Oscraps
gas!!!
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hondachicc
Well-Known Member
I saw on the news two or three days ago that the AVERAGE across the country was $3.66/gal.....and average is an average because of a high and a low....we are usually the low side of things (this would also include how much people earn in our area as well 
) but.....
ours is at $3.39/gal which is just horrid!!! when you live in the mountains....you have a lot of UP AND DOWN traveling which burns more gas....needless to say...you have to fill up more often!!!
I really don't see how people are making it that have to fill up two or three times a week!!!! I don't go very much at all....actually I stopped running around hardly at all the last time gas got up to $4/gal...and just never did do much running after that....and my husband only lives 4 miles from his work....so we don't have to fill up often...but we both did this week and it cost us $128 for the two cars.
) but.....ours is at $3.39/gal which is just horrid!!! when you live in the mountains....you have a lot of UP AND DOWN traveling which burns more gas....needless to say...you have to fill up more often!!!
I really don't see how people are making it that have to fill up two or three times a week!!!! I don't go very much at all....actually I stopped running around hardly at all the last time gas got up to $4/gal...and just never did do much running after that....and my husband only lives 4 miles from his work....so we don't have to fill up often...but we both did this week and it cost us $128 for the two cars.
sue.falstaff
O'chOir extraOrdinaire
I did this quick conversion on Supertwinkle's / List Girl's blog the other day ... it was crazy ...
"OK, so I've just been trying to figure out your gas (petrol) price compared to what I'm currently paying in the UK ... and all I can say is, can I move in with you???? Seriously, if my sums are correct (which they probably aren't!) then $3.74 per gallon = approx $0.81 per litre (based on a rough estimate of 4.5 litres / gallon). Now the price for regular unleaded petrol (gas) here in the UK is currently £1.31 per litre, making it approx £5.90 per gallon. Now then, with the exchange rate being roughly $1.65 to the pound (£) and I make it that a gallon of petrol here is roughly equivalent to $9.57!!!!! Now do you see why I want to come & live with you. LOL!!!!"
Since posting on her blog (on 21st Feb) my petrol prices have gone up by another 2pm per litre!!!!
"OK, so I've just been trying to figure out your gas (petrol) price compared to what I'm currently paying in the UK ... and all I can say is, can I move in with you???? Seriously, if my sums are correct (which they probably aren't!) then $3.74 per gallon = approx $0.81 per litre (based on a rough estimate of 4.5 litres / gallon). Now the price for regular unleaded petrol (gas) here in the UK is currently £1.31 per litre, making it approx £5.90 per gallon. Now then, with the exchange rate being roughly $1.65 to the pound (£) and I make it that a gallon of petrol here is roughly equivalent to $9.57!!!!! Now do you see why I want to come & live with you. LOL!!!!"
Since posting on her blog (on 21st Feb) my petrol prices have gone up by another 2pm per litre!!!!
Our gas is about $3.35/gal.
I hear you nana, about driving in the mountains.
I have a Saturn VUE, its a small SUV, 4WD since we live in mountains and the roads aren't always plowed very well. Gary has an old Saturn. we get "decent" gas mileage 20-24 mpg. Which for the US, isn't all that bad, but probably pretty pathetic by EU standards.
IM(not so)HO and while on my soapbox, i think that many Americans think the whole "bigger is better" goes for everything, including cars. why else does someone commuting by themselves really need to be driving a Hummer?
In many areas of our country, we also have very limited Public Transportation and in the NYC Metro area, it is very expensive. I think that helps keep gas prices down because often people have no choice but to drive.
We have a couple of people in our town who drive Smart Cars and my kids laugh (they do look silly when you are used to huge cars/trucks on the roads). but I tell them all of the time, when they can fill up their tanks for $20 and drive for a month and it costs me $50/week-- who's laughing then?
I hear you nana, about driving in the mountains.
I have a Saturn VUE, its a small SUV, 4WD since we live in mountains and the roads aren't always plowed very well. Gary has an old Saturn. we get "decent" gas mileage 20-24 mpg. Which for the US, isn't all that bad, but probably pretty pathetic by EU standards.
IM(not so)HO and while on my soapbox, i think that many Americans think the whole "bigger is better" goes for everything, including cars. why else does someone commuting by themselves really need to be driving a Hummer?
In many areas of our country, we also have very limited Public Transportation and in the NYC Metro area, it is very expensive. I think that helps keep gas prices down because often people have no choice but to drive.
We have a couple of people in our town who drive Smart Cars and my kids laugh (they do look silly when you are used to huge cars/trucks on the roads). but I tell them all of the time, when they can fill up their tanks for $20 and drive for a month and it costs me $50/week-- who's laughing then?
hondachicc
Well-Known Member
Okay...you European girls get on over here.....I have 5 bedrooms...and myself and Mike occupy one of those :mrgreen: and one is dedicated to kids (imagine that :mrgreen: ) so I have three pretty small ones left.
MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How do you live?? How can you afford to drive???? I don't pay much attention to what the COST OF LIVING is in other countries and what the payscale is in other countries...but I hope that with kind of gas prices, you guys make A WHOLE LOT MORE OVER THERE THAN WE DO!!!!
MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How do you live?? How can you afford to drive???? I don't pay much attention to what the COST OF LIVING is in other countries and what the payscale is in other countries...but I hope that with kind of gas prices, you guys make A WHOLE LOT MORE OVER THERE THAN WE DO!!!!
haha, i do everything on my bicycle!!
holland is not so big and we live in the city so everything is close by.
school is also closeby, when children are going to elementary school it's usually walking distance (unless you go to a special school)
and later (age 12-17) they go by bicycle, most of the time still in the city (5-15 minutes).
kids that live in a village, usually go by bicycle too, some have to travel 30-60 minutes daily, twice! but mostly prefer that over public transport.
maya travels by train daily! 10 minutes bicycle, 75 minutes train and 10 minutes bicycle again,
and that twice a day!
