What will you do? There are analysts forcasting this possibility as soon as 2010. I know that right down the street gas is now at $4.05 for regular. :no

If that's the case, I don't see how anyone could afford to drive anywhere. The current state of things is bad enough..

Prolly starve. And me miserable, therefore I'll hole myself here in the apartment so my anger doesn't harm anyone. :giggle

i can't stop living my life b/c of gas prices...
i mean ya it will suck but i will continue to drive just like i do now. ..

If that's the case, I don't see how anyone could afford to drive anywhere. The current state of things is bad enough..

:agree I'll have our name on a list to live on a base somewhere where you can walk to everything. They really need to take more time to develop/use alternate fuels.

OH MY!!!!! I DONT KNOW WHAT I WOULD DO...:( MAKES ME SICK TO THINK OF...

Unfortunately ladies it very well may become reality in 2-4 years. Honda has a Hydrogen Fuel Celled Car coming out. I just got an update about it. I am really thinking we may get one in the next few years.

Sell my car, buy a bicycle with a babyseat attached and tell the oil companies to fuck off.

But that's just me :D

Even at $7, we still would pay less to fill up than someone with an SUV does now. Our tiny car gets great mileage and we drive as little as possible. We generally take public transport on the weekends or any time we don't have a strict schedule.

It would suck, but we'd deal.

I am debating on getting a buggy and training the horses. :D

man.. i guess i sounded snoby! lol

i would prob have to get a different car.. thats for sure

They are starting to develop mini cities, where they have living areas and commercial areas in one little cluster, so you can walk wherever you need. I think it's a great idea and we would probably look into that.

Ryan already takes the train, and we would continue to utilize public transportation.

Continue buying local foods, produce, and products. Carpool. Use solar energy in our home. We definitely want an alternative type of car soon too... Ryan is in love with the Tesla, but yeah, that shit is not happening anytime soon! :roflmao

we'd probably be living on post, my husband would have that motorcycle that he wants, and I'd be bean pole skinny from walking everywhere.
In all honesty, we'd probably start pushing for orders to Germany. The gas might be just as/more expensive as it is here, but towns are developed around the town center, versus here....you have to drive to get groceries (the closest grocery store for me is about 5-7 miles away)

I would walk, ride bikes etc. there are other ways to get around.. and besides, I think I may hitch a ride from your buggy Dani ;)

I will need to get a vehicle that holds all of 7 of us. :(

maybe I can get one of those peddle bikes that you see on the beaches where 6 people can sit in it and peddle around. I dont know what they are called...lol..

I forsee a prius or something comparable in our future, just to get G back and forth to work, since that's where the majority of our gas bill goes each month.

Yeah DH is talking about getting a motocycle. I'm cool with it.

we'd probably be living on post, my husband would have that motorcycle that he wants, and I'd be bean pole skinny from walking everywhere.
In all honesty, we'd probably start pushing for orders to Germany. The gas might be just as/more expensive as it is here, but towns are developed around the town center, versus here....you have to drive to get groceries (the closest grocery store for me is about 5-7 miles away)

Yes europe is set up nicely like that. When I was growing up in switzerland our flat was above the grocery store, and the bakery, butcher everything was right there. Loved it. The train ran right into zurich if we needed the bigger stores.

eh we'll see.

honestly we pay so much less for gas right now than europe so I don't really worry about it. we'll probably sell our suv by then, but you know if we have to go somewhere it will just be budgeted in.

I remember waking up in the morning (when we lived in Germany) and walking to the Bakery and getting brotchen for breakfast....and walking to the city with a basket to get stuff for lunch and dinner!

Oh jeez- well that's something to think about. My husband is getting out of the Navy in 2010 so we'd probably base where we're living on- well first and foremost where he can find a good job (I can probably work just about anywhere once I get my degree- not that I'll get paid much) and I can get my masters- and second on the way the city is set up, traffic, etc, as well as cost of living (particularly housing costs). Once we're settled in, I would imagine we would do everything in our power to keep the miles driven down...I don't know if we'd go so far as using public transport. as I've had some bad experiences here, but we'd obviously have to figure out something. That is ridiculous.

Unless they raise our paychecks to make up for it which we know won't happen...then we will be investing in bikes and if I needed to travel, might as well pay for a flight. lol

I'd buy a bike with a big basket on the front and learn to grocery shop more wisely in order to fit my goods in the basket. I'd also be really super fit from walking to other stores nearby.

I try not to pay too much attention to the media, they are so negative.We will adjust our budget

We will switch to bikes.

