Are higher energy prices affecting your behaviour?

[VINMAN]

Definately cut down on the driving, especially the joyrides on the weekends. My diesel pickup has basically become my daily commuting vehicle. Not bad at 22-24 MPG. My Bronco has become a driveway ornament. Boat has pretty much sat in the dock all yr. It Sucks!!
As far as heating cost goes , with the talk of a 50% increase in the cost of natural gas. The size of my firewood pile has tripled in size!
Hopefully the winter wont be as cold as last yr.
Had to laugh the other day. I was at the counter in a WAWA, buying coffee, this guys *****ing and complaing about the $3.00 a gal gas hes paying for, as hes also buying a $1.50, 12oz. bottle of Evian "tap water".
I said to him "hey at least gas is still cheaper than that water" . The moron says "yeah but its Evian". I wanted to kick him right in his butt.
Overall , I guess the extra fuel cost has put a damper on my other hobbies too. cant spend as much money on my trains and stuff.

[jyl]

I wonder what Wayne has seen.

[cantdrv55]

I had plans for a major remodel; adding a fourth bedroom, inside laundry/rec room, converting my office into a third car garage. Put the brakes on that because the building supplies industry is having a record year as far as stock prices are concerned. Prices for wallboard, roofing, etc are going through the roof. I'll wait until the dust settles but still going through with the architectural drawings.

[chuckw951]

Our household has too many cars. I own an older Mercedes Diesel and a 968. My wife owns a VW Cabrio and Land Rover Discovery. I drive the Mercedes everyday back and forth to work. I get about 32 mpg which is pretty good for a mid sized car. The 968 gets decent gas mileage but I only drive that on weekends so I might burn a tank a month in that car. My wife's Land Rover gets about 12mpg. Since the run up in gas prices she has been driving the Cabrio (I call it "the rabbit") to work and I think that gets 30mpg or so. The Rover sits in the driveway now it is a gas hog. Not to mention that it has sprung a huge oil leak. It is great off road but requires much care and feeding.

We also have a 24' powerboat with a 454. At the end of the summer when the gas prices jumped we spent more time at anchor then cruising. The boat burns about 12 gallons per hour at cruising speed. With gas at $3.50 a gallon on the water the cost of going out on the boat has increased dramatically. The sailboaters are getting a big kick out of the price fuel. The last two weekends I was on the Chesapeake Bay it was like 10 sailboats for every power boat on the water. I guess everyone else stayed at the dock.

We have two heatpumps to heat the house in the winter. When it is really cold outside (20 degrees or below) you really can't call them heatpumps because in reality they just blow cold air around!
So last year I installed a Jotul direct vent propane stove. Of course you have to buy propane which is getting more expensive these days but these stoves are fairly efficient and they provide HEAT! I considered a pellet stove but liked the convenience of propane. Last winter my electric bill went down, but I had to buy the propane...in terms of cost it was a wash, but then again we were warm all winter.

[Evans, Marv]

Here in the San Diego area, we are blessed with the highest prices in the nation. It's been a rip off, historically. It doesn't seem like anybody is driving less. We are lucky. I'm retired and my wife only works two miles from home. I've been refraining from driving my Ford F-350 PSD and have been driving her Camry only when the need arises. At least I feel like I'm protesting the situation by reducing fuel consumption, although I know it doesn't make any difference in the big picture. They're doing it to us because they can !!!

[Rot 911]

I haven't changed a thing.

[gaijindabe]

Marv - millons of consumers making millions of decisions every day to cut back and use less fuel has a real impact. Lots of Mr. & Mrs Evans out there.. Note the lack of gas lines.

[Mulhollanddose]

[osidak]

Think I read gas consumption has fallen by almost 3% as compared to last year.

My wife is a stay at home mom and it was a little tight before hand. With prices jumping as they are things are going to get really tight. Can't do too many fun things anymore.

I have a sail boat but it is a 4 hour drive to get to it so she hasn't seen much use either this year.

[chuckw951]

Higher fuel prices will change consumer habits.

Last month sales of Suburbans fell 56.6% in the US

http://www.mcall.com/business/local/all-suvoct05,0,5236096.story?coll=all-businesslocal-hed

Meanwhile in Saudi Arbia and Kuwait, "The Chevrolet Caprice and GMC Suburban continue to hold their titles as 2005 top selling models into the third quarter, increasing in volume by 33% and 59% respectively over sales from January to September 2004. "

http://www.ameinfo.com/69886.html

[Rufblackbird]

I bought a motorcycle, and at 30-35 mpg it's much better than the 911. I ride everyday to work, and the 911 sees action maybe once every weekend.

[Deschodt]

The funny thing is most people on the board would not bat an eye lid at buying "upgrades" for their Porsches, but $3 per gallon and we cut back...

Personally I drive the same as before, no choice anyway... Even at $3 it's a steal compared to elsewhere in the world, and if it kinda forces a shift in the industry towards smaller and more efficient cars, all the better...

[turbo6bar]

$3 per gallon cuts a lot further than you might think.

[chuckw951]

Originally posted by turbo6bar
$3 per gallon cuts a lot further than you might think.

This reminds me about my new ritual when filling up my car at the gas station. I look at the other gas pumps to see how much fuel previous customers purchased. I am stunned to see how many people are buying $5 and $10 worth of gas. These folks are not living paycheck to paycheck, but rather day to day. You can't get far on 1.5 gallons of gas these days.

Expensive gas does cut deep. Not too long ago I was paying $1.39 for diesel, I think it was summer 2002. Now it is at $3.29/gallon. In 2002 I'd burn $28 a week in fuel, now I'm burning $66 a week. So my monthly commuting expense for fuel has gone from $112 to $264. It all adds up.

[vash]

i will buy more sweaters

[Evans, Marv]

Greg:
You are right. But just like gainjidabe pointed out, it involves millions of people putting gas in millions of gas tanks. Just think of how much more the gas companies are making off of those millions of people who are paying that extra amount for gasoline. It's reflected in their current profit reports.

[Peterfrans]

Things could be worse, imagine paying $6,80 a gallon as we are doing in the Netherlands. I think we already payed 3$ a gallon 20 years ago.

[badcar]

To respond the JYL's question. The retail sporting goods environment has not seen a slow down yet....The Holiday season will be a better measure of where heads are at on spending on pure leisure.... but for 3rd quarter...all is normal.
Wall Street reported record bookings for Holiday travel and resort reservations in the ski/snowboard areas. This is a good indicator that despite bad news and high energy costs, people still want to get out and play.

[KNS]

[Originally posted by Peterfrans ]
Things could be worse, imagine paying $6,80 a gallon as we are doing in the Netherlands. I think we already payed 3$ a gallon 20 years ago.

People in Europe have been driving small, fuel efficient cars for a reason. Some Americans need a large vehicle/ truck for a reason, eg. work, business. I hope the rest will pick up on Europeans example.

[gaijindabe]

Originally posted by KNS
[ Some Americans need a large vehicle/ truck for a reason, eg. work, business. I hope the rest will pick up on Europeans example.

In Japan, we would load all the lumber for a small house on one of these 1/4 ton trucks. 550cc and about 50MPG.