...same reason they drive expensive vehicles. It is to impress the rest of us that they have the much higher income, status, position, & arrogance...
Agree.
But honestly, they aren't impressing me one bit. I just shake my head when they burn rubber from one light to the next, basically red light to red light. And then here I come and catch them at every light, sometimes passing them. I know the many people who do that, buy an expensive car or SUV thinking they're impressing everyone when in fact they're only digging themselves further into the debt. Robbing Peter to pay Paul (is that the correct saying?), keeping up with the Jones', but Peter is robbing somebody else and the Jones' are mo po than you.
To stay on topic, fuel around me is staying pat @ $3.13 ~ $3.19 for 87. On Sunday I treated the truck again to a tankful of Shell fuel (was $3.13 for 87). Hope it doesn't get spoil on "the good stuff".
credit, my car-loving friends. If you can buy on credit you will. Life is short, if you can make your payments then I say, go ahead, buy that new car. If you aren't going to be able to keep up with your payments, don't plunge yourself into that morass of bad credit worries. But if it's strictly a question of "Should I buy or pass" and you love the car, I say life is way too short, get that car.
I remember the first car I bought on a bank note, it was in the fall of 1989. It was a 1986 Mercury Lynx wagon selling for $4995. The car was a Budget Rent-A-Car car for sale. It was in great shape and had only 10,000 miles on it. Anyhow, I was gnashing my teeth in his office, wondering what to do. I was getting cold feet. He stared at me and growled "What do you want me to do, pu the sale sign back on your car?"
I looked at him, paused for just a brief moment, and said "No."
He smiled broadly. We had our deal and I drove home that little compact wagon that night. It ended up working out fine. The fact is is that, if you want a rig, you'll work to keep it. It's an honesty issue.
I say get the rig you want on credit. Enjoy it, but don't forget to make your payments, or you'll feist yourself into a downward spiral that could blast you into bankruptcy. But I say buy your new car on credit.
Gas was $2.95/gal. at the Standard Chevron in south Bisbee, Arizona, yesterday. Bisbee is an old wild west mining town about 40 miles north of the USA-Mexico border and is an absolute blast to visit. It is built onto/into the mountain sides. It's at 5300 feet so Arizona's 100 degree days up north in Tucson translate to about 80 degrees in Bisbee. Lots of runoff rainwater rushing down the hill. I saw Toyota pickups navigate it but would've passed on that venture myself. It's chock full of artist's stores, jeans and belts stores, galleries, healthfood stores, nick-nack souvenir shops, old hotel/restaurant/bar combo's that just plain represent old mining-town history by their very bold presence still standing there. It's an absolute delight to visit.
Oh, a parting thought. The Border Patrol is very busy in southern Arizona. They move their roadblocks to keep illegal aliens guessing as to their whereabouts. An SUV with illegals rolled over about 10 days ago, killing 9 illegals and badly injuring 12 more. Yikes. The chase goes on, in many, many different applications. Ci?
Better yet, living on credit means "buying things you do not need with the money you do not have". By that I mean buying expensive RV's, large boats, luxury cars, huge homes, etc. that a person can do without.
Just wanted to let you know I went to NYC this past weekend, and 87 was $3.00 on the NJ Turnpike. Plus was $3.14, and 93 was $3.33. Looks like the 10 cent splits are going away -- Sheetz charges 20 and 40 cents more for 89 and 93, respectively.
I saw prices along Tonnelle Ave. in Jersey City as low as $2.84 for off-brand and $2.87 for name brand. Didn't know I was going to have to get off the Turnpike there (traffic jam); otherwise I would have waited to fill up.
In NYC, prices were about $3.35. When we came out of the Holland Tunnel on the way home yesterday, we paid $2.99 (captive audience).
Lowest I saw was $2.77 back home in VA, at a station that just converted to Valero. Shell and a few other places had $2.79. Wawa has now invaded Northern VA, at $2.82.
Rocky & Lemko, this means you! Just read a little tidbit in a 2007 Ford Freestyle owner's manual.
It says to use 87 octane in the Freestyle, but recommends against using regular labeled at 86 or lower in high-altitude areas.
I was wondering about that when I started putting 85 octane in my '04 Camry on my December cross-country trip. So I stopped after a few gallons and switched to 87 octane (plus). This was in Ely, NV.