IMO we won't change a whole lot, just rearrange our budget. We have to drive, and we will deal with it.

That's what most Europeans pay for it... It will suck. I think it will make people fight for better public transportation... Seriously, if my town had one that worked I'd use it. Carpooling will become more popular and the environment in general will profit. Yes, we'll pay more, but it will get people to think twice I suppose... as much as it sucks.

DH and I were actually just talking about this yesterday. He told me that he's going to buy a bike. There's absolutely no public transportation around here, but we're moving to a college town in a few years and I know that they've got public transportation.

We already go out very little. With all of the kids it's not really practical for us to do public transportation. We have no choice but to have a large vehicle and the only hybrid large vehicle they have as of right now is an SUV that is way out of our price range. We'll be getting a minivan in the next few years but they don't get much better gas mileage than the SUV we have now. I guess we'd adjust our finances to accomodate... we're already having to do that now. When we leave here we're going to be getting tony a different car and we plan to keep him in a small commuter car.

we would just suck it up. Where we currently live walking and public transportation aren't an option. There is no bus system within our city, and walking during the fall/winter months is fine, walking in the summer is just heat stroke waiting to happen. even biking. the kids would never make it. And if we moved back to Whidbey well it rains there, lol but at least there is free buses.
We would just adjust our budget and learn to deal with the cost of gas.

It all depends on what our circumstances are. As of right now, we live in a small enough town that the kids & I can bike everywhere. I'd rather not during the summer where it is 100+ degrees. But if it is necessary, we will do it!

DH already lives on the ship in CA so he has little driving to do! However, by the time this is forcast to happen, he 'should' be on shore duty somewhere so I honestly can't say what we'd do!

what can we do? the only thing we CAN do is just deal with it. what I would do is probably switch to another vehicle and TRY my best not to splurge every now and then :giggle

but this thing kind of sunk in me a couple of days ago because my co-worker was talking about getting another job working graveyard shifts just so she can fill her tank. kind of sad don't you think?

i would ride a bike when i could...but that would be ridiculous trying to get to school lol id actually probably end up buying a streetbike...db and i want them now so why not WAY less gas and im not a dumbass driver so hopefully people around me wouldnt end up doing anything to hurt me...although with gas prices that high there probably wont be many people on the road:P

I would work a deal at work to work from home part of the week.
Walk to church (it's less than a mile from my home)
Walk to Morissa's practices (also about a mile)
Use the Metro to get to ball games
Majorly Stock up on foods that won't go bad
Do more online shopping for toiletries
Start shopping at the butcher shop for bulk meat
Carpool more often

I'm sure I would cutback on much more...but there's the top of my head.

Yeah DH is talking about getting a motocycle. I'm cool with it.

My DH rides a motorcycle and I'm thankful he does, because I'm not sure how we'd afford the gas in the van for his daily commute! As for the OP's question, I'm not sure what I'd do if gas gets that high! :no It makes me sick to my stomach, gas keeps going up, therefore making everything else slowly rise in price. Yet people's income stays the same. If things keep going like this, the gas price gouging is going to crash our economy!

I'd ride our new bikes places!!!

I would be buying a different car that's for sure. I plan on my next being a hybrid regardless. We wouldn't be able to afford to drive anywhere other than work, grocery store and places like that.

I don't listen to the media when it comes to gas prices. I listen to my parents, who both work in the oil business. So for now, I am not anticipating gas to go that high. There are regulations regarding Milage on cars that are supposed to go into effect in the next 2-4 yrs - i.e. 35 mpg on the newer cars. That is about the time I will buy a new car. Will probably have more advancement in alternative fuel sources and greater availability of ethenol by then. The biggest problem with ethenol is that there are not widely available stations that provide it through out the US, just certain locations.
Should gas prices happen to get the high by then, that is when DH will be retiring in that time frame and we will consider that into wherever we move. I.e. Public transportation availability, distance to work, etc. Save the SUV for camping, etc but on a regular basis drive the vehicle that gets the best milage.

It's around $10 per gallon in the UK - I just walked wherever I could and got the train or bus everywhere else. I only really used the car to go grocery shopping.

People would probably quit making fun of me for taking the bus even tho I have a car. My co worker does. All in fun of course.

I have to wonder tho, how much would my bus pass increase to cover the fuel cost increase. What about the price of food. the equipment to harvest and transport food all burns a lot of fuel. What about the costs of other goods? Transport again. Mail? Airfare? Will we be able to afoord travel?


