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New East River Bridges Toll Proposal Goes After Everyone, Including Bicyclists
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/03/23/renewed-calls-to-add-tolls-to-east-river-- bridges/
Other vehicles on the list include the Dodge Ram 2500 Laramie, Ford Expedition EL Eddie Bauer, Chevrolet Avalanche LT and Audi Q7 Premium Plus. Rounding out the top 10 on the list are the Mercedes-Benz GL 450, Porsche Cayenne V6 and Lincoln Navigator Ultimate."
$100 Fill-Ups New Reality for Some Drivers (Inside Line)
Guess it only becomes thievery once it's refined.
I thought something was wrong and maybe the fuel pump cut off early. But then, I remembered that back in October I drove it to pick up some friends and then drive to a classic car show in Rockville MD, and probably put about 60 miles on it that day, a good deal of it highway.
I remember back in 2004, when gas prices broke $2/gal, whining when one day it took over 60 bucks to fill the car up on a mostly empty tank. Guess those days are gone for good!
Fuel prices here are continuing to climb: RUG is $4.23 to 4.30 in town.
Basic goods (including staple food products, construction goods, and the like) are all on the order of 3x+ more expensive than they were 8-10 years ago. The consumer sees the change more transparently in those goods simply because there isn't anything there to cut (except quality) in order to mask it. Because I live simply (most of my purchases fall into the "basic goods" category), I see it every day.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/371-Channelside-Walk-Way-PH-1901-Tampa-FL-3360- 2/60620644_zpid/
And the gas prices were good when I was there a couple of weeks ago ($3.70s). Getting hot there now already though (90 predicted for today).
There have certainly been ups and downs along the way (products such as honey are very noticeable in this regard), but the trend has continually gone up, and year-over-year increases of 25% are not uncommon.
When I look at the increased cost just in groceries, a one or two dollar per gallon price increase in gas seems pretty minor. I don't hear too many folks complaining about the price of groceries, but I guess that's because the price of gas is much easier to measure and see.
Personally, I think if somone is really concerned about the extra $1.64 per day expenditure on gas, they'd be better off looking at their driving habits and choice of vehicle. It's pretty funny when someone is driving a $50K giant SUV and then complaining about the price of gas. That's like going to a broadway show costing $500 dollars per ticket and then complaining about the price of the snacks during intermission!
YTD we've spent $146 less on groceries vs. the same period last year and $46 more on gas. I've driven the Expedition less YTD than last year to account for the gas costs. Maybe the kids are eating more at their friends' houses, I don't know.
Example: price shop and compare toilet paper....
IMO, that's why being on the metric system would make it much easier to compare the price per unit of items of different sizes in the store.... Unless manufacturers began packaging products in odd sized metric lots, such as 493 grams or 1.1337 liters...
Well, I'm stopping off at the gas station after work to fill up my '79 New Yorker, which is down to about 1/4 tank, and pick of some cigarettes, so I'll do some complaining later on, after I get home! :shades:
I think the NY'er has only gone about 130 miles since its last fill up, but there was some winter driving and a lot of sitting, so I'll be shocked if it comes out to more than 8 mpg. And it has an appetite for premium, so I imagine that'll be about a $70 fill up.
The cancer sticks, in comparison, are a relative bargain at around $65 per carton! (oh, and before I get lectured by anyone on those, I get 'em for a friend because they're cheaper out my way. He'll buy 'em one pack at a time otherwise, and end up spending $7-8 per pack!)
I didn't think anything of it until one day, I got in line behind the wife of the reverend at our church and suddenly I felt guilty about being in possession of the things! In conversation, sounding guilty as could be, I blurted out "These aren't for me, I don't smoke!" Someone in line behind me yelled out something like "Yeah, right! Like I've never heard that one before!" And everybody in line, including the cashier and the reverend's wife, got a good chuckle out of it.
I recall my dad and step-mom both quitting the habit in the early '80s. Before that, every adult in my life was a smoker, but after that there was only my (bio) mom continuing the "tradition."
Maybe you spent more going out to eat and less on groceries!
Back on groceries, I've noticed that buying larger sizes often is MORE expensive per unit. Next time you buy peanut butter, paper towels or anything else, check the price per unit on the shelf and you might find out it's actually cheaper buying the small size. They price this way because the know most people assume that buying the larger size is cheaper as it has in the past, so most folks blindly buy the larger size without checking.
My Grandparents on my Dad's side of the family used to smoke, but I think they were just social smokers rather than chain smokers. When the Surgeon General's warning first came out around 1958 or so, they both decided to quit, and were able to break themselves of the habit in about three days. Of course, cigarettes didn't have as many addictive chemicals in them back then as they do today; so I imagine now it wouldn't be so easy to kick the habit so quickly unless you had incredible willpower. FWIW, Granddad's 97 now, and still kicking! However Grandmom died at the age of 73, back in 1994, from some hereditary disease; forget what it was though.
