What-cha gonna do about it? - gas prices spin off

PrairieMom wrote: alright. Anyone few up with the whole thing? What can be done about it? In my city everything is so spread out that it really isn't possible to ride bike or walk to the places I need to get to, and public transportation is just not a viable option for us. It is soooooooooooo frustrating. Someone (many someones) is getting richer off all us and it makes me want to

Twelve Volt Man replied: It's ridiculous. I got this in an email the other day, and it seems to make sense:





Subject: Gas prices? This has possibilities!

THIS IS NOT THE 'DON'T BUY' GAS FOR ONE DAY, BUT IT WILL SHOW YOU HOW
WE CAN GET GAS BACK DOWN TO $1.30 PER GALLON.

This was sent by a retired Coca Cola executive. It came from one of his
engineer buddies who retired from Halliburton. If you are tired of the gas
prices going up AND they will continue to rise this summer, take time to read
this please.

Phillip Hollsworth offered this good idea.This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy gas on a certain day" campaign that was going around last April or May! It's worth your consideration. Join the resistance!!!!

I hear we are going to hit close to $ 4.00 a gallon by next summer and it might
go higher!! Want gasoline prices to come down?

We need to take some intelligent, united action. The oil companies just
laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't continue to "hurt" ourselves by
refusing to buy gas.

It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them.
BUT, whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can Really
work. Please read on and join with us!

By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $2.00 is super cheap.
Me too! It is currently $2.98 for regular unleaded in my town.

Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think
that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at $1.50 - $1.75, we need to take
aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the marketplace..not
sellers.

With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need to take
action.

The only way we are going to see the price of gas come down is if we hit
someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their gas! And, we can do that
WITHOUT hurting ourselves.

How? Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas.

But we CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price
war.

Here's the idea: For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY gasoline from
the two biggest companies (which now are one), EXXON and MOBIL.

If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit.

But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon and Mobil
gas buyers. It's really simple to do! Now, don't wimp out on me at this
point...keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of
people!!

I am sending this note to 30 people. If each of us send it to at least ten
more (30 x 10 = 300) ... and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10
= 3,000)...and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth group of
people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers.
If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then
30 million people will have been contacted!

If it goes one level further, you guessed it..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION
PEOPLE!!! Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. That's all!

(If you don't understand how we can reach 300 million and all you have to do is
send this to 10 people.... Well, let's face it, you just aren't a mathematician. But I am, so trust me on this one).

How long would all that take? If each of us sends this e-mail out to ten more
people within one day of receipt, all 300 MILLION people could conceivably be
contacted within the next 8 days!!!

I'll bet you didn't think you and I had that much potential, did you!
Acting together we can make a difference.

If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on. I suggest that we not
buy from EXXON/MOBIL UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $2.00 RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN. THIS CAN REALLY WORK! Keep it going

kit_kats_mom replied: We are out in the burbs so we really have to drive to get most things. However, I've been better about making a circuit of my trips and cutting down on so many stops. I really only drive a couple of times a week as it is right now (to take the girls to the sitter and pick them up) so it's not so bad.

TANNER'S MOM replied: Well the Att General for our State was in our area all week examining why our gas prices are even higher than anywhere in the state. I live in a area that has huge Int'l Corps, and a University. They say this is the most affluent area in the state, they know the prices are higher and that we are affluent enough to pay it. I say it's all BS. You can go 100 miles away and it's 40 cents cheaper. We are being price gauged bad. I have started to try and consume less gas. We only take my car as a family, when the truck is more comfortable but is so hard on gas. I try to get all my errands ran in one day. I try to only buy from the lowest place in town.

I think something needs to be done. In our area we have no public transportation. Taxi's are very expensive due to the fact that they charge by the mile and everything is so far apart. I haven't bought gas for my four wheelers in a while because it's so expensive to do now. I only mow my yard once a week instead of two to conserve fuel. It's a real sore spot. Me living so far from town it's hard on our check book bad.

I added it up and my Dh and I spend around 650 a month in gas. I don't know about you but around here that's almost a mortgage payment. That is just sad to us. You know what I could do with money. I have no idea I can afford 4.00 a gallon.

We are staying close to home this Summer and the holidays during the Summer. We are camping close to home for our vacation. And doing family things here on the farm. I guess I am pretty disgusted that nothing has been done and our Government needs to step in. But they don't have the same financial problems that we have. We need to change something at the polls.. but what I don't know??

