It Costs How Much?! Gassy Remarks

The first time I remember people being alarmed by the gas prices was the spike that occurred about three years ago. It was the first time that I had ever seen gas go over $2/gallon. People were talking about gas stations running out of gas and panic seemed imminent. However, I could not imagine that the prices would keep rising.

Three years ago, I was a sophomore in college. At the end of that semester, I got my first car and spent the summer living with a friend in the Midtown area of Atlanta. I quickly figured out which gas stations to go to in order to get the cheapest price. It all was just another part of life. However, fast forward to this past summer, and the story changes. After graduating, I spent eight months working in a children's bookstore in Alpharetta, GA. I was driving a minimum of 300 miles a week.

Luckily for me, my car gets pretty good mileage. However, it was still costing me almost $35 a week just to get to and from work (I could drive to and from work for a week on about one tank of gas). If I needed to go anywhere else, you could add another $10 or so to the total amount for that week (some weeks, it was over $50). In addition to all of this, I was driving an additional 500-1000 miles a month going back and forth between Nashville and Atlanta.

When you are only making $250 a week, all that driving adds up very quickly. A month's worth of gas very quickly became a week's worth of pay. Unfortunately, all of this driving has put a toll on my poor little car.

I need a newer car, and my gas costs are probably going to increase considerably due to the fact that I won't be able to afford anything that gets the mileage that my current car gets. I am lucky that I have not have to cut down on food or anything like that because of gas. However, I haven't been able to save any money for emergencies. I have had friends who haven't been able to do things because they didn't have enough money for gas.

However, I am now in Nashville full time. I only have to drive 5mi to get to work, as opposed to 30, but I'm not even making half of what I was. So, even though I am using less gas, I am still spending most of my income on gas due to the continually rising prices. I don't know what I will do if I have to get a car with bad mileage. I will probably have to get a second job just to make ends meet. I never imagined that my life would be so impacted by the price of gas, consider I remember when it was a mere 89 cents/gallon.