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For now, I would start riding my bike to work. Once we move out further away from where I work, we would have to cut back on other expenses, frivolous things... like GROCERIES :rofl

I firmly believe that once it gets that bad, and it will, that there will be a sudden tanking of big oil companies because people would be more open to bio-diesel and vegetable oil fuel.

I was sitting and thinking about this the other day because right now I currently have to budget gas in my budget which at times sucks. Since I live within walking distance or 2 minute drive a way of most things, I think I am good on that. But when I move I am seriously debating with moving on the base where I know pretty much everything is there for what I need. I have commuting days now. I know that certain are my errand or whatever day. I do all I can on those days. Also, I think I will invest in home luxuries because we will be enjoying a lot of the comforts of home. But then again if gas goes up so will everything else, like it is now. But honestly we would have to suck it up and survive. Everything is a cycle. During and after Vietnam we went through this. People just have to realize how precious these things are to us and live accordingly.

I don't see how we would be able to afford to drive and buy grocceries. I mean you can say you will drive just like you do, but IMO if the cost of living doesn't go up and you are still making what you are now and play MORE for every thing else, we wouldn't be able to afford to. I mean gas prices going up = everything else going up like grocceries and restraunts jacking their prices up just to make a living. We would have to make do, by DH finding carpooling or taking the car all the time, and taking as few trips as we can to town and such.

I don't see how we would be able to afford to drive and buy grocceries. I mean you can say you will drive just like you do, but IMO if the cost of living doesn't go up and you are still making what you are now and play MORE for every thing else, we wouldn't be able to afford to. I mean gas prices going up = everything else going up like grocceries and restraunts jacking their prices up just to make a living.


I think its going to take the economy a while to recover. But as long as we are at war things are going to horrible. Sad and its going to hurt quite a bit. I think as soon as it really hits the rich and influential, then change is going to take place. The rich must keep getting richer.

probably get rid of the truck and find a way to get a smaller car for DH...probably trade it in for something smaller.

For now, I would start riding my bike to work. Once we move out further away from where I work, we would have to cut back on other expenses, frivolous things... like GROCERIES :rofl

psh, exactly. i couldn't really ride my bike to work bc it's a 13 mile commute... and i have to take some sort of highway to get there. :sigh

Thats why I have a standard and it's very economical and small.
I would probably keep driving but work extra hard and I will cut down on buying things that I really don't need. You can do anything if you want it bad enough.

I guess I would attempt to take the bus to school, hopefully the public transportation will improve around here. Friggen smallest state and you can pretty much not get from one end to the other using it. I live pretty close to everything but school so I guess I will walk, ride my bike, and budget budget budget for everything else that will become more expensive.

My Dh has been talking about riding a bike to work on nice days for years. If gas goes up that high, he might just have to do it.

I would ride a bike and move somewhere that has really good public transport. I would also make sure we had a home that had what we need within walking distance because if gas prices go up that high then the food prices and everything else will ALSO rise. So if we cut out having to buy gas for a car then maybe we can survive.

Walk.

cant do shit, john works an hour away.. and drives other guys too.. so they tip in usually.. hes job is pretty important so cant stop that cos of prices.. so i guess i would have to get a job and that money would go to daycare & gas, lol.. we already live on post so we dont pay for anything.. which is nice, so that saves us that troubles.. But def will walk to places (except johns work) lol

I plan to move to a city in the next couple of years and either get rid of/park my car for all but distance travel. So I hope it does not happen, but think I will be fine.

Sell my car, buy a bicycle with a babyseat attached and tell the oil companies to fuck off.

But that's just me :D

:thumbsup

I am honestly very scared of fuel going up that much.... It boggles my mind all the things that it will effect.

the price for gas obviously... but also for food.. for clothes... for ANY goods really that require some sort of machine that runs on fuel (tractors and shit for food... trucks for shipping... planes, boats etc) EVERYTHING will cost more NOT just gas for cars. that means PUBLIC transportation will cost a lot as well... I mean.. the bus companies will still have to pay the gas prices.. and will need the passangers to cover that cost PLUS enough to pay the bus workers.

should gas get up to 7... 9... 12 dollars... by 2010 I don't see how DH and I would be able to do ANYTHING... we would obviously have to live on base and ride bikes everywhere, yes... but the cost of living will still be a bitch... food... clothes... eventually we will have to pay to move ourselves once he gets out... or go against our future plans and just have him stay in so that we can always live on base and near everything the base provides.

I would like to say we would just move to europe where towns are set up so you can walk, bike, or use busses/trains to get around... but then... we would still have to pay the price to FLY... and we wouldn't be able to afford to fly our stuff over... which means buying ALL NEW THINGS for our home... which will cost a ton...


