I Remember Gas Prices

Saving money on fuel prices fifty years ago wasn't as hard as it is today, but it was still hard. Five dollars in the gas tank was to last until the next paycheck. That was almost a full tank of gas. There weren't as many cars on the road fifty years ago and there really weren't many freeways. The few cars that were considered gas guzzlers were those that were V-8's and large cars.

And, when there were gas wars, gas went down and the five dollars was too much for a tank of gas. But, you were lucky if you had an old car to put gas in. Riding the buses and walking was something that everyone did and no one was surprised by it.

Groceries were priced at reasonable prices. People complained when the price of bread went to $.25 cents and milk went to $.40 cents a gallon. Movies were $.10 cents for Saturday Matinee's for the kids to go to. And television was a real treat in black and white, for a few hours a day. Times have certainly changed in fifty years.

Wages are higher, but not much, from fifty years ago and the cost of living is extremely higher. You could rent a two bedroom house for $25.00 and now that same two bedroom house will cost $850 - $950 a month to rent. You could buy a two bedroom home fifty years ago for $3,000 - $5,000 dollars and now that same two bedroom house will cost you $150,000 - $250,000 and a 30 fixed mortgage. And, a new car fifty years ago would cost you $1,200 - $3,000 but now a new car will cost you $9,000 - $32,000 depending on the car you are buying.

With all these high prices today, saving money on fuel prices is very important in the budget planning. Who could have seen what was going to happen in fifty years. Wages are higher, but jobs are few and far between so unemployment goes up. Groceries are higher and people can't afford them, so the government established food stamps for those in need.

Rent is higher, so again government stepped in and found welfare for those in need. Now, it has become easy for some who just want to collect money for doing nothing.

Looking at the last fifty years, it makes us fear what the next fifty years will be like. We could never have predicted what would happen over the last fifty and we can't really predict what will happen over the next fifty years. We might have a good idea, but can't say for sure.

Source: http://www.howstuffworks.com/gas-price.htm