im a 16 year old driving a 93 chevy silverado gets 12-14 miles a gallon and i went to fill up today and saw $2.99 per gallon at the SA down the road i have to work 3 jobs and have 5 hours off on a mondy for my weekend and i still have no money to show for it 
is it me or is there somthing wrong with this picture
ps. cant get rid of truck because i have a boat 4 sleds and 3 wheelers, and my pride 
I hear you.
I filled up my truck and 15 gallons in the boat= 102 dollars.
It is not fair but you need to pay to play now days. We need to find other alternatives for gas. BUT until then
Ron
I was chatting to a friend about this last weekend. Gas prices are going to hit the youth workers making under $10 an hour. Imagine making $6 hr x 30 = $108 after taxes + $40-$60 to fill up. 1/2 your pay is going to gas.. When I made $6 an hour, gas was $.89 cents a gallon. Something needs to be done. This crap is getting out of hand..
Here in eastern Iowa, suddenly gas with 10% alcohol is .03 HIGHER than regular gas…thought the alcohol blend was always cheeper…was till 2 weeks ago.
Quote:
Here in eastern Iowa, suddenly gas with 10% alcohol is .03 HIGHER than regular gas…thought the alcohol blend was always cheeper…was till 2 weeks ago.
Supply and demand.
Ethanol is expensive to manufactor and we are using a lot more of it these days creating a shortage so the manufactors can set the price to meet the supply and demand.
Same thing for Crude oil.
Free Markets…. 
I heard the national average fell from 2.93 to 2.89. The stations here must have heard it too, our price went from 2.72 to 2.79, getting closer to the average. I run a lawn care business, and its a good thing I bid all my jobs with $3.15 gas in mind, last year at this time a local radio station said gas was 64 cents cheaper. Try filling up 3 lawnmowers with 13 gallon tanks, and $80 in the pickup. Heck it cost almost $15 just to fill a gas can.
At 100.00 plus to fill up the boat and van, yet considering the fact that I’m a fishing addict, you can UNDERSTAND why I’m fishing in the Rochester area as much as I can. Throw in the fact that theres only one income in my home [no wife] and then you KNOW why I’m limited to the Rochester area to fish. Throw in credit card bills and you wonder HOW I can fish from a boat. These gas prices keep going up and up yet the income doesn’t. Somethings wrong here.
Thanks, Bill
Here’s something that made me wonder…
I was driving home from work on tuesday at about 5 pm and saw that gas prices had jumped to 2.99 a gal. Well, at around 7 pm I was headed off to play hockey and noticed that the price had dropped back down to 2.89.
Obvoiusly this is what you call price gouging. Lets charge the rush hour traffic more for gas!!!
Moral of the story: Don’t buy gas during rush hour.
I filled up my boat w/ 6 gallons a few weeks ago. 2-3 trips to the river, 10-12 hours of fishing and I still have more left.
5 gallons at $3.00=$15. One lure lost (TY fireline) and that is under $2/hour for a ton of entertainment.
I love my small boat.
Last weekend gas in Princeton was $2.89
7 miles East it was $2.69, in Cambridge it also was $2.69.
Last night Anoka was $2.89. Zimmerman and Princeton were at $2.95 and $2.99.
It’s gouging plain and simple. They can keep their “supply and demand” BS for the guy’s who look through rose colored glasses. Personally I’ll never believe it. 
I have a midsize car for one of my vehicles and daily commuter unfortunatly it runs on premum so I filled up last night at around 3.14 a gallon cost me 40 dollars to fill and it still had just under a quarter of a tank left. I know that does not sound like allot to everyone out there with a truck but 2 years ago 25 dollars would have been allot to fill my car last year 30 dollars was allot. I guess I should figure next year 50 or 60 dollars to fill. I agree with Derrick I am not sure how people making 6-10 an hour can afford to get to work I am probably a little younger then Derrick I remember gas being any where from 1 dollar to 1.30 when I was in high school working for 6 dollars an hour.
The recent fluctuations can be attributed to the events taking place between Israel and Palestine this week. The two governments are as close to all out war as they have been in years. If war erupts, prices could jump well into the mid to upper $3 range overnight. (Maybe into the $4 range) Political instability continues to be the main cause for high gas prices.
There has been no evidence of price gouging at any level. Every investigation has turned up nothing.
-J.
Quote:
The recent fluctuations can be attributed to the events taking place between Israel and Palestine this week.
How has this changed the price of the crude oil already at the refinery? Or the price of gas already in the tanks at the station? That’s what I don’t get. I could see how it would affect the price of crude being purchased right now. Maybe the investigations haven’t turned up anything, but they sure seem quick to ratchet up the price when the wind blows a little funny.
As the price on the futures market rises, so does the price at the pump. Simple as that.
-J.
When stock goes up, it goes up………across the board………..when stock goes down, it goes down…….across the board……..
Oil is at $72/barrel.
So, when “quirks” in the system make stock (oil) raise/lower………the price fluctuates….
