Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Now that I work from home I will hardly ever drive. I may not even hunt out of State this year if it stays this high. My regular trip would now almost be a grand in fuel.
I really enjoy road biking on a particular bike trail 50 miles to the south of me. I will continue to do that. I will reduce spending elsewhere, not because I'm starved for cash but because prices are simply too high in my subjective opinion. I will park the cash in the least overvalued assets or cash while I wait for sanity to return to the marketplace so long as central banks continue the correct policy of higher rates and QT.. once they go back into pump mode again, no choice but to position funds differently.
Driving in South Dakota is a pleasure because of the low population density. I can choose to take roads that have hardly any traffic and even the interstates are not terrible. It's a pleasure I will not give up. Maybe if gas hits $5-6/gallon I'll reduce my trips to once every 1-2 weeks... I can bike in the town I live, I just have to use roads.
(And this means for any reason, not just the price of gas now.)
We are definitely cutting back on our driving, but we can do that because we are retired, so I am wondering if people who are still in the workforce are cutting down their driving on their days off. I am also wondering if more people will be staying home this summer instead of driving or flying out of state.
P.S. ON EDIT: As it turned out in reading a couple of posts below, it seems that more clarification was needed as to what other factors might influence driving and/or travel plans besides increased gas prices, so here are a few possible reasons:
- Inflation in general (less money to spend on non-essentials).
- Maybe some people still have COVID fears?
- Labor shortages in vacation destinations. (In at least some tourist areas, labor shortages are a big problem. Several restaurants here have now closed, and I have heard it was because of not getting enough wait staff, and I also heard that there were many complaints about that last summer. If people go on vacation expecting to have a good time, but there are not enough people to clean their hotel rooms or if they have to wait two hours to get a table at a restaurant, maybe they will think twice before going on vacation.)
No, no changes. I'm at the stage in my life that I can do things that I want to do though.
The price of gasoline certainly impacts most young families who have house or rent payments, car payments, child expenses, and other normal monthly payments.
If you'd asked me the same question 30 years ago, my answer would have been a resounding "yes".
We still have plans to go to Capital Reef Natl. Park at the end of July, but it's only about a 5.5 hour drive. This was planned before all of recent BS.
We did cancel plans to go to Chicago for a reunion. Flights/hotel/car rental just make it more costly than it's worth. Besides, I never really liked those people anyway. LOL.
We'll still go to Tampa to visit my wife's mom, who's getting up there in years. That's not until November, but I'm not expecting costs to go down.
Yes. I have a 60 + round trip to work 5 days a week so I'm trying harder to make sure I get everything I need while I'm in "the city" so I dont have to drive one the weekends. This is due to the increase in gas prices and general inflation it has caused.
Nope. I'm driving my Camaro SS even more. It's beautiful weather out and I'm enjoying driving all over the countryside.
Not concerned about climate change and your carbon footprint?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
