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Add to this the ever increasing food costs and the shrinking of the packages so we are getting less product and paying a lot more for it....hubbie is in the food industry and they held off the increases as long as possible but now it appears the dams have broke..
The increasing gas prices and lack of viable mass transit options have me considering a move. We have already changed a few things. We bought a hybrid and sold a gas-guzzling Land Cruiser. I've tried bike communting to work, but its simply too far (21 mi each way) to be something I do regularly. Fortunately, I have a company car that gets decent mileage (and the gas costs for it don't come out of my pocket!), so that has helped us in the gas budget area. However, I'm looking for a different job in my company that will mean no company car and paying for my own gas again. I need something decent sized w/ some cargo space, but will not consider a vehicle that gets less than 25mpg avg. b/w city and hwy.
Even with that and the hybrid, I don't want my wife and I putting a combined 100 miles on our cars each weekday and burning up that much gas and money. Even w/ efficient cars, that'd be almost $13 per day w/ gas at $4/gal. So we're looking to move to northern Durham, very close to my wife's office and also pretty close to mine...certainly close enough to bike commute most days! Even w/out the bike commute, this would bring our mileage/day down to about 30, or 1 gal/day of gas. That extra $9/day in gas savings could sure come in handy!
Ok, I know my post isn't strictly Triangle related (probably should move this thread?) but here's my take:
1. I agree that unless gas goes up significantly higher than $4/gallon, the majority of people are not going to drastically change their driving habits. Perhaps we'll be aware of combining trips for errands--that might be it.
2. Did you know that it costs more energy-wise to produce a hybrid car? I can't remember the exact statistics (I'll see if I can look them up) but I think I read that you would have to own the car for 12 years before you started your payback to the environment.
3. Is it a coinky-dink that things are heating up with us vs. Iran and gas prices are rising? The last time they skyrocketed, we developed an overwhelming need to take out Saddam.
The increasing gas prices and lack of viable mass transit options have me considering a move. We have already changed a few things. We bought a hybrid and sold a gas-guzzling Land Cruiser.
It just strikes me as odd that someone would have the coin to shell out for a Land Cruiser and then would freak out and have to sell it when gas went up to $3.
But if you guys are in stable jobs, moving closer to them is not such a bad idea. In addition to the transportation savings (gas, wear and tear on vehicle, increased depreciation, etc), you should also calculate the value of your time spent commuting and consider what a shorter commute does with your quality of life. Less stress, more time at home, etc. I found that a slightly more expensive home closer to work was well worth it for me. And I bet it will appreciate better over time than a home further out.
Ok, I know my post isn't strictly Triangle related (probably should move this thread?) but here's my take:
1. I agree that unless gas goes up significantly higher than $4/gallon, the majority of people are not going to drastically change their driving habits. Perhaps we'll be aware of combining trips for errands--that might be it.
2. Did you know that it costs more energy-wise to produce a hybrid car? I can't remember the exact statistics (I'll see if I can look them up) but I think I read that you would have to own the car for 12 years before you started your payback to the environment.
3. Is it a coinky-dink that things are heating up with us vs. Iran and gas prices are rising? The last time they skyrocketed, we developed an overwhelming need to take out Saddam.
My take is that the actual price of gas has little to do with changing driving habits, but rather the change in the price of gas does. If the price of gas goes from $3 to $4, it's not going to change driving habits too much. If, however, the price of gas were to change from $1 to $4 in a short period of time, then alot of people would be changing their driving habits, since it 'feels' worse. So steady increases in price is not going to change driving habits. It's the "drop a frog into a boiling pot vs. slowly turning up the temperature" principle.
I had also read that if you take into consideration everything that goes into the construction of a car, that the Toyota Prius actually used more energy over it's lifetime than a Hummer. The main reason is due to the energy expended mining and refining the minerals needed for the battery packs. But the study ignored being able to recycle the batteries in a Prius, so it made a good sensational headline, but wasn't entirely accurate.
While we process the rise in oil as a potential negative. While we process the housing market as a real negative. The stock market is taking off right now as of 10:43 today.
Irrational is the buzzz word of so much we do. That being said does anyone know with any certainty what Americans will do about much of anything that matters? Country Wides loss was greeted with positive exuberance.
It just strikes me as odd that someone would have the coin to shell out for a Land Cruiser and then would freak out and have to sell it when gas went up to $3.
But if you guys are in stable jobs, moving closer to them is not such a bad idea. In addition to the transportation savings (gas, wear and tear on vehicle, increased depreciation, etc), you should also calculate the value of your time spent commuting and consider what a shorter commute does with your quality of life. Less stress, more time at home, etc. I found that a slightly more expensive home closer to work was well worth it for me. And I bet it will appreciate better over time than a home further out.
Right on, that's why we moved to the Leesville area. Even though i don't work in RTP (my wife does), I knew that spending a little more now would help us with resale. Tons of people want to live in Wake county and be close to RTP and the airport and the schools are top notch here for Wake County. I also find the commute to anywhere is easier from here then most any other place in Wake County, since RTP is 10-15 minutes away and anywhere else you go you pretty much drive against the traffic.
BTW... The main reason why oil is so expensive right now has less to do with supply/demand issues, and more to do with the extremely weak dollar. For example, since 2001, the dollar has nearly lost half of it's value compared to the Euro (if memory serves me, the Euro used to be worth $.88, and now it's worth $1.44). And for the first time in history, the Canadian dollar is worth more than the U.S. dollar. So it's not that the oil is necessarily more expensive....it's that the dollar is worth less, so you need 'more' of them to buy a barrel of oil.
(Although I'm not implying that supply/demand has nothing to do with it, and that we aren't facing supply issues in the near future).
Oh...and since the U.S. dollar is expected to continue declining in value for the forseeable future (many economists and large investors like Warren Buffet are calling the dollar overvalued), we can expect oil prices to continue to increase.
Last edited by OmegaBaby; 10-26-2007 at 09:00 AM..
It just strikes me as odd that someone would have the coin to shell out for a Land Cruiser and then would freak out and have to sell it when gas went up to $3.
But if you guys are in stable jobs, moving closer to them is not such a bad idea. In addition to the transportation savings (gas, wear and tear on vehicle, increased depreciation, etc), you should also calculate the value of your time spent commuting and consider what a shorter commute does with your quality of life. Less stress, more time at home, etc. I found that a slightly more expensive home closer to work was well worth it for me. And I bet it will appreciate better over time than a home further out.
It was used...a 1997, so its not like I plunked down $60k for it! I bought it to replace an even older one that I was selling few years ago...I'm a bit of a LC afficianado. However4, I did that before gas was above $2/gal., and before I really started thinking about the consequences of driving a vehicle that only got 14mpg...from a cost perspective, as well as environmental and oil dependency standpoint. I held onto it for a year after getting my company car, and then decided all those factors, plus the $1k/yr I was spending just to keep it insured/registered/taxed/maintained was no longer worth it. My wife also wanted her garage parking back!
As for the move, the commute is but one factor in the decision. Quality of life, schools, etc... are all playing into the decision, and I'm also hoping that northern Durham starts seeing better appreciation, too!
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