Oh I noticed that gas at Wal mart was 3.49 a gallon here, you drive not 30 minutes are to Mo, and at that Wal Mart gas is 3.10 explain that one to me. And explain why I think 3.10 is a deal.

redplaydoh replied: Well... I take public transportation or walk, getting second car is out of the picture now because to pay for gas, insurance and the car itself will strap us too much right now.
DH is looking for a motorcycle for his commute to work so it will be cheaper as well.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: I don't drive, period.

DH only takes the car to go to work, which is only about 7-10 minutes away. We do grocery shopping twice a month. If we need something extra, we walk - the grocery store is only across the stret from the complex.

Every weekend, we take the kids to the play place at the mall, and we get our shopping done then. We have switched stores.... we go to Zellers now instead of Walmart, because it's in the same mall whereas walmart moved to a location across town.

We take more family walks now, too.

Gas is just so expensive... it's crazy.

mom21kid2dogs replied: Luckily, we only have one child so we have a very small car (Chevy Prizm) and it gets 40mpg. It still takes $30 to fill it. I do far less driving than I was. No more impromtu trips to the next town 20 miles away to go to better stores. Wally World is seeing alot of me these days, since it's the only game in town. We live in town and can walk to some things like the library and restaurants

O is taking acrobatics 1 day a week at a town 20 miles away and swimming in a town 27 miles away 2 days a week. Thankfully, those are both done in June. They did just announce that they are not opening our city pool (we don't go there anyway) but that makes the nearest pool 15 miles away!

BabyOwen427 replied: Well, my dh is researching how to make his own fuel. He's trying to learn how to make alcohol and distill it to a certain purity to run in our cars. First he's going to try it out on his 72 chevy c-10 and his 82 elcamino. Those two will only need minor modifications to run pure ethanol. My tahoe and 95 mustang won't be able to run pure ethanol, we'll have to make a blend with gasoline. Plus I don't want my tahoe to be converted to ethanol because what if we go on a trip, we'd have to bring our distillary with us

Right now he is in the researching phase. Learning about ways to do this, legal issues with manufacturing ethanol, and the chemical formulas.

So far we are finding this may be fairly easy to do, just have to put the time and effort into it. From what he's learned from other's who do this it averages about $2 a gal to produce at home.

Now here's what I'm thinking:
If this is so easy to make why isn't the whole country converting to ethanol?
If everyone (or a large population) started making their own fuel that would really show big oil a thing or two right?
Plus it would make us free from dependence on foreign oil, and it's better for the environment because it is a biofuel.

PrairieMom replied:
#1, the whole country isn't converting because the people that make the big decisions all get their $ from oil.

#2, the argument against ethanol is that we don't have enough farm land to produce enough corn for the entire country to run on ethanol, plus, you still need to dilute it with regular gas. Plus, it is to unstable to pipe in the pipeline like regular gas, so it has to be trucked everywhere, which uses more gas. so, the big oil companies still get richer, and the big farmers get richer, and we still get gouged.

Personally I would rather support farmers with my $ than big oil, and I always buy a ethanol blend. (I am in the heart land after all) I think that it won't solve all our problems, but it is definitely a step in the right direction.

moped replied: Ok, this is not to start a debate at all and and a matter of fact I don't know enough on the topic to even continue after this BUT I work for a small oil and gas producing company, small as in VERY small compared to the oil and gas giants previsouly mentioned. It is NOT the big oil companies that are controlling the prices, it is OPEC, they have nother to do with it - it is all supply and demand really - and anyone that knows more ont he topic please feel free to jump in adn explain, but from my experience I do know that it is not controlled by us oil and gas companies and I am certainly not getting any richer for it!

I am not an economist not a math wizard

This is jsut what I know from the industry

BabyOwen427 replied: Well, the way I understand it, you don't need strictly corn. It can be made from basic kitchen plant waste ie. potatos, corn, rice, basically starchy plants

My dh has also suggested creating a co-op with neighbors to share the burden of production and share the fuel.

I know converting the whole country over to ethanol is going to take some creative figuring, but maybe making it at home and creating co-op's will do something. We need to stop hopeing the gov't will fix this and make it happen.

