Gas Price check-in. . .And how to manage a budget???

[kevinbgoode]

I was shocked tonight when I dropped by my closest convenient store/gas station - it is usually close to/or at the lowest gasoline prices in town, and I often get my gas there. I know we've beaten up this gasoline price thang to death in the past, but my mouth fell open when I pulled into the store and the price was posted at $3.08 ! ! !

Yesterday, I think it was $2.98. A few days before that, $2.95.

This is the first time I've ever seen a station in my town go OVER the $3.00 mark. I talked to my parents yesterday, and they told me that FOUR of my brothers (all adults ranging from ages 37-54) have purchased motorcycles in an effort to cut down on gas expenses. Some of their wives are learning to ride as well. I've been wanting to look at some mopeds for a long time myself, but was going to wait until I finished school next year. Is this really getting so serious that people just cannot make ends meet any longer?

I'm alone now - and don't expect to likely fall in love again, though anything can happen. All of my siblings have large, beautiful homes, and yet I've been looking at floor plans for Tiny Homes. There was something on network news a few weeks ago about some models, but I'm not looking for something THAT small - more like a cottage. Much of the reason is to try to combat rising energy costs. . .and my reasoning is that if I don't have a lot of space, I have no need to buy a lot of items for it - if that makes much sense. But I'm also concerned with higher electric bills, higher heating expenses. . .etc. I was looking at one site last night and this single woman had this builder make a 600 sq. ft. home with an 8 x 8 deck - building cost: $35,000. She also had a roof which gathered and filtered rain water for home use. . .I'll put a couple of links here and maybe ya'll might have some ideas about these small places for fuel/energy efficiency:

http://www.tinyhomes.com/THouse-examples.html

http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/houses.htm#

[RB TexLa]

1. Guess someone thought , Hey the Manhattan studio apartment

would look good in a rural house model.

[kevinbgoode]

4. hahaha....hey, you know they do look sorta cute though. . .

and I've been in a small apartment (smallest space I've EVER lived in) and found that I rather like how easy it is to clean and how cozy it is. . .well, being alone.

[cornermouse]

11. I lived in an apartment for a while.

I could hear the pregnant lady next door every time she threw up in her bathroom. I know it made me feel like I had privacy. :eyes:

[kevinbgoode]

13. I rarely hear my neighbors at all...but these are built

with concrete walls between units. I know what you mean, though...I chose an end unit in order to eliminate that possibility on one side of the apartment. Still, with a tiny house, you aren't likely to hear the neighbors unless they are on top of you as well. . .

[mike_c]

2. $3.40 unleaded reg. in Arcata CA-- that's actually about 10 cents...

...cheaper than a few weeks ago, but up a few cents from last week.

[Sherman A1]

3. Saw gas at 2.89 yesterday in St. Louis

First time I have seen that low in a long time. Wanted to get a scooter for the commute, but the wife said absolutey no with concerns about safety. I expect the issue will come up again in time.

[Selatius]

5. What really sucks is the US hardly spends money on mass transit

It is very harsh on the poor to expect them to have car insurance as well as be able to afford to maintain the car and buy fuel for it.

[Sherman A1]

6. Very True

Imagine what we could be doing with all the money wasted in Iraq?

[Selatius]

7. With that amount of money, you could open up a bullet-train line

They say this war could be the "trillion dollar war."

With that kind of money, I can guarantee you could build a network of bullet-trains connecting all major US cities. Instead of traveling at 70 or 80 on the interstate, you could cruise on the lines at 150 easily. The construction alone would put untold thousands of workers and engineers and scientists to work, and you may even have enough left over to construct bus fleets for major cities. It would help take a lot of cars off the roads and ease congestion. Have you seen the LA freeway? My God.

[BooScout]

8. $7.05 a gallon USD - Wales, UK

Or £1 a litre. That's up about 11 pence a litre since last winter....and it doesn't help that the dollar is falling YET again.

[magellan]

9. We've been looking at geodesic homes

http://www.domehome.com/

I love the look of these and they come in all sorts of sizes, from just under 900sf to huge. Apparently they're also very energy efficient. They can be fitted with solar panels and such.