I wasn't particularly in the mood to fish out my owner's manual in the bitter cold to see what was recommended, but IIRC, Toyota doesn't say anything about high-altitude areas.
Wow, so 85' and 86' slop isn't good for your freestyle. Maybe the 86' is what has been causing the Mustang to have problems during start-ups. It's like for the first 3-5 seconds it sounds like it wants to stall. :confuse:
Yeah, could be. I don't recall reading that anywhere else before. Then again, this is one of the first 2007 model owner's manuals I've looked at. (I didn't buy a Freestyle, but there's one here at work.)
I saw 85 octane all along my trip from eastern Nevada, through Utah, and eastward past the Continental Divide in Colorado. This was regular, and plus was 87 or 88 octane, depending on the brand. Premium IIRC was 90 or 91.
p100: Better yet, living on credit means "buying things you do not need with the money you do not have".
me: ah, but isn't that the incentive that many people need to get up in the morning and go to work? When my employer needs someone to work OT, we are glad to have people who want to work extra, whether it is to pay bills or squirrel it away.
The fact is that people spending freely, even on credit creates economic activity and more jobs. Research the problems Japan had 10 years or so ago, because people were not spending money. The Japanese government had 0% interest rates trying to give money away for people to spend.
Not much of a change here in NH on gas prices. I also haven't a reduction in traffic volume or the type of vehicle that's on the road.
euph: Buy now and pay later is what I get from your post.
me: hardly any business or person pays cash for a major purchase or project in the modern world. Take a look at the annual reports of a few major companies, and take a look at how much debt they have compared to the short-term assets (like cash) that they have. And almost every individual (at least younger people) takes a mortgage on their house.
We should all follow the immortal words of one Randy Moss "Straight Cash Homey". You football fans out there have probably heard that illustrious quote. Anyway, left Ocean City Maryland on Sunday and filled up at Exxon for $2.74 regular. There were about 4 cars deep at every pump.
$2.46 I'm going to run by tomorrow morning and fill up at the $2.46 Marathon and Speedway and Clark!. I'll actually stop at the Kroger $2.49 and get a $0.15 discount with Kroger card. $2.34. Maybe I'll take my 5 gallon can for the lawn mower and trimmer gas too.
Dunno about retirement, but he's certainly ensuring that he'll live a long time. All the guys who are broke live forever. The guy who has $3 million dollars saved up usually ends up dying of a heart attack three weeks after he retires.
local Shell station was down to $3.089 per gallon for 87 octane, I noticed, driving into work this morning. It had been $3.119, and for the longest time was holding at $3.179.
NJ border stations make a killing. They're usually 10-15 cents higher than the rest of NJ, but because they're so much lower than NY and CT, they get the business anyway.
The first time BP 93 Octane Ulitmate (my Jetta likes most) here at Newark, DE dropped ten cents to $3.39 since July. I envy that you only pay for $2.89.
Canadian border towns are even worse. I'm guessing Bellingham has a 25 cent premium over the rest of WA, yet Canadians will always fill up before heading back because it still works out to 30 cents cheaper per gallon
I stopped off at the local Citgo to fill up. 87 octane is now UNDER three bucks! $2.979, to be exact. 89 octane, which I need to put in my truck to keep it from clattering, was down to $3.079. I think 93 was down to $3.179.
Or it might have been 2.42 at Krogers in one part of our area. I just stopped as I went toward downtown to fill up. Get a 10 cent discount off that for buying groceries there the previous month. Can't believe gas is so low. Must be getting close to Novmber elections.
It is not so low in Central Florida. Most places $ 2.90, 3.00, and 3.10 for regular, mid-grade, and premium, respectively. I just paid $ 63 to fill up my Chevy truck today with 89 octane. I am not amused. This is good for about 340 miles. Fortunately, the truck is not my everyday driver. If Bush and his cronies think that this slight reduction in gas prices before the November election is going to change my mind, wrong! They just confirmed what many have been saying all along - that they have been gouging us for no reason.
Strange sight today in lovely Katonah, NY -- the old-school Sunoco close to downtown had up some big black-and-white signs announcing a "Gas Sale." They were offering 87 for $3.15, a nice discount from the $3.39+ anywhere else within 3 miles and the $3.45 at the other station downtown, a Mobil. They were packed.