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ourmisadventures
Well-Known Member
Lol, we must be right by each other! Yeah our cheapo stations are at 3.80ish right now, with everyone else above $4. I'm nervous about the cheapo ones because they regularly have "problems" with being watered down or mixed wrong... so many people have had their cars almost ruined whenever the gas prices spike because of "mistakes" from those stations and their refinery.
clarabear
always chatty at the O!!
When I went to Amsterdam with my brother one thing that I was amazed by as I came out of the train station was that they did not have a parking lot for cars but a parking lot for bikes...and it was full. And their were bikes everywhere. It was pretty cool.
clarabear
always chatty at the O!!
So...in Italy everyone drives these itty bitty cars. Cars we had never even heard of, but it was the normal thing there along with all of the other countries. We had our own itty bitty cars too. But the Army would allow us to bring 1 car of our own if you had one. Well, there was this couple who had heard that Italians were these horrible drivers (they are not bad drivers at all, they just drive fast and differently than American drivers) so they did the typical American thing and right before they moved bought the biggest car they could afford and showed up in Italy with a Cadillac Escalade. That is all fine and good in the states but in Italy you can barelt drive that through some streets and you definitely can't find parking in the city anywhere. They were the sweetest couple but that car that they thought was such a smart purchase ended up causing them a ton of problems...and even with the gas coupons cost them a fortune to drive over there. We bought a Jetta while we were there and even that was bordering on big. I totally forgot about buying a Jetta there. In Italy a Jetta is called a Bora and so people were always staring at it when we were there wondering if there was something special about it...but there wasn't. Anyway, sorry...random thought.
sue.falstaff
O'chOir extraOrdinaire
I live near Oxford which is just the same ... PACKED full of bicycles ... mainly because it's a university city & the students can't afford to own / drive their own cars! The down side for me it the cost of parking in the city ... if I go in on a Saturday, I can easily pay £15 just for parking my car for 4hrs!
cellomom
...loves her some "O"
So thankful we live in TX... In our neck of the woods, gas is around $3.56. I'm excited, because last time gas prices went up, car (ie...truck) prices went down! And we're in the market for a car!
And, yup, I'm one of the gas guzzlers...a Ford Excursion is our big truck to fit everyone and to be safe! We bought it at a fraction of the price last time gas prices were high.
And, yup, I'm one of the gas guzzlers...a Ford Excursion is our big truck to fit everyone and to be safe! We bought it at a fraction of the price last time gas prices were high.
So I travel (not by car...don't have a driverslicence) but by train...almost every day
We live in Amersfoort and I study in Delft, which is about 90kms distance
a trainticket (dayreturn) cost € 27,80 cheapest fare...so thats $39 a day!!
and a ticket for a month is €364,90.. $511,88 a month
Luckily in the Netherlands, all students get a special card..which means we can travel for free, but we do have to get our degree within 10 years or you have to pay back all your travel costs.
We live in Amersfoort and I study in Delft, which is about 90kms distance
a trainticket (dayreturn) cost € 27,80 cheapest fare...so thats $39 a day!!
and a ticket for a month is €364,90.. $511,88 a month
Luckily in the Netherlands, all students get a special card..which means we can travel for free, but we do have to get our degree within 10 years or you have to pay back all your travel costs.
I just asked my dad.. (diesel)
and he gets 18km per liter.. (1km=0.62miles and 1gallon=3,78liter)
so that's 42,27 miles per gallon
I googled for Ford Excursion .. that's a huge car!! I remember from when we were in LA, everybody drives BIG cars! I can't imagine driving there with the type of cars we have here (or in Europe). We saw a lot of trucks/pickups...don't see them here. My dad drives a VW Passat Variant
http://www.kyotolease.nl/pics/vw_passat_variant_2.jpg and here in the Netherlands that fits the category "large cars." Nowadays you see more mpv's on the road, but they're still not as big as in the USA.
hondachicc
Well-Known Member
I drive a small SUV.....Honda CRV
It gets about 25mpg around town and 30 hwy Not too bad....but I don't drive much as I stay here and babysit...so I am not filling my tank but once every three weeks.
It gets about 25mpg around town and 30 hwy Not too bad....but I don't drive much as I stay here and babysit...so I am not filling my tank but once every three weeks.
sue.falstaff
O'chOir extraOrdinaire
Yep, we're an economic car nation here in the UK. We're just about to buy one of these:
which would probably fit inside Sally's car at least once!
Oooohhh ... I ♥ the Fiat 500!!! No idea what it's like the drive, but it's cute as heck ... and that's important too, right?!?!?!
wow, 42 mpg.... twice as much as I get.
I wanted to get a Hybrid- looked at the ford Escape but it was more money than I could afford.
Now I want to get one of the Volts- the electric car. I read that NYC is installing charging stations to prepare for whenever they are on the market.
If i could get a Volt, 4WD, with solar panels-- how cool would that be?
No, patchouli oil and peace signs would be optional:hippie:
:rofl:
Bush Girl
Well-Known Member
But of course! Actually, it's Dominic's car of choice, and naturally, he wanted the hot hatch version. Even still, it should get 40-45 miles to the gallon round town, and apparently 60 odd on the motorway - not that you'd want to drive something this small too far on the motorway.
Hey, Clara, did you drive one of these when you lived in Italy?
How about parking charges? Do you guys in America get stung for massive amounts? I just looked outside my house, and despite living in the middle of London, albeit in a residential area with no shops or offices, there is not another car parked on my side of the road for 50 yds, but if a visitor comes to see me they have to pay £2.20 ($3.55) an hour to park. Daylight robbery.