On my Mom's side, well, Granddad grew up on a tobacco farm, so needless to say, he and his siblings were rolling their own by around the age of 5 or 6! He was a pretty heavy smoker, enough that I remember as a kid he and my great-uncle would make regular trips over to Virginia and load up, where it was cheaper. Grandmom rarely, if ever smoked, but I'm sure the second hand smoke didn't do her much good. She's still kicking though, at the age of 88. Granddad was diagnosed with lung cancer in late 1989, just after his 73rd birthday. They tried to remove the lung, but once they were in there found out it had spread to his lymph nodes and there was nothing they could do, and he passed away a few months later, in April of 1990.
My Dad was a heavy smoker as well, but has given it up. For the time being, at least. And a few of my uncles have kicked the habit as well.
Oh, as for my '79 New Yorker's fill up yesterday, it did better than I thought. Actually managed to eke out 8.8 mpg on that tank, and the fuel bill was around $66.80, only a few bucks more than that carton of Marlboros!
Our gas is coming down ever so slightly. Paid $4.15 yesterday at Costco. Most stations over $4.30 per gallon for RUG. Premium holding at 20 cents higher. Making it a relative bargain. I guess they do that for the 1%ers that drive luxury cars using premium. :shades:
"The pain at the pump is hitting not only consumers but also the owners of America's roughly 110,000 independent gas stations.
Lower convenience-store sales and hefty credit-card processing fees are also hurting the economics of gas-station ownership, many owners say."
Pain at Pump Is Hitting Gas Stations (WSJ)
If I'd held onto them longer, I would've made out okay, as Shell has gone up from $50-55 when I sold it in early 2010 to around $70 today, and I think XOM has gone from around $65-70, when I sold in late 2009, to about $8085 now.
But I used a lot of those proceeds to buy some Apple and Google, so I'm not crying over spilt oil right now. :shades:
“The lineup of alternate-drive vehicles and their premium price points just aren’t appealing enough to consumers to give the segment the momentum it once anticipated, especially given the growing strength of fuel economy among compact and midsize competitors,” said Lacey Plache, Edmunds.com chief economist."
Many hybrid-car owners buy once -- but not again, Polk study says (LA Times)
When you are struggling and/or worried about your future income, a car payment $100-$150 cheaper per month looks much more attractive in the dealership. Most people don't consider what fuel will cost LATER and then end up regretting the choice of a lower MPG car.
Then from the story there is this quote:
It’s hard to know what’s causing the low repurchase rate. One reason is that about 17,000 people purchased electric cars last year, and other data shows that many of those were trading in a hybrid vehicle.
As we expected, the EVs took some hybrid sales away.
With Toyota's new line of Prius cars, the hybrid sales are going to see another little spike up in coming months.
Marking the similarities between President Barack Obama's time in office and former president Jimmy Carter's is nothing new. But as of Monday, Obama has hit one more Carter benchmark - both saw gas prices double in their first term of office. [See Where Gas Prices are Spiking the Most]
In fact, while just barely, Obama has seen an even higher gas price increase than Carter dealt with under his administration.
Under the Carter administration, gas prices increased by 103.77 percent. Gas prices since Obama took office have risen by 103.79 percent. No other presidents in recent years have struggled as much with soaring oil prices. Under the Reagan administration, gas prices actually dropped 66 percent. When Bill Clinton was president, gas prices grew by roughly 30 percent, and under both Bush presidencies, gas prices rose by 20 percent.
Which says to me we need an Oil Man in the WH. :shades:
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2012/04/09/gas-prices-grow-- more-under-obama-than-carter
http://consumerist.com/2012/04/average-price-for-new-cars-hits-high-of-30000.htm- l
Average car price hits $30K+ for the first time ever.
As bad as that sounds, when you adjust for inflation, I don't think $30K is all that bad. For instance, my '57 DeSoto, which had an MSRP of around $3800 as equipped, would be about $31,000 today! Now, that was a middle-priced car in those days, but even more common Chevies, Fords, and Plymouths could get pretty pricey. For instance, my grandparents paid around $3500 for a new '57 Ford Fairlane 500 4-door hardtop. That would be around $28,500 in today's dollars.
Even my Mom's '86 Monte Carlo, which was around $14,500 out the door, would be $30,348 today! And the $22,389 out the door that my 2000 Intrepid cost me, in November 1999, would be around $30,800!
Suddenly, the $21,500 I was recently quoted for a 2012 Ram Hemi sounds downright cheap! :P
Though looking at pickup sales, they haven't slowed down at all.