Slight problem, though -- the place has only 4 pumps (it used to be an honest-to-goodness "filling station"; I can remember going there as a kid and getting the windows washed). There wasn't an 80s-style backup, but traffic was a little squirrely around the station. Especially since there were a lot of commercial vehicles taking advantage of the offer -- landscaping trucks, contractor's vans, etc.
The reason this is all strange? Katonah is super-ritzy: it's downtown is like an upscale version of a Norman Rockwell painting, and the surrounding area is full of $10+ million estates and horse farms. I guess the station had scheduled a delivery and had to empty the tanks at any cost?
I made a giant loop today (various errands) from the city to the Hudson side of Westchester County to far eastern Westchester near the CT border and back down to the city, mainly on non-highway roads. The cheapest 87 I saw other than the "Gas Sale" was $3.29, I'd guess the average was $3.35, and the highest I saw was $3.49. Traffic was extremely light, but that might just be because everyone in the world with school-aged kids is away on vacation.
The politicians can only wish they had that much power.
Slight break here in central VA -- down to $2.79 for 87, and Sheetz has reverted to the typical 10-cent spacing between octane levels. (It had been 20 cents.)
The only countries that have cheap gas are those that produce enough to export, and basically sell their oil gasoline at their cost to produce it - think Venezula or some other countries in the Middle East.
If you're buying oil at the market price like most of the world, you pay $3+/gallon. If Washington were somehow trying to boost oil/gasoline costs in this country they aren't doing such a good job. Why? As you've seen from posts here Canada is $4/gal, and Europe is $6+/gal. I also read today, Australia is $4/gal.
If we pay more than the other countries in the world, then come back with that theory of the politicians conniving with the oil companies. I think you and many other people think that the U.S. and our president are omnipotent when it comes to controlling world events. The fact is that we can't even control the relatively small populations and events in the small countries of Iraq and Afghan (this was a record year for poppy growth). We can't control our borders, and thus our population growth.
93 octane is running $3.14/gal in NH. $2.92 for 87.
#1 - every country who buys oil on the world market at any given time pays the going-rate at that time. Yes the other countries pay higher taxes and thus have higher prices. It is not Bush or the Republicans that set the oil price. Every country pays "X + Taxes". The U.S. has lower taxes.
#2 - Right. I'm simply pointing out that the U.S. does not have the power to control what happens around the globe. We can affect events, but we certainly can not control the people and results. the U.S. government has little power over the variables that affect oil prices.
The government can change the price by changing the taxes, or they can change for a short-term by playing around with the Strategic Reserve levels.
We obviously have different opinions. If you don't think lack of interest in keeping gasoline prices low allows the oil companies to increase their profits, you're wrong. If you don't think pressure from a consumer friendly government will lower gasoline prices, you're wrong. Check the profits for the oil companies.
Looks like the BP negligence hasn't yet caused a spike. Maybe they know the market will only take so much before revolt. Just keep that corporate welfare as secret as possible
fin: Maybe they know the market will only take so much before revolt.
me: the traders who buy and resell oil and gasoline futures should be worried? If the price of gasoline goes up $0.50/gal. you think people should or will revolt? maybe dump the gasoline in Boston harbor?
I think people would grumble, cut back on their discretonary driving, and maybe cutback on their lottery ticket purchases and such to pay for the extra $5/week. Who knows maybe some people will figure out a way to make a little extra money each week. I just covered any increase by moving a little money from a money market at 2.75% to one that pays 5.01%; and the government makes-out as I'll pay more tax on that income.
Not the traders at all. I hope you're just playing and that you really know what I'm getting at...I think you have more than enough intelligence. Enjoy it while you can.
to hatteras on the outer banks (and back). highest price i saw. 3.31x in nyc on 8-12 while cruising down the cross bronx expressway at about 10mph. lowest was 2.64x yesterday in either north carolina or virginia. the ride was so aggravating that i can't remember which.
2024 Ford F-150 STX, 2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
Unless you're hitting the city in the middle of the night (and even that's not a safe bet because of roving road work on the Cross Bronx/GWB), you'd likely be much better off doing 84-684-287. At worst it's a wash.
