Flack's Daily Smack - Econo-Me

RSS Bot · June 5, 2008

Two and a half years ago I purchased a new 2006 Chevy Avalanche, a truck that came with pretty much every option but one -- a crystal ball showing me the future price of gas.

Back in the summer of 2005 (when Susan and I first began talking about buying a new vehicle), gas cost $2.20/gallon. Prices climbed to $3/gallon that fall due to Hurricane Katrina, but we (and everybody, I think) hoped that gas hike was temporary. Prices did settle a bit after that, but have been steadily (and sometimes not so steadily) climbing ever since. Here in Oklahoma (Indian for "land of the cheap gas") the highest I've personally seen is $3.89/gallon, although I have several out-of-state friends who passed the $4 mark weeks ago. Prices have slightly dropped this week; I paid $3.69/gallon today.

As I'm sure most of you have noticed, most gas pumps will now cut you off at a predetermined total. This was put in place by credit card companies to protect themselves from fraud. From what I have read on the Internet, this cut-off point reflects the amount their insurance covers for a "non-signature transaction". Depending on the brand of credit card and the state you live in, the cut-off is usually $50 or $75. The gas tank on my Avalanche holds 31 gallons of fuel. At $3.69, I can only purchase 20 gallons of gas before hitting the $75 mark. $50 only gets me 13 gallons. Today I actually found a pump that cuts you off at $100, regardless what brand of credit card is used. By the time I hit $100, I had purchased 27 gallons of fuel -- my tank wasn't even full. I still could have put another $15-$20 worth of gas in. That hurts.

Last week during our vacation we drove to Galveston and back. We drove 1,400 miles in all and spent somewhere around $300 in gas (we took the minivan). We knew that prices would spike over Memorial Day weekend (the day we left), but we already had plans and reservations that we did not want to cancel.

According to a recent survey, 39% of Americans planned to travel over Memorial Day weekend, and 20% of Americans said they cancelled their plans due to gas prices. While we didn't cancel our plans, we did make some concessions. We took sandwich stuff with us and ate more meals on the road and in the cabin than we normally would have. You have to make up the price difference somehow.

Susan and I work in the same building and, for nine months of the year, don't carpool. Due to Mason's school schedule we have to drop him off and pick him up. That means one of us comes to work early so we can pick him up, and one of us comes in late so we can drop him off. During the summer however, the four of us ride to work together. Mason and Morgan attend the FAA Daycare, and Susan and I shuffle our schedules around so we can all come and go at the same time. It's a very small concession to make, and I'm saving approximately $50 bucks a week (maybe more) in gas by parking the truck.

When gas prices were on the rise I talked about selling my truck -- now, I fear I've waited too long. I'm not sure if there's a market for a second hand truck when dealerships are begging people to take them off their lots. My truck is large and roomy inside and I wonder how comfortable I would be in a smaller, four-door car. I have a feeling I might be finding out sometime in the near future.

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