I'm in the heartland too, Okla. And I am not trying to start a debate on this, just wanted to share what we're thinking/doing.

moped replied:
That is very proactive of you guys!!!!!! Im impressed

PrairieMom replied:
I certantly don't mind a debate. I think something definitely needs to change. I just don't think anything will as long as the people in our government have their hands in big oil $.

If would probably do this country a load of good for gas prices to go above 4 or 5 dollars for a while. I don't see any changes being made until it hits more people in the wallet.

The whole thing just makes me sick. There are better answers out there, there is just no $ in it. I bet it takes an entire generation before anything really changes.

BabyOwen427 replied: This is beths husband curtis.
I decided to not spend MY money to support those who don't appreciate my way of life. The oil companies live in huge mansions on top of high hills and tell us that we owe them more money every day.
I am a mechanic that services engines every day, I have built motors and know the ins and outs of the internal combustion motor. If you have ever known a mechanic, you know we don't like to follow others, but rather, make our own way. nothing would make me more happy to see the oil tycoons washing the windows on MY car when I stop at a light in down town. give them a taste of how we live.

I am angered almost to rage when an oil brat services their vehicle at my shop.
they complain about the prices, then buy the most expensive services and products, then complain about anything and everything they can with phrases like "my hard earned money" and "waste of my time" they will drop more money on their car than I make in a two week paycheck and act like I am inconveniencing them.

it is time for the cycle to end.

MommyToAshley replied:
I agree that it is all supply and demand, but I think the big oil companies DO control this. They control how much the refineries produce... they slow down production, supply is lower, and they can raise prices. I am not saying that your company is like this, but I am pretty sure that his how the BIG oil companies operate. They use the excuse that that refineries need maintenance... funny how they always need maintenace around the heavy driving seasons, huh?

DH and I seriously looked at a Hybrid car, and now I wish we had purchased one. They just didn't make one large enough and with the features for our needs. I am trading in my car in the next year or two, and I am definitely buying a hybrid!

HuskerMom replied:
Oh my gosh that is so true. Dh is a mechanic and that's so him.

I don't drive nearly as much as I used to. When I do get gas though I never fill it up completely. I just put in $20 or so. I can usually make that last for a couple weeks. Dh and his dad carpool to work, which is nice.

My2Beauties replied: I am so disgusted by gas prices right now...I could spit. I have been out of work for the past 4 weeks on maternity leave and I'm still spending more than $50 a week in gas....I can't imagine what it's going to be like when I go back to work with gas being nearly $3.50 a gallon, it's absolutely ridiculous if you ask me. I also don't understand how in our area where we live gas is around $3.23 or so right now and if you go downtown in the poorer areas of town, gas is like $3.55, how does that make any sense, and downtown if you get on the expressway from my house is only 15 minutes away...why the huge difference in pricing? Then around here on Derby, gas went up to over $3.50 a gallon...gimme a break, right after Derby it went right back down, then I've noticed that it went up this weekend for Memorial Day, why does gas always go up around holiday weekends where people do a lot of traveling...sounds like gouging to me.

BabyOwen427 replied:
beths dh again,

It is smart to only get about 20 to 25 dollars in fuel,

gasoline by average weighs approximatly 6 pounds per gallon at standard pressure and temperature.

your engine must use fuel to move this fuel, at some point when you calculate this weight, you are only carrying fuel to carry more fuel. lower your fuel amount, lower your weight and thus increase effeciency.

sorry to put you to sleep,
class dismissed. lol

MyBabeMaddie replied:
I believe you but I don't understand it because it seems like the more I run on a full tank the longer it takes to go down, lol I know that sounds silly but I'm just saying that If I put $10 in and get a quarter tank, it seems like a half hour of driving later the Empty light is on again where if I fill it up all the way after a half hour of driving its still says its completely full, KWIM?

lovemy2 replied: Can't do anything about it so we just try to consolidate our trips, etc.....we got rid of our big SUV about 1 1/2 years ago - the writing was on the wall then and it has only gotten worse - I feel better filling up my grocery getter - since then I still have money for the groceries!!!

luvmykids replied: I'm just doing what most people are, trying to make my trips count. I don't just "run to the store" anymore unless I can make other stops too. The only vehicle that seats all of us is a gas hog too, a Dodge V-10 truck. I'd be happy to drive a minivan at this point but we need major 4wd in the winter so that doesn't work.

Other than that, I just shop around and plan my gas stops very, very carefully.