It is all very overwhelming for me.

I am thinking of buying a bike now. Just will have to carry it up my stairs which won't be fun but worth it cause this is terrible!

We would probably be screwed because Eddie works 80 miles one way from where we live (he works in Brunswick and we live in Jacksonville and we do NOT want to live in Brunswick because everything we love is here in Jax). He does drive a Civic though, so we would probably just try to find him an even more economical car for his next one.

I am done working in a couple of weeks for the summer and I have already planned on having 1 day of "running around" for errands and stuff and letting the car sit the rest of the week so we aren't spending as much on gas. There's enough to keep Lydia occupied (park, pool, etc) within walking distance to where this shouldn't be a problem. We are also looking into moving back to the side of town we used to live on (Riverside for those of you familiar with Jax). I used to live within walking/biking distance of a library, grocery store, most of our favorite restaurants; it would be nice to be close to stuff like that again.

I am debating on getting a buggy and training the horses. :D

haha was just saying ride my horse:)

I'm going to hope our situation stays the way it is now. John and I added it up the other day and I drive 8.4 miles a week when I don't have any shopping or extra errands to do. Those 8.4 miles could all be walked or biked and will be cut down to 0 in 2 weeks when the kids are out of school. His company pays for all the gas used in his truck even if the driving is for personal use. Though at $10 or $12 a gallon I'll go ahead and say they will stop paying for personal use of company vehicles.

we drive very minimally and have an SUV but it gets really great MPG. in the city it's like 25 and on highway it's like 29 or 30. i'd unfortunately have to start shopping at the commy (ick to their veggies and meat). I don't know it scares me that prices might get that high but what will hit the companies hard is if more people start using public transportation and stop driving willy nillly.

we drive very minimally and have an SUV but it gets really great MPG. in the city it's like 25 and on highway it's like 29 or 30. i'd unfortunately have to start shopping at the commy (ick to their veggies and meat). I don't know it scares me that prices might get that high but what will hit the companies hard is if more people start using public transportation and stop driving willy nillly.

What kind of SUV do you have Jill?

I live in New Zealand and the cost of our petrol is now = USD$7.50 per gallon (that's just a straight litres to gallons conversion, not taking into account the exchange rate). My childrens' schools are 15 minutes drive from home, so I have at least an hour a day's driving, up to 2-2 1/2 hours per day depending on after school activities, sport and Church activities. I don't have a huge car but it cost me $100.88 and I'd driven 186.4 miles - in 6 days :( It's a killer on one income that's for sure!

cry while filling the tank lol
depending on where we are living walking and public transport may not be an option. I know when we move this summer there is no shoulder on the roads, no sidewalks on the main road, and the closest Walmart is a 10 minute drive....in the next state over. So walking is not an option. Also I dont think there is any public transit there :(
Now if we are down here then I will walk whenever I can like I do now but going to the laundry mat, grocery shopping, and to work is too far and with dropping my daughter off at a sitters I would have to change buses which would mean I would have to get up even earlier then 0500 like I do now to go to work.....

We'll be on a major base by that point. DH will ride a bike to work most mornings, and I'll try to make sure the kids' schools are within walking distance to our home. We already scrimp on driving to make sure we can have local/organic produce, and don't try to use our car much if it's for little things. We live practically next door to the grocery store, so if we need something little I put the kids in the stroller and walk.

well my DH is already talking about getting a motorcycle which I am not to crazy about because of all the bad things I hear about people having accidents on them, I would much rather him buy a regular bicycle but since he will be riding from Williamsburg possibly to Norfolk a regular bike would be out of the question and he really couldnt carpool with anyone because everyone would have different schedules and they wouldnt all get off at the same time either. So I dont know what we will do. I do know that he is already talking about selling or trading in our jeep for another car that gets much better gas mileage. Something like a Toyota or something.

it's expensive and going up!! :no, :sadeyes

They are starting to develop mini cities, where they have living areas and commercial areas in one little cluster, so you can walk wherever you need. I think it's a great idea and we would probably look into that.

Ryan already takes the train, and we would continue to utilize public transportation.

Continue buying local foods, produce, and products. Carpool. Use solar energy in our home. We definitely want an alternative type of car soon too... Ryan is in love with the Tesla, but yeah, that shit is not happening anytime soon! :roflmao


That is the first thing we are doing when we buy a house. Solar Panels. Matt had that decided 10 years ago..LOL
MiniCites is a great idea! We do try to support our local growers. etc.

