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Gassing up is slowing down

Yes, prices have fallen. A little. But a gallon of gas is still pretty pricey, so we're changing habits and using less.
by Mai Hoang
Yakima Herald-Republic

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Maybe you've started riding the bus. Or carpooling with your co-workers.

Stormy Ausink of Yakima cut her trips to Costco from several days a week to just one.

Derald Erickson, also of Yakima, didn't bother to license his gas-guzzling RV this year.

Nationwide as well as here in Central Washington, consumers are making drastic changes in their driving habits to deal with high gas prices.

Such changes have caused a decrease in demand, cooling down gas prices.

But just a little.

In the Yakima metropolitan area, the average price of gas was $4.12 per gallon Friday, compared with $4.29 a month ago, according to AAA.

Those prices, however, are still well above the $2.98 a gallon that local drivers paid a year ago.

So while her new fuel-saving habits helped Ausink cut her monthly fuel spending from $100 to $75, it's still more than the $50 she budgeted for fuel a year ago.

If the price of fuel, which many are dependent on, increases, consumers' purchasing power decreases, said Lewis Mandell, a finance professor at the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington.

"It's the same as the boss cutting their paycheck," he said. "If (they) have less money to spend, what economics tells us, people make their cuts all over. They'll buy one fewer latte. They will have one fewer beer. Instead of steaks, they'll have hamburgers.

"Not only will people be motivated to use less gasoline, they'll also be motivated to buy less of everything."

For Ausink, the savings she's accumulated are used for utilities, groceries or pet food, three things that have all increased in price over the past year.

"I don't think any of us feel rich," she said. "You really have to count your pennies."

 

1 gallon of gas =

n 4.6 McDonalds hamburgers (89 cents each)

n 4.1 McDonald's cheeseburgers ($1 each)

n 8.2 soft serve cones (50 cents each)

n 3.1 gift bows ($1.29 each)

n 4.1 boxes of 24 sheets of gift tissue paper (99 cents)

n 515 Q-tips (3.99 per 500-count box)

n 5.2 sheets of white posterboard (79 cents each)

n 4.1 school folders (99 cents each)

n 5.2 Hershey chocolate bars (79 cents each)

n 4.1 gallons of distilled water (99 cents per gallon)

n 3.4 toy cars ($1.19 each)

n 124 cough drops (99 cents per 30-count bag)

n 4.1 loaves of private brand white bread (99 cents each)

n 1.3 packages of bagged romaine lettuce ($2.99 each)

n 18.2 ounces of instant coffee ($8.78 for 39 ounces)

n 1.17 gallons of whole milk, private brand ($3.49 per gallon)

n 6.1 sticks of butter ($2.69 per pound (4 sticks))

n 4.2 iTunes downloads of Sheryl Crow's "Gasoline" (99 cents each)

n 11.1 75-watt light bulbs ($1.49 per 4-pack)

n 52.2 No. 2 pencils ($1.99 per 25-count box)

n 2.7 Klondike bars ($1.49 each)

n 2 pounds of Fuji apples

n 1.2 tall (12-ounce) Starbucks white chocolate mochas

n 4.2 8-count boxes of Crayola crayons

n 4.1 servings of single serve Ben & Jerry's ice cream (3.6 ounces each)

n 87.7 kilowatt hours of electricity from Pacific Power

 

 

 

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