlanta as walking or riding the subway is to Manhattan. You cannot enjoy the fine restaurants or the nice perimeter area (if you live in Midtown for example) or escape once in a while from your immediate confines without driving distances here. So the show must go on ......
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Old 04-21-2008, 09:25 PM
 
Location: Va Highlands/Emory area
98 posts, read 470,482 times
Reputation: 29
I calculate the cost of each trip. 25 miles one way (50 miles round trip) at appx 17 mpg and $3.70 for premium is 2.94 gallons of gas for total cost of $10.88.

I feel so much better about paying $5-8 in shipping charges on mail order/internet purchases. It's often cheaper than going to a store!
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Old 04-21-2008, 09:35 PM
 
Location: West Cobb County, GA (Atlanta metro)
9,191 posts, read 33,807,983 times
Reputation: 5308
Quote:
Originally Posted by darkone View Post
Well, I am trying not to use as much gas by keeping my speeds down on the interstates ( to where they should be - at the speed limits.) I make sure the tires are always inflated sufficiently. Excess weight is removed (objects and passengers). Other than these things, there is not much I can do.

.....

One tip to add to the above good habits...

Accelerating too quickly from a dead stop burns up a LOT of gas. A great number of drivers around Atlanta will take off and accelerate much more quickly than they should when the red light they're at turns green. There used to be some charts online that showed just how much you burn, but one I believe said that someone who commutes 5 days a week can burn up an extra 3-4 gallons of gas a week if they have a lead foot each time the light changes and go through a lot of lights each day.

It's not NASCAR folks. Just because your car can go from zero to 60 in 6 seconds, doesn't mean you SHOULD. That is, unless you actually enjoy spending an extra $15 a week on gas just so you can start up faster.
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Old 04-21-2008, 10:31 PM
 
Location: Massachusetts
9,510 posts, read 16,428,805 times
Reputation: 14513
I honestly don't know how any of you live in that city, no wonder I meet so many people in Portland that lived in Atlanta before moving here. Not that we don't have traffic problems here, we certainly do. In this day of high gas prices when the oil plug could be pulled at any time, well problems could arise and fast. Being that strapped to a car to live somewhere as sprawled out as Atlanta, well I think I would want an exit plan on file.
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Old 04-22-2008, 05:12 AM
 
3,493 posts, read 7,903,142 times
Reputation: 7235
We have been actively consolidating errands for some time now. My kids are getting used to the idea of saving up places they want to go until we have enough on the list to make it worth the trip. I make a list of places we need/want to get to and clump the geographically reasonable ones together. I used to just head out the door to wherever anyone thought they had to go to without even thinking about it. No more!
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