Do you recall what gas was going for on the Banks themselves? I've been there twice, and both times I was pleasantly surprised by how reasonable everything is.
Comments
Agree.
But honestly, they aren't impressing me one bit. I just shake my head when they burn rubber from one light to the next, basically red light to red light. And then here I come and catch them at every light, sometimes passing them. I know the many people who do that, buy an expensive car or SUV thinking they're impressing everyone when in fact they're only digging themselves further into the debt. Robbing Peter to pay Paul (is that the correct saying?), keeping up with the Jones', but Peter is robbing somebody else and the Jones' are mo po than you.
To stay on topic, fuel around me is staying pat @ $3.13 ~ $3.19 for 87. On Sunday I treated the truck again to a tankful of Shell fuel (was $3.13 for 87). Hope it doesn't get spoil on "the good stuff".
I remember the first car I bought on a bank note, it was in the fall of 1989. It was a 1986 Mercury Lynx wagon selling for $4995. The car was a Budget Rent-A-Car car for sale. It was in great shape and had only 10,000 miles on it. Anyhow, I was gnashing my teeth in his office, wondering what to do. I was getting cold feet. He stared at me and growled "What do you want me to do, pu the sale sign back on your car?"
I looked at him, paused for just a brief moment, and said "No."
He smiled broadly. We had our deal and I drove home that little compact wagon that night. It ended up working out fine. The fact is is that, if you want a rig, you'll work to keep it. It's an honesty issue.
I say get the rig you want on credit. Enjoy it, but don't forget to make your payments, or you'll feist yourself into a downward spiral that could blast you into bankruptcy. But I say buy your new car on credit.
Gas was $2.95/gal. at the Standard Chevron in south Bisbee, Arizona, yesterday. Bisbee is an old wild west mining town about 40 miles north of the USA-Mexico border and is an absolute blast to visit. It is built onto/into the mountain sides. It's at 5300 feet so Arizona's 100 degree days up north in Tucson translate to about 80 degrees in Bisbee. Lots of runoff rainwater rushing down the hill. I saw Toyota pickups navigate it but would've passed on that venture myself. It's chock full of artist's stores, jeans and belts stores, galleries, healthfood stores, nick-nack souvenir shops, old hotel/restaurant/bar combo's that just plain represent old mining-town history by their very bold presence still standing there. It's an absolute delight to visit.
Oh, a parting thought. The Border Patrol is very busy in southern Arizona. They move their roadblocks to keep illegal aliens guessing as to their whereabouts. An SUV with illegals rolled over about 10 days ago, killing 9 illegals and badly injuring 12 more. Yikes. The chase goes on, in many, many different applications. Ci?
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Just kidding. Sort of.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
I saw prices along Tonnelle Ave. in Jersey City as low as $2.84 for off-brand and $2.87 for name brand. Didn't know I was going to have to get off the Turnpike there (traffic jam); otherwise I would have waited to fill up.
In NYC, prices were about $3.35. When we came out of the Holland Tunnel on the way home yesterday, we paid $2.99 (captive audience).
Lowest I saw was $2.77 back home in VA, at a station that just converted to Valero. Shell and a few other places had $2.79. Wawa has now invaded Northern VA, at $2.82.
It says to use 87 octane in the Freestyle, but recommends against using regular labeled at 86 or lower in high-altitude areas.
I was wondering about that when I started putting 85 octane in my '04 Camry on my December cross-country trip. So I stopped after a few gallons and switched to 87 octane (plus). This was in Ely, NV.
I wasn't particularly in the mood to fish out my owner's manual in the bitter cold to see what was recommended, but IIRC, Toyota doesn't say anything about high-altitude areas.
Rocky
Lemko, if you put that slop in your Caddy's they'd probably steam and then blow up. :surprise:
Rocky
me: ah, but isn't that the incentive that many people need to get up in the morning and go to work? When my employer needs someone to work OT, we are glad to have people who want to work extra, whether it is to pay bills or squirrel it away.
The fact is that people spending freely, even on credit creates economic activity and more jobs. Research the problems Japan had 10 years or so ago, because people were not spending money. The Japanese government had 0% interest rates trying to give money away for people to spend.
