I saw CNN news report that indicated people are pawning their jewlery for gas money. Have you guys heard about it in your area?
People on fixed income are pawning their fur coat, diamond rings. This is serious problem.

That's the first I've heard of it, but...

I know I'm not too worried about gas money, but I live where mass transit is available - I'm worried about heating money in the fall, and electric money this summer - If my budget allows, I will be replacing my AC units with the highest effciency units I can find - and if NOT, I guess I'll be swetting a lot

I haven't heard anything about it. Without knowing the details I have a hard time worrying too much about people who have diamond rings and fur coats. They sound like they might be better off than me. Do you have a link?

Probably need the gas to get to the casino or racetrack.

this is the link to CNN news about pawning for gas. funny

http://www.cnn.com/video/player/player.html?url=/video/politics/2006/04/21/tuchman.gas.prices.cnn

No kidding -- another case of scare tactics by the media. If it gets so bad that I have to start pawning things for fuel, well, I'm in deeper than I want to be.

The reality is gas and energy in general is now expensive. Instead of focusing on the root cause of that problem (no new refineries, many regional fuel blends, etc.), we're just supposed to have an outpouring of pity and feel sorry for ourselves.

This explains why I don't have cable anymore. I can use the $50 on other things (such as gas). I'd rather be warm with no TV! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Okay, off my soapbox.

Exactly I dotn have TV either... everything I need (BBC news) I can get via the net... saves 30+ Euros a month!

indeed, if you can't afford a lifestyle, change it. Adapt and overcome.

Luckily I work from home and have a lot of stores within walking distance so I only filled my gas tank about 6 times last year. Even so, price per gallon as it pertains to what I put directly into my car isn't my primary concern.

As others have mentioned previously it will translate into higher prices for electricity and such. But it won't stop there. Higher gas prices will eventually affect the prices of all the goods we buy, across the board, no matter what they are...

In any case, for the short term people who have to drive a while to get to work, or spend a lot of that drive time in heavy traffic are going to feel it first if they have no access to mass transit of some sort.

An influx of people taking mass transit will affect those prices as well as mass transit makes moves to cope.

And of course people spending more of their paycheck on gas and less on other goods are going to affect the economy in other ways.

But that's all worse case scenario stuff.

Burn the TV for fuel...two birds with one stone? <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

folks what they do'nt tell you in the news , is that the folks pawning there stuff do not have a regular day to day JOB/ INCOME and have to do this to make ends meet....vince g. 11b inf....

We just spent three+ months as campground hosts at a national preserve in the high Mojave Desert of CA. The nearest fuel was the little town of Fenner, on I-40 out in the middle of nowhere. As of a week ago their regular, a generic brand, was $4.01 a gallon!!!! A quart of milk was $3+. At those prices you would have to pawn your car...

Your lucky, petrol (gasoline) prices in britain are hitting ?6.23 a gallon thats about $11US.
Time to start thinking about getting a bike, me thinks. <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

James

Picard, if I recall correctly, gas got up over $2 per gallon in the early 1980s. After inflation, $2 per gallon then would be about $4.20 today. We still have a little way to go to get back to those high prices from the bad old days.

Don't believe everything you read in the newspapers. Even when they aren't lying deliberately, they are economically ignorant, and they'll get it wrong by accident.

Having said that, it's quite possible that the reporters actually found someone who had to pawn something to buy gas. I remember being caught short once, and having to borrow money to buy gas to get home. Gas was under $1 per gallon then ... probably about $1.60 per gallon in today's dollars.

Nels

Your geography is a little different than ours. From the north of Scotland to the southernmost point of England is only about 800 miles/1300 km. It would fit inside our state of California.

Everything here is spread out, designed for cars. For me, the nearest place to buy anything but groceries is 16 miles away as the crow flies. It would be difficult to get there by bike because there is no direct route that would allow a bicycle. And there are mostly no places for a rider to ride that doesn't place the rider's life in serious jeopardy.

Sue

I live 30 miles from my work. But look at this guy!

<img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

That's just nuts!!! This guy's a traffic statistic waiting to happen.

Troy