My Debt Blog

I’m not sure what is going on lately but in the past 2 days I have noticed regular unleaded has gone up from $2.91 to $3.13. What exactly is going on here with these gas prices? I know there were reports about $3 gas last year, this year it’s $4 gas this summer. The options are rather limited because the car needs gas to run and it’s difficult to get anywhere without the car.

My wife really wants to move northside downtown Chicago, but the housing prices don’t seem grand right now, and we have had our townhouse for only a year. Advantage of going downtown is getting rid of both the cars, no more car insurance, no more gas, I don’t even need to add that all up to know it saves a lot of money. Turnaround is having to rely on public transportation which would be cheaper to do monthly CTA transit passes. My bigger concern is a change in the cost of living.

In college I walked everywhere and didn’t rely on the bus unless the weather was bad. Walking though kept me active and by staying active I didn’t get sick and kept the weight down. If I lived downtown I’m sure I would be walking everywhere instead of waiting for a bus, unless the weather is bad. I’ll post more about the living situation in later months though because my wife needs to finish school first.

Back on point to gas prices. Nationally we are nearing $3 a gallon for regular unleaded. Many places have already seen these prices long ago and sadly there is no end to this. I don’t remember the last time the gas prices have jumped so rapidly within a matter of a few days. I remember when gas went up to $2 a gallon and people went nuts and yet we almost got back down to that $2 a gallon, in my area, a few months ago. The lowest it got to for me was $2.07 and I considered stockpiling drums of it in my garage.

Question to readers: How much is gas in your area and what does the increase do to your budget?