The NASDAQ went up yesterday afternoon………Does that mean you should be able to go back in time (a few hours) and buy it when the price was lower?
Quote:
The NASDAQ went up yesterday afternoon………Does that mean you should be able to go back in time (a few hours) and buy it when the price was lower?
That’s not what I’m saying. Stocks are a different animal. If Microsoft stock goes up, the price of it’s products doesn’t. If the stock goes down, it doesn’t change the price of the goods on the shelf at Best Buy. That’s my point. I understand why gas prices go up when the crude oil prices go up, but I just don’t understand why the least little ripple in any country or location world-wide have such an impact on the gas prices immediately.
Because all of the purchasing of crude is done on “futures”. They are buying for tomorrow, not today.
With a projected crisis on hand in the near future, that may interupt the accesibility of any product, the price will go up.
Take Play Station 2 for perfect example. Remember the price when they first came out? They were ridiculous!!!! People were selling them on Ebay for more than what they would be selling for, prior to mass public release. The reason was due to it being a “super computer” and Import regulations restricted the inital amount of importing this to regulations. With that said, there were “future” vision that there would be a higher demand than what could be given/produced…..With that, came a higher $$$$$$
All produce is the same way…….Corn, beans, wheat, etc, etc, etc is all bought/sold based on “future” production.
IF there is a massive drought, the price of corn goes up to $5 a buschel, just like it did about 6/7 years ago……Or, if there is bumper crops each and every year and there is massive production…….The price drops.
If you can perceive a massive drought or whatever reason to make the price sky-rocket in the “future” you want to buy NOW, for you will make a ton of money………….It is the guy who has to purchase expensive in order to sell for market price that looses his backside.
The same applies to oil………NOT every oil company out there is making a profit. The current price that we are seeing is due to a percentage of oil companies who did not purchase correctly for the “futures”. With that said, they are producing gas today at “minimal” profits……….And I’m talking minimal.
It is the oil company that projected the buying of futures correctly that made wheelbarrels of money, hand over fist……
When I bought my 93 GMC Sierra, I thought I would never be able to put a price on pride. Well, the price is $2.95.
I don’t believe the price gouging claims either. It’s supply and demand. If gas stations are building in that much of a margin over their costs, then any one of them could simply drop the price significantly below the going rate and more than make up for the low price in volume. Can you imagine the lines and hysteria at a station that sells for fifty cents below their curbside competitors?
Actually;
Gas stations are locked into how much they can charge for a gallon of gas, based on how much they purchased the gas for.
The money/margins on pump gas is not a lot of money. It varies from $0.08 to $0.15 per gallon margin.
The majority of a gas stations money comes from the convenience goods they sell.
Quote:
Actually;
Gas stations are locked into how much they can charge for a gallon of gas, based on how much they purchased the gas for.
The money/margins on pump gas is not a lot of money. It varies from $0.08 to $0.15 per gallon margin.
The majority of a gas stations money comes from the convenience goods they sell.
((Not entirely true, some stations have mark-ups between 5-30 cents per gallon and depending upon how they are hedged these margins could increase or decrease. Stations are monitored for variability and in WI only 1 price change can occur in a 24 Hr period.))
((Correct, margin money on fuel is minimal compared to C-Store goods. $.85 cents for soda when a 12 Pack cost $3.00. Not to mention bottled water…))
You are dead right on mark up on other product lazyeye. %100 markup on products you buy in the store is common. Small ticket items may even be more. A few dimes on gas is not much. Some times I wonder why someone would even bother selling gas for such a small mark up. Must be quanity and the money they make on pop and cigerattes in the store.
Read somewhere a few years back that my generation and a few after me should plan on having less than our parents. It was stated that I should look at my parents income and on average figure on having about 5 to 10% less. Seems to be coming true. I think I make far better money than my folks ever did but what I can buy with it realy puts it in check. Gas being one of the items.
Who ever it was that posted about the high gas prices and then listed all the gas powered toys you have thank you for the chuckle. My advice is if you dont like the gas prices find a different hobby or invest in oil.
I remember the days when trying to scrap together 10 or 15 dollars to fill the tank so I could go out on friday night was my biggest worry. Life was so simple then. Enjoy these times while you can Sled. Theres alot more to come.
Im only going to jump in here to state an opinion quickly. I dont really like the gas prices any more than anyone else, but….I am a free man, I dont have to worry about where to sleep or what to eat or whether a bomb will go off on the side of the road as I drive by. For that I am thankful and in perspective gas doesnt seem so high. I do laugh though at the person who spends $5.00 on a pack of smokes and complains that gas is too high. We all will spend $6.99 on a crankbait and lose it in a matter of minutes without blinking an eye, or $4.00 a piece for large suckers knowing they will be gone shortly. I guess what I am saying is that until we do something about it(and I use we as society)there is nothing to do but watch how we use it and try to save when we can. Someday, someone, somewhere will find an alternative. Til then, I will fill my tank and fish the same as always only different!
Not too many comments, but its time for a change. Someones got to stand up for this country more than they are.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
