# Has lower fuel prices made a difference?



## Micheal (Jan 28, 2009)

Has the lower price of gas, #2 fuel, etc. made life any easier on you?

I'm posting this question here since us older folks tend to keep track of our money more so than them youngins. :ashamed: So has lower prices made a difference???

With me, not so much.....
My heating oil tank was filled the end of Oct. and they won't be back for a fill-up till somewhere around March/April.
Driving I top-off the tank bout every 3 weeks or so - just don't drive that much.
Tractor - suppose I could go and get 5 gallons of diesel - don't need it but hey if'n the price is right. :facepalm:


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## MoonShadows (Jan 11, 2014)

Not here. Anything I save at the pump or with heating oil goes to the increase in food prices.


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## ldc (Oct 11, 2006)

Yes, it's helping me worry less about the number of miles I drive to my p-t job, and for buying groceries. It's nice to breathe a little!


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## Guest (Dec 16, 2014)

I had been fretting about my daughter driving home for her dental appointment (10 hours each way) and it helped me by being able to drive about 4-hours North to meet her and share the gas expense with her.
I picked her up, visited my Father, took her to her dentist, brought her to the house, let her grab a couple things from her room, spend the night, and then back to Grandpa's place to get her car again... About 600 miles for me, on about $65 of gas!

That we could share the driving and expense, reduced my worry a bunch and it also gave me an excuse to see her! 

We do it again in a couple weeks.


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## Ramblin Wreck (Jun 10, 2005)

It's a nice surprise. We're about $1 less per gallon now than just six months ago. It we hadn't sold our 500 gallon fuel tank, I would be tempted to buy some bulk, off-road diesel. As it is, I'll just try to fill up all the tractors as I can. One other plus in the Winter is that there is less ethanol in the mix, a very good thing.


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

I've known of people in the past that wouldn't take minimum wage jobs because the commuting expense made it not worthwhile.


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## rockyriver (Nov 23, 2014)

I "put back" some extra fuel... 
still burning the 3.60 + stuff!! 

and that is tough to do, when some stations are around 2.30 around here...


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## TheMartianChick (May 26, 2009)

We totaled our SUV last winter and switched to driving a Volvo station wagon. We saw an immediate drop in what we were spending on gas (of course) and it was wonderful! With the gas prices falling, we are just ecstatic about the effect that it has on our bottom line. Hubby retires in a few weeks, so our gas expenditures should drop even further. I wish that we had the ability to stockpile some at these lower prices.

I'm hoping that cheaper gas sticks around for a while longer, but history tells us to just be grateful for the temporary price-break.


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

I have a Prius. I use premium and still can't fit $20 worth into the tank when it is coasting on fumes. So it's not making a huge impact on me that way.

The price of oil being way down and with stocks being down is making a large difference as my income is way down right now 

People don't think about all the good paying jobs that oil provides. A lot of these jobs held by people without a college degree, so they are making a LOT more than they would be otherwise. Oil companies have already cut way back or stopped new drilling altogether. I'm not sure if they are cutting down individual well production yet but I bet they have.

This will affect the amount of money circulating in the economy. It will also dramatically affect the amount of tax revenue. Some states are already seeing a big decrease in tax revenue because the amount of gas tax they are receiving has gone way down with the price. You can bet that they'll make it up somewhere.

So while lots of folks are celebrating right now.....it may come back to bite us all in the backside later on.


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## MoTightwad (Sep 6, 2011)

You bet it has made a difference. Our suv has a huge tank and it was costing us about $120.00 to fill and now it is costing us 65. So it is like getting a raise on our SS. It is sure nice while it lasts.


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## Convoy (Dec 2, 2012)

Other than hearing about the government plans on raising/ introducing new taxes to cover losses in the oil/gas field personally not much has changed, only about $5 less last fill-up which will take a few months to get back to half.


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## MichaelZ (May 21, 2013)

We probably save $15 or more a week so it is close to $70 per month. Yeah, I will take an extra $70 per month! And food prices will probably come down a bit too as lower transportation costs kick in. When that happens probably another $50 a month or more will be saved. Fuel costs were killing us.


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## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

every little bit helps , with older trucks and tractors gas and oil are a big expence . lower prices are not sending me on a cross country drive but I wont have to cut some where else to get the job done


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

Fuel costs have not been of concern to me since 1977 when I endured it go from .52.9 a gallon to $1.28.9 a gallon in a 4 month period and when it reached .75.9 and I asked a friend who ran my primary fuel station how high it would go in his opinion and he told me he figured they would pop it up to about $1.30 a gallon and then slide it to a dollar a gallon give or take a nickel for five to 10 years until the next 50 to 100% increase as entry level salaries reached the next inflation level.

When I shared the gas station owners forecast with my father he said that was quite logical considering that in the 1960s as most wage earners brought home $2400 to $3400 a year and gas was .30 a gallon and in the early 1970s entry level salaries ran from $4900 to $6200 a year on average with gas ran .40 to .50 cents a gallon.

When my father asked me what my vocational counselors estimated my entry salary after graduation , when I said the $10,000 to $12,000 depending on weather I got a job on a tech diploma or associates in applied science, he told me to expect about $1.20 a gallon by 1982.

Over the last 35 years with the exception of the occasional glut release associated drops, the ratios have pretty well followed suit.

During my rat race years I often used pump price increases as the indicator that it was time to negotiate a raise if my employer hadn't already promoted me.

Now in my retirement phase I concern myself even less with gas prices as I only fill up my vehicles and lawn mower gas cans every six weeks or so.


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## tarbe (Apr 7, 2007)

My dividends from oil-related stocks will be about $3,000 less in December compared to October.

So no, lower oil/gas prices are not helping me!


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## TheMartianChick (May 26, 2009)

tarbe said:


> My dividends from oil-related stocks will be about $3,000 less in December compared to October.
> 
> So no, lower oil/gas prices are not helping me!


Ouch!


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Sure is nice filling my F150 up for $30-$35 instead of $60-$80
I only fill up every 3 weeks unless we do some traveling, so its not a great savings.


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## brownegg (Jan 5, 2006)

Nope ....no difference here at all. I have one heat....WOOD...and I'm never subject to prices that they determine....I walked away from that bs almost a lifetime ago and never looked back. I keep the house a cozy 74 too.

brownegg


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