Gas Prices Are Putting a Crunch on My Already Limited Spending

Today, the gas prices in our neighborhood are $3.15 a gallon and closer to the interstate gas is $3.30 a gallon. Every time I pass by the pumps I wonder just how much higher gas will get. The Big Red gas stations offer 10 cents off each gallon with the purchase of a $2.00 car wash, which I guess would be a good deal if you can afford to fill up and your car door doesn't leak. Murphy gas stations offer 3 cents off a gallon when you use a Wal-Mart gift card. Of course when I'm in Wal-Mart I never think about purchasing a gift card so I can save on gas. I'm too caught up in trying to decide what I can and can't afford since the prices on everything has gone up.

My husband has about a 45-minute drive to work everyday. This translates to about $15 a day in gas. Up until now, I've worked only two blocks away from home and have been riding a bike or walking to work. However, I've just received a promotion and will have to start driving to the other side of town everyday. Although it's probably only a 15-minute drive, it's still going to take at least a gallon of gas there and back. Based on what we will be making, about 10% of our income will go straight into our gas tank.

While I'll be getting a raise, I'm gaining at least a $25 a week expense or more when you include oil changes and maintenance on my vehicle. That's a quarter of my raise and that's only if gas prices don't go up. If I only got a dollar an hour raise, over half of my raise would go to gas just to get there. It would only be worth taking the promotion to gain the experience. With gas prices continuing to rise, I'm still not certain that my wallet will feel like I actually got a raise.

It may not seem we're cutting back strictly because of gas, but we're not getting as much as we use to because everything is more expensive. We don't eat out very often and we take our lunches to work. All of our expenditures are prioritized ahead of time with gas money being our first priority. Money is designated to everything else by the priority assigned to it. It's really hard sometimes to justify buying something we want and don't necessarily need for ourselves, but we have to make it a priority every now and then or it seems like we're working just to survive. If you've ever had to live that way before then you know how easy it is to slip into depression.

We don't have good credit or a savings account. I know society says that these things or a must, but if we can't pay cash for it, then we don't need it. As far as a savings account, I can't see giving up the very few luxuries we enjoy so we can put back money for a day we may never see. The way the economy is going now, people may have to start digging into their retirement accounts. As for myself, I'll probably have to work the rest of my life, but at least I won't be one of the ones who miss being retired because they have to go back to work just to survive.