I cried at the pump when diesel went to $1.00 a gallon, I remember it well, at a station just inside the East Texas state line, the first time I had even seen $1.00 diesel, and I gave the station attendent and ear full. It is not all the fault of the oil companies, its the spot market investors that drive the price per barrel up. There are so many factors that come to play. I will still travel, but try to save as much as I am able to extend my traveling. george

Jeez, to make matters worse Fling J has now let us down [IMO]. Pulled in yesterday and no more 5 cents off propane unless you spend $10.00 in the store! THEN I found out no more cents off unless you spend $300.00 a month with them. The $300.00 isn't a problem IF you are going to be in an area where there is a Flying J or you have a big Motorhome but with our Dodge we don't usually see 3 Flying J's a month when traveling. A lot of their pumps now don't work. Most of the time, the receipts won't come out at the pump and you have to go inside to get a receipt. What a let down from what used to be a good company. Diana

Yep, I hate the high price of diesel too, still can't understand why it is so high, but that being said... I get about 12MPG towing with my GMC. The difference for me between $3.50 and $5.00 a gallon works out to be an increase of about $0.12 a mile. I have worked too hard and waited too long to allow that to get in the way.

J.R.

Here is a view which says that 75% of Americans are adapting:

http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/19/news/economy/cnn_poll_g...stversion=2008031914

Jim,

Using your example, that would be about $25/week for us (we travel about 250 miles then stay for a week). One less dinner out or maybe only 9 holes of golf instead of 18. Yes, everything is affected, but if you really want to fulltime, then there are ways of doing it.

It really isn't any different than someone who is retired in a S&B and their winter heating/summer cooling is going up by $100/month, or whatever the figure will be. They are going to have to adjust their budgets and try and figure out where the extra will come from - just like everyone else.

And for the family vacation - RVing may become more attractive since the airlines are raising their rates, etc.

Yes, things are more expensive. No the sky is not going to fall in this afternoon.

I remember when fuel was 25¢ a gallon and you got a free glass. We also watched TV on a 13 in screen and you couldn't walk on one side of the room because the picture would be distorted.

Life goes on - you make adjustments to do what you want to do.

Barb

I agree with Barb, you just have to adjust.

What do you plan to replace FT with? If it is S&B, then lots of other costs come to mind. Heating/cooling a home will use up a large % of the $$ you save from fuel costs. Not to mention the many additional costs of owning or renting a home.

Bottom line, it is cheaper to live in an RV than S&B. At least, the day-to-day costs are. Yes, the RV depreciates and the home appreciates. But, more people are upside down in home ownership than ever before.

There are ways to reduce fuel expense. Stay a month here and a month there.

I see FT folks "run the roads" everyday in their gas-hog diesel trucks. Costly.

For us, we look at about 10,000 miles per year. Our MH gets at least 9mpg. If you figure $4/gal. That is about $370/mo.

Remember, when you stop RV travel, you still travel and use fuel at home. So, what you save is the difference between your RV fuel and your at home fuel costs. My kids spend as much on fuel as we do. They run around in their vehicles all day, never giving a thought to saving by making trips count.

It would be nice if fuel were $1/gal again. But, it won't happen.

Mona

I never meant to enter into a debate about whether the glass was half empty or half full. Obviously that viewpoint will vary widely.

I was only citing the CNN pole to show that apparently the statistics say that folks are adjusting some. Our own pole here shows the same. Looking back over the last two posts, it seems that my objective somehow got lost

And what will those adjustments be? Well the adjustment varies widely. At one extreme, there are those who have enough disposable income that they will not cut back on travel. At the other extreme, there will be some who have to give it up of necessity. I don't know the numbers of each, but the poll on this site gives some insight.

In Memphis, gas prices have been dropping for a couple of days. As I understand the news, Americans have cut back some on driving and that is apparently a factor.

quote:

I never meant to enter into a debate about whether the glass was half empty or half full. Obviously that viewpoint will vary widely.

And Jim, don't forget that for us engineering types, the third choice, "Why is the glass twice as large as it needs to be?"

Reality is what it is, we just have to adjust to it and fit our wants into it. Half full / half empty or change the glass.

I am just happy to have a glass!!!
c u on the road

From observing traffic while we are driving, fuel prices are still not high enough to affect people's driving habits much. We are slowly heading home to IN, driving(62-65mph) less than the speed limit on interstates. We are virtually always the slowest vehicle on the highway.
Sid has accepted his financial situation and adjusted accordingly. We may be adjusting in the future.
Changing one's livestyle is hard, downgrading everything,etc. I look it as a new phase of life, if which, we will have it much better than our parents at this age.

I can tell you for certain that my life is much more monied than my parents. They lived only on SS, and that wasn't much as their incomes had not ever been as high as my own. I saw at a young age that I needed to make some sound planning, and have other retirements also. I didn't make all the decisions correctly, but enough that I am more comfortable than many. I councel my children about saving, and investments, it some times falls on deaf ears. They think the money they earn goes on forever. It saddens me because I saw what could have been a wonderful life for my Mom and Dad turn into mysery. george

By lowering my speed from 68mph to 60mph I went from 6.7mpg to 7.4mpg.It was hard at first but after a couple of days I found I was less tired than at 68mph.We don't like to go over 5hrs of driving per day but since I'm not as tired, we can go at least 6hrs.
I've noticed more and more people are doing the same or maybe by going slower we just notice more.By going slower,saving over 10% on fuel being less fatigued maybe this is the traveling style we will adopt no matter what the price of fuel.Works for me.

To Mike & Mary: I got a kick out of seeing your names, because M&M is also Mike & Mary.

^^ such a depressing thread...
As someone who will be RV full timing in the future, I am concerned with rising fuel costs as well.

I am researching using WVO or bio desil on our future RV, i believe that purchasing a desil RV will pay for itself in the long run with alternative fuel costs. Perhaps this is something people who are having issues with fuel costs should consider rather than giving up entirely. I hope all works out and you all don't have to quit RV'ing due to an oil dependency problem that IS NOT OURS... IT IS OUR COUNTRY'S!

I've done a lot of thinking these past few days.Last week I just got back from AZ.,I dont
know what was faster,seeing the money leaveing
my wallet or seeing my gas gauge going down.I made a decission(yes i did)I decided to go seasonal the next 5months and drive my scooter
everywhere I can.I dont want to quit rving full
time.I just need to slow down some,and save some
money. I will be back!