Not much of a change here in NH on gas prices. I also haven't a reduction in traffic volume or the type of vehicle that's on the road.
me: hardly any business or person pays cash for a major purchase or project in the modern world. Take a look at the annual reports of a few major companies, and take a look at how much debt they have compared to the short-term assets (like cash) that they have. And almost every individual (at least younger people) takes a mortgage on their house.
Yes, credit is as credit does. We need to have and we need to use credit.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Dayton Gas Pricees
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Safeway 87 still less than 3 bucks in SW WA.
Rocky
87 - $2.939
89 - $3.039
91 - $3.109
93 - $3.149
diesel - $2.869
kcram - Pickups Host
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
It is not so low in Central Florida.
Slight problem, though -- the place has only 4 pumps (it used to be an honest-to-goodness "filling station"; I can remember going there as a kid and getting the windows washed). There wasn't an 80s-style backup, but traffic was a little squirrely around the station. Especially since there were a lot of commercial vehicles taking advantage of the offer -- landscaping trucks, contractor's vans, etc.
The reason this is all strange? Katonah is super-ritzy: it's downtown is like an upscale version of a Norman Rockwell painting, and the surrounding area is full of $10+ million estates and horse farms. I guess the station had scheduled a delivery and had to empty the tanks at any cost?
I made a giant loop today (various errands) from the city to the Hudson side of Westchester County to far eastern Westchester near the CT border and back down to the city, mainly on non-highway roads. The cheapest 87 I saw other than the "Gas Sale" was $3.29, I'd guess the average was $3.35, and the highest I saw was $3.49. Traffic was extremely light, but that might just be because everyone in the world with school-aged kids is away on vacation.
Slight break here in central VA -- down to $2.79 for 87, and Sheetz has reverted to the typical 10-cent spacing between octane levels. (It had been 20 cents.)
They do and they will. The last thing petroleum wants is a change in Washington in November.
It's easier to play
when your buddies stay.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
If you're buying oil at the market price like most of the world, you pay $3+/gallon. If Washington were somehow trying to boost oil/gasoline costs in this country they aren't doing such a good job. Why? As you've seen from posts here Canada is $4/gal, and Europe is $6+/gal. I also read today, Australia is $4/gal.
If we pay more than the other countries in the world, then come back with that theory of the politicians conniving with the oil companies. I think you and many other people think that the U.S. and our president are omnipotent when it comes to controlling world events. The fact is that we can't even control the relatively small populations and events in the small countries of Iraq and Afghan (this was a record year for poppy growth). We can't control our borders, and thus our population growth.
93 octane is running $3.14/gal in NH. $2.92 for 87.
The price of gasoline in other countries has varying amounts of taxation. You must compare without taxation. You don't.
#2
Show me where I said the president controls the world events. Iraq has nothing to do with this. Not even close.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
#2 - Right. I'm simply pointing out that the U.S. does not have the power to control what happens around the globe. We can affect events, but we certainly can not control the people and results. the U.S. government has little power over the variables that affect oil prices.
The government can change the price by changing the taxes, or they can change for a short-term by playing around with the Strategic Reserve levels.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Could you provide any examples of where a 'consumer friendly government' lowered the prices of ANYTHING?
Looks like the BP negligence hasn't yet caused a spike. Maybe they know the market will only take so much before revolt. Just keep that corporate welfare as secret as possible
me: the traders who buy and resell oil and gasoline futures should be worried? If the price of gasoline goes up $0.50/gal. you think people should or will revolt? maybe dump the gasoline in Boston harbor?
I think people would grumble, cut back on their discretonary driving, and maybe cutback on their lottery ticket purchases and such to pay for the extra $5/week. Who knows maybe some people will figure out a way to make a little extra money each week. I just covered any increase by moving a little money from a money market at 2.75% to one that pays 5.01%; and the government makes-out as I'll pay more tax on that income.
highest price i saw. 3.31x in nyc on 8-12 while cruising down the cross bronx expressway at about 10mph. lowest was 2.64x yesterday in either north carolina or virginia. the ride was so aggravating that i can't remember which.
Do you recall what gas was going for on the Banks themselves? I've been there twice, and both times I was pleasantly surprised by how reasonable everything is.