We would probably make more use of our bikes one would tow the kids the other would tow a cart of some sort and we'd go grocery shopping that way. Matt's work is up the street he'd bike there. Anywhere else we'd either carpool or ONLY go if necessary

Unfortunately, unless we move to a city with good public transportation we will just have to suck it up.

I don't even want to think about that :no

We'd look closer at getting jobs teaching in the same school, so we'd only have one vehicle on the road. We might also consider motorcycles and/or scooters for the daily commute (it's less than 10 miles, all city streets, nothing over 45 mph limit).

We'd also get more involved in the local effort to get decent public transportation. I love living here, but the public transportation absolutely sucks.

I don't drive much around anyway and our cars are very good on GPM. We try to stick to some tips on saving gas but other than that I guess we will save more $ for gas than to go out.

We would most likely move on post and rarely (read: once a month or less) leave post.

What kind of SUV do you have Jill?

xterra

eta:we get better than estimated mpg

I will then go forever in debt, and buy an electric car.

No doubts about it, i'd rather have a 32k loan then have to pay 32k in gas.

I'll be taking the bus :yes

oh, and i'd buy a bike to ride to vons, and wear a backpack.

My husband will be sleeping on the ship during the week and coming home on weekends. We have already talked about it.

let'ssee I do not drive and jeff got himself a bike so i will continue to walk where i amneeding to for on base and only if it is rainy or to hot will jeff use the Blazer or if we have t ogo off base for an appt or get more stockage for food and that ..

I am debating on getting a buggy and training the horses. :D

That's not unrealistic :dunno

My uncle hayed his fields last summer with the Belgiums.. Said it saved him $1500 in fuel for the tractor.. :shrug Sure it took him 3 times as long to get it done, but he said the saving were worth it.. :lol

If we aint got no money for gas we will stay our broke asses home as Fergie would say in not so many words :lol
I drive a Chevy Aveo... spaceship looked ugly MOFO but hey the gas milage is like 34mpgs or so which is great. I would love a hybrid but we can't afford to trade this one in yet since I traded my Xterra in not even 2 yrs after getting it (divorce will do that when you can't afford a $555/mth payment) so I was super upside down which is still screwing me. So, if that happens we will just try and conserve our gas as much as we can cause we surely can't afford long trips.

I'd quit working, stay home with the kids and not drive unless I had to. I just can't see working just to pay for gas and daycare... which is what would be happening if it was that high. I'd love to get a hybrid or something with better gas mileage though!

Get a new job closer to my house, switch to public transportation, stop...*sniff*....traveling! :tears

It would cause Jake and I to rethink plans of having a place in the country one day when he's done with the Army, that's for sure!

I'd make Jason drive his motorcycle to and from work, even in the thunderstorms :hi :lmao

I'd only go grocery shopping like once a month... we'd live off of rice and beans.

Sell one of our children....

Kidding kidding :lmao

What can you do, really? You gotta go where you gotta go. We'd just conserve as much as possible.

There are alternative fuels. They just won't make them because the oil company's pay off the government. Brazil uses no oil, they make E85 out of sugar bushes ( whatever they are ) all of the cars there use it. Looks like we would move to Brazil and still be able to drive our F-150.

I want to buy a farm, grow our own food, have horses for traveling to visit family that is close by. Buy a few guns so when everyone goes crazy and our world shuts down no one will mess with us.

we live near a town called Gorda which has the highest gas prices in the US. I haven't checked recently, but in January it was 5.25. I can only imagine what it is now. Anyway, the locals all ride bikes that have weed-whacker motors attached to them. They get 100 mpg!

I am within walking distance to everything right now, so I don't drive much. DH would definitely need a w-w bike!

There are alternative fuels. They just won't make them because the oil company's pay off the government. Brazil uses no oil, they make E85 out of sugar bushes ( whatever they are ) all of the cars there use it. Looks like we would move to Brazil and still be able to drive our F-150.

I want to buy a farm, grow our own food, have horses for traveling to visit family that is close by. Buy a few guns so when everyone goes crazy and our world shuts down no one will mess with us.

There are several reasons why alternative fuel won't work here: 1. yes the oil companies and 2. the general population--not the educated ones who are eco friendly but the general population--is scared of any sort of new mainstream alternative, we just know gas and oil so well.

i'd die.

hah, no seriously. i'd probably die.
if gas prices got that high dh and i would try and find a RAV4 EV or another type of EV and not have to worry about gas! or but an electric system into our Focus. :]