Let's pretend: Gas is $10 a gallon - Page 2

[carfreemama]

We are car-free and always have been.

We bought our house very strategically, right on a bus route, in an area that we could never afford to live in if we had to make car payments. I put dd on the waiting list for a great preschool as soon as I knew we would likely be buying in this area.

We have a bike trailer. You would be AMAZED what you can get in one of those.

I only have one child; but I can do grocery shopping with her and my dog using a backpack, if I have to.

I take the bus to the farmers' market on Saturdays for most of our produce. I buy grain in bulk and carry it home in the trailer or on the bus.

I barter food for dog-walking so my dog gets out of the city once a week.

The list goes on.

I know not everyone has this opportunity; but really, people say so often, "yeah that's great for you, you don't HAVE to drive." But we DECIDED not to drive and built our life around that decision. We live where there's snow (Nova Scotia) and we just deal with it.

I absolutely did not want dd growing up feeling she had to rely on a car to get around. I knew gas probably WOULD be $10 per gallon by the time she could drive. Plus we get exercise, get to know our neighbourhood, and don't get out to shop much, which saves us thousands of dollars.

[lyterae]

We'd have to sell our house and move... DH drives 35 miles to work everyday (one way) and walking anywhere from our house isn't possible as we're about 15 miles away from "town". ... That would be a LONG walk.

ETA: We have no public transportation here.

[A&A]

Gas at $10 a gallon is about SO MUCH MORE than just filling up your tank and deciding how much you can drive. If gas is at $10, diesel would probably be at $12. And diesel fuels the things that transport our goods to us. Think groceries at triple the cost, if you could even get them.

[kittywitty]

Originally Posted by A&A

Gas at $10 a gallon is about SO MUCH MORE than just filling up your tank and deciding how much you can drive. If gas is at $10, diesel would probably be at $12. And diesel fuels the things that transport our goods to us. Think groceries at triple the cost, if you could even get them.

Very true. And heating costs.

[madskye]

If gas did get that high, it would be interesting to see how US "industry" reacted. If DH's huge corporation decreed that their employees could work from home 90% of the time to offset the gas price/demand, that would be AWESOME.

I would also go out and by a big granny bike with two baskets on either side for my groceries and errands. (I want to do this anyway)

[ShareBear]

Oh, I know that gas at $10 a gallon would mean major changes to American society including outrageous food prices, heating costs, maybe even a major depression, etc. etc. I know it would be about a lot more than just trying to get the most use out of a tank of gas.

But that's depressing. I'm trying to think postively here--trying to be proactive, and think about what I can do now to reduce my dependence on gas. And maybe if enough people are thinking like this, our consumption levels will drop, and the day when gas reaches $10 a gallon will be postponed a little, you know?

Another thing I would do if gas reached $10 a gallon--I would totally be lobbying my city council to step up the expansion of sidewalks/bike lanes/pedestrian routes throughout town. Our town is already really progressive in that regard, but there are definitely still parts of town that are still unsafe for pedestrians. Mostly the poor parts of town, where people often can't afford vehicles and have to walk anyway, unsafe roads or not.

[MAMom]

Originally Posted by scrapadoozer

Cut down our trips to see my parents (they live an hour a way)

Originally Posted by sweetfeet

I would see my parents once a year.

Ok, am I the only person that read these and thought, "that actually makes gas at $10/gallon an appealing thought"...

[A&A]

Originally Posted by MAMom

Ok, am I the only person that read these and thought, "that actually makes gas at $10/gallon an appealing thought"...

[cristeen]

If gas were to hit $10/gallon, DH would start tele-commuting 100%. I would start walking or biking to work. I already do all the shopping in a single trip, and if I had a bike w/trailer I could even bike for that, since it's not that far.

It wouldn't effect our monthly visits to my grandmother though. Cutting out his 70 mile/day commute would help offset that trip. We would stop taking her out to eat though, and just cook dinner for her.

