Thursday, July 31, 2008

Gas Goes Down

As I drove my daughter to craft camp the last two days, I noticed that gas prices have dipped below $4! (Of course we filled the tank up on Sunday, when it was $4.06.) I have had a lot of discussions with people about the gas prices of late. Of course, I don't like high gas prices any more than the next person. And seeing a charge of over $80 just to fill up the tank on my minivan sucks. But I'm so tired of the "oil companies gouging us" argument. I'm sure I'll take a bunch of crap for typing that, but the price of oil has gone up. The oil companies don't control that. They have to buy oil, process it into gasoline, and then resell it to us. Have you checked out the price of gas in other countries? It's scary. Yes, in this time of economic insecurity it sucks that gas (and nearly everything else) is rising in cost. My family has less money for extras (yes, I realize I'm writing this post way too close to the one about where we bought a Wii) and I shop at discount stores and the sales to get the best deals for our tight budget.

But just two weeks ago I was in Ohio visiting family, and gas there was $3.85, after we had paid $4.16 in Illinois to fill the tank up to get there. What's the difference? I am guessing taxes. Why aren't we yelling at our government, local, state and federal for all the taxes they levy on gasoline? Hell, I have heard Wisconsin is putting out ads (though I haven't seen them) suggesting residents of Illinois cross the border to buy their school supplies there because of the lower sales tax. I had never thought about it, but we will be in Delavan the week before school starts. It's not a bad idea, when cutting coupons and saving every penny is a major goal of mine.

Do high gas prices impact my life? Yes. But so does the high price of milk, bread, and cereal. For now, I'm going to be happy that gas is under $4 in my neighborhood, and hope it stays that way.

1 comment:

Irish Coffeehouse said...

Gas is ridiculous, but it's not the only price that's going up. You're right, milk and cereal are INSANE right now too! And am I the only who has noticed the cereal box seems to be getting SMALLER?????

Our budget has definitely become tight too. I'm doing all I can think of and asking others for ideas. It's scary and I see going to back to work in my future since #1 will be in 8th grade and #2 will be in 4th.