How does the sharp increase in gas prices affect your daily activities?

With 3 drivers in the house, we currently are spending about $1300 a month in gas. This is killing our ability to save money and is making us fight frequently. My wife is the largest gas user. She has a hard time working out how to consolidate trips and make smart spending decisions. She will spend $7 on gas just to save a buck on an item. If she needs something, she will go shopping immediately, rather than wait until there are enough items needed to require a trip.

My car is old and inefficient but I'm not ready to replace it. My step-daughter works 12 miles from our house. Her first hour of work is used just to pay for gas.

I am still able to pay all of our bills, but I need to increase my working hours to get to where we were financially just a few months ago.

Food price increases are not really affecting us yet. I just buy the 'bargains' and make cheaper choices. OJ is no longer on my list and neither are eggs. Pasta and veggies haven't gone up hardly at all. PB&J and cereal are also more frequent snacks at home.

As for vacations. We are still going to go, but instead of taking 2 cars for 6 people, we are just going to take our van and cram in a bit. Vacation is about 1600 miles round trip and it's too expensive for a second car to go.

When are people going to realize that the only reason that gas is through the roof is that SPECULATORS have pushed the prices up. The futures market for gas and oil has seen a fifty fold increase in the money invested. That is an 'OIL BUBBLE' just like the 'INTERNET BUBBLE' of a few years ago. There are NO GAS SHORTAGES. The Arabs have not increased the price or restricted production - they just sell at market rate. A few RICH AMERICANS are pushing the price of oil and gas up for everyone by shifting their investments into this market.

When is the government going to regulate this market just as it does for natural gas and electricity? We need a goverment that is prepared to stand up for us and protect us from this behavior!

well, i could take the train and bus but That means I'd have to wake up at 3am :(

well, I own a horse and he's about 40miles south away from me. and i work about 30miles west from my house and i live at the conner of this L shaped route. i drive a wagon. so im good for now. to save money time and cost i just walk to places i go from my house that i need or want to go. Living in chicago has its ups.

We quit being so frivolous. In that sense it's benefited us. We make better decisions, and feeling more in control with our finances.

Fortunately I work from my home and my husband works very close to home. Neither of our salaries have increased in the past few years so we have to be careful with money. The price of groceries has gone way up also. We do not purchase any luxuries unless we have cash. We haven't been on a vacation in a couple of years unless it is fishing or camping within 1 or 2 hours away. It gets harder everyday to make ends meet... Our mortgage is our number 1 priority. Everything else is secondary.

No, I cant take public transportation. Too far to go to work.
Yes, I cut back in other areas.
Did not have a vacay planned, husband too busy in the summer.
No strain yet (from that).

As of right now, not to any extreme has it affected my life. I am making less trips to the grocery store, using up the odds and ends I have at home. Will probably go back to the consignment stores for summer clothing. And I don't go shopping as often, so this has cut my impulse buying down drastically, only buy what is truly needed. (and am shocked at my bill at the checkout for sure!) I do think more about my errands, bundling them together. Fact is, it is a matter of time.