Then there are Earth Sheltered Homes and the like, which also interest us ever since we saw a tv show about a guy in Phoenix (or somewhere in the SW) who lives in an underground home that stays temperate -- ground temp, around 75 degrees -- year round.

There are some really great ideas for getting off the grid out there, and if we survive FL long enough to move on we'll probably do something along these lines.

[kevinbgoode]

12. These are really fascinating. . .but can they get expensive to build?

I see the geodesic homes have kits. . .but the earth-shelters look like they might be more difficult to construct. Though they sure look better at energy efficiency. The more I notice these gas prices, the more I'm realizing that, as a culture, this is about more than just gas - electricity costs will likely keep rising as well, and people just are really dependent on power. I thought if I had a small home I'd not only feel comfortable, but. . .well, heating/cooling would be cheaper and it might be easier to run most important things on a generator in a large power outage. These brownouts/blackouts that have happened are likely to happen more often - much of our electrical infrastructure was built when the country had half this population.

[magellan]

15. They can get expensive

Land, permits, plumbing in city/county water, etc...but if you're going for something new all of these are unavoidable costs no matter what you build (except water; but I'm not as clear about alternatives in that area). Going solar is expensive unless you live in a state that provides subsidies. I think the mentality one has to assume when getting away from a standard home is that it will probably cost as much or more up front, but in the long run you'll recoup money by saving on energy costs.

Have you thought about refitting your current home instead? Or are you looking for something smaller as well?

[kevinbgoode]

21. Gosh No - I went from a three bedroom condo in Buckhead

in Atlanta to this tiny student apartment in Illinois....then a very large house with three roomies in the country (but we were assaulted by electric heat bills in the winter - they were UNREAL). . .so I went back to a tiny student apartment. Being alone, I've grown used to the small quarters, and have noticed that I rarely feel very lonely or isolated in this small place - it's rather cozy once you get used to it all. So I figured if I'm going to be alone, why have a place with multiple bedrooms, lots of hallways...etc...that have to be heated/cooled when the power price keeps going up? Another factor is that I'm growing older - and I'd much rather get a small place that is easy to maintain and keep up and minimizes a lot of walking space (and climbing stairs).

[REP]

10. 600 Sq Ft Is TWICE What I Live In!

Apparently, I live in a shoebox, or a hole in the road (and I clean the road with my tongue every morning, because aye, I'm lucky!)

[kevinbgoode]

14. hahaha...well, I live in a pretty tiny place now myself

combination kitchen/living/study area (not even enough room for a kitchen table - I use a kitchen island and often eat at my desk, or use a TV tray). One small bedroom with built-in closet and enough room for a small nightstand and a dresser - NOTHING else. Small bathroom with stand-up shower. My parents are elderly and just remodeled their bathroom - they took out the bathtub and put a stand-up shower in too. Sometimes I miss the occasional bubble bath, but actually love the stand-up shower.

[REP]

19. Oh, and to Answer the Question: $3.05 now; $3.11 Last Week

No idea why it went down.

[Warpy]

16. Trailers!

They're bigger on the inside than they are on the outside, every inch of space is planned for maximum efficiency, and they can be placed on a permanent foundation.

They're usually cheap to heat and cool and require little maintenance.

Just truck 'em in, plop 'em onto the foundation, and move in.

(not recommended for Tornado Alley without a storm shelter out back)

[RebelOne]

20. I live in a trailer (prefer to call it a mobile home).

It's an inexpensive place to live. I own the home and all I do is pay lot rent of $309 a month, which includes water and garbage pickup. My electric bill never goes over $95 a month in the summer and I have 2 window units running 24/7. But unfortunately, I do live in Tornado Alley in Georgia and there's no room for a storm shelter out back.

[radfringe]

17. $3 here in Wilkes-barre PA area as of yesterday afternoon

it was $2.89 earlier in the week

[B Calm]

18. $3.35.9 in Urbana, Illinois