GAS

The average amount of miles driven a year on a fuel inefficient vehicle is something like...
15000 miles a year, 15 miles to the gallon, $2.00 a gallon is $2000 a year
15000 miles a year, 15 miles to the gallon, $3.50 a gallon is $3500 a year (right now and I think this will what it should level out to be)

According to my numbers, the average driver's increase will end up being no more than about $1500 a year/$125 a month. While that is a lot to absorb almost overnight- I guess I’m surprised how hard it seems to be hitting people’s budgets. I get it for those of us living modestly and still struggling because cutting back becomes difficult. But these folks makin’ the big bucks and/or livin’ large… I have a hard time understanding how $125 a month (on average) is killing them.

I’m also confused by those taking such a hit on trade-ins. I mean a guy I work with took a $30,000 hit on a F350 that he had for a YEAR. I did the math based on his specific circumstances and it will take him 7 years to make up the loss he took on that truck. He’s a great guy but I don’t think this was a great decision.

I’ve had my fuel efficient car for a few months and while I love the fuel savings, the real savings was related to the amount of the car I bought versus the amount of the truck I had.

Putting pencil to paper to do the math before you make a rash decision and consider dumping your SUV and/or overpaying for a fuel efficient car would be smart. In fact, if you were managing your money well and wanted to get a SUV- buy one NOW. They are not going away. There will always be a need for big vehicles. There may be less of them out there at some point but people will want them again and the value will go up once the supply gets back in balance with the demand. Figure out the payments and if the gas and payment amount is still in the budget, you’d be wise to buy one. And if you’re thinkin’ the opposite- you want to downsize and get a fuel efficient car, know that they see you coming and will feed into that fear. The car companies have to be making so much money right now.

For those people comminuting and driving gas guzzlers- well that wasn’t a good idea to start out with so your complaints are not all that valid anyway- chances are you were complaining about gas prices a year ago (or the week you bought your vehicle). If you just over-extended yourself (I've been guilty of that a time or two myself), admit it and don’t blame price increases at the pump for the reason you’re broke or selling your vehicle.

I obviously LOVE SUVs still and I think they have their place but I also love cute fuel efficient cars because they too are good to have. That’s why we have both. It is all about the balance. Having said that, the Captain has started to bring up the motorcycle thing again to “save” money on gas- I’ll put pencil to paper but I’m guessing it won’t “pay off”.

I know I put too much thought into things but it seems to me like there aren’t enough people putting enough thought into things. Regardless, please do keep shopping around for the lowest gas prices. It increases competition among the gas companies and may prevent them from exploiting the current situation further.