[MorganRiley]

sell both our gas guzzlers and get one gas economy car

quit my 2nd job that requires me to drive too far for too little income

quit teaching piano at my students home and make them all come to my home

cancel my movie pass and sign up for netflix instead

(kids already take bus or walk to school)

I would probably also find myself finding more frugal ways to trim the budget everywhere else in order to afford gas for dh to go to/from work

[1growingsprout]

1.DH would telecommute or design his own work from home business
2.Bike fall-spring Summer in AZ who knows??
3. Order more online and have things delivered
4. combine all driving trips
5. garden
6. stockpile majorilly to again cutdown on trips otut

[HipGal]

I would need to get a part-time job to be able to afford bringing the kids to their awesome nurturing bilingual school.

[mumkenna&lucas]

We would have to move closer to dh's work and somewhere where we could walk or bike. We can't do anything right now without the cars!

[MaddieMay]

I would cut down on the number of trips I take each week and attempt the bus system here. DH could ride his bike to work or take the bus as well. I'd also continue to schedule myself to work one long shift instead of several shorter shifts. We'd definitely think about trading in our car for one that got more gas mileage.

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

CarFreeMama -- Good post!

I admire your decision and want to someday arrange my life the same way.

[Alkenny]

There isn't much I COULD do differently than I already do. Most of the driving done now is just for DH to get to work (25 miles one way) and with the economy and our situation around here, changing jobs or moving closer to his work is NOT feasible.

We already have a car that gets good gas mileage, and live in a small town where we can bike and walk most places. There isn't any public transportation here though.

I drive to get groceries about twice a month, I suppose I could cut that down to once a month. And I'd have to miss out on quite a few of my son's baseball/football games that are away (I can and do bike to the ones here at home).

[Purplehaze]

Sell car and.......

I would sell the Mercury station wagon that gets 22 mpgs at a loss and buy a used Focus or small gas car like that. Even if I had to take a small loan on it the savings would still be worth it...

I would figure out the cost of each location I go to- round trip, and post them on my fridge- so I would know what each trip to Aldi, Drug store, church, my moms, DDs little school, cost. I would stop one activity DD does 25 mins from here. I might have to cancel some of our summer activities... I would probably subscribe to netflix as just 2 trips a month to the library would cost what a simple Netflix subscription would be..

I would beg, maybe even give a $ incentive to Dh to carpool if we stay here. We live 50 miles (each way) from his work. Right now as things stand, it would not be worth our moving and selling this house, we only moved in one year ago and I think we would take a big loss if we sold, but I might consider moving closer to Dhs work- we'd talk aobut it anyhow... Tho he hates that area... it is one of those donuts, someone else on here mentioned- a city rotting from the inside out, going down hill fast, surrounded by UBER expensive 'burbs, so that is why we live so far from it...

Right now it costs up roughly 5 gallons (22 mpgs) a day for Dh to go to work and home. $20 a day... $120 a week- he usually works 6 days a week. $480 for a 4 week month just to and from work, not including extras... uh.... killer..... and I fill the van once a week, $50 a fill up. Right now we are spending close to $800 a month on fuels. About $600 /month into Dhs car and $200 into the van I drive.

$10/gallon... What a scary thought, then again, I would not have belived $4 a gallon and here it is...

I am currently doing 3 "no drive' days a week. I might have to make that into 4... if I cancelled DDs Wednesday program I could stay home then too, but I would feel bad she loves that program : (

[Shirelle]

Life would be really difficult. In a lot of the cities in Texas, people work pretty far from home. Dh only commutes 20 miles, and that is considered a short commute. In other cities (I'm thinking of Houston, in particular) the city is so spread out, and the way zoning is structured really makes it impossible to get around without a car.

[MamaRBH]

I'd do better at stockpiling... I'd be more creative with at-home activities... I'd spend more time working at home and saving money.... I'd go stir crazy!!!

[Knittin' in the Shade]

I'm fortunate in that I live within 2 miles of everything I might possibly need to get to (grocery, drugstore, post office, several restaurants, my boys' schools, community pool, library, firehouse, and train into Philly) So, with the exception of going to church (which is about 8 miles away) I could conceivably walk everywhere. I do already walk pretty much everywhere - I fill my car and it lasts several weeks, unless I'm driving up to my parents (about an hour away) So, I'd go there less (now only go about once a month) DH works 22 miles away, and we've talked often about him getting a motorbike for work, so I think that we'd sell his car and do that. We've got a decent garden right now (two plots- one 10' x 6' and two raised beds that are 4' x 8' each)I'd expand the garden and raise mroe of our own food in order to offset the increase in grocery costs.