2 Adults 2 Kids » Fuel Costs

The Things You Are Used To (CM)

CM — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 03:15:33 +0000

I have been thinking about how a lot of the things I deal with in life and my reaction is just what I am used to. Two example are bugs and diesel. These two things carry over into other aspects of life.

Diesel is a good example because everyone talks about how diesel is so expensive compared to gas. For me, it is very different. Coming from NYC I am used to paying $4.30 for cheap gas; so to pay $4.70 for diesel (which has been the average down south) is not that bad considering the added fuel economy. Our RV gets 17mpg compared to the 8mpg RVs with regular gas. The only reason I don’t feel it is because of what I am used to.

Bugs are another good example. I never realized how loud they are. Rats, roaches, and ants (which are common to New York) don’t make much noise. Down here there are bugs at night that are really loud. I am not sure if it is locust, crickets, or some unknown, but they are loud. There is plenty of noise in the city, from trains, cars, and pedestrians, but I am used to all that and I don’t pay them much attention. Loud bugs I am not so used to and I notice them much more than I probably should. I am sure over time I will get used to them as well.

So what does this mean to me? Well I wonder how many things I or other people put up with just because they are used to it; some good, some bad. There are so many paths that could be taken in life. How many are taken not because of free will, but are taken because of complacency, or just being used to it?

On a lighter note, all is great and we leave the grandparents tomorrow on our world wind adventure tour. No real plans on where we are stopping first, but I am very excited and can’t wait. I hope this is a great experience for us and our children.

Day 2 – Finances

KJ — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:15:02 +0000

Even though we spent most our day mulling around camp, we ended up spending quite a bit of money yesterday. Here’s the breakdown:

Groceries for 4 days: $75.76
Portable Grill (and Accessories), Deep Fryer, and a few other items for the RV: $102.22
Gas for the Van: 61.92
Total: $239.90

We are going to have to buy chairs soon. Our camp site has no place to sit.

Now What? (kj)

KJ — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:20:10 +0000

We have nearly stretched ourselves to our financial breaking point in order to buy the RV and now that we’ve got it, we can’t move it! Then we see the article in the New York Times about oil shooting up 8% to $138 a barrel just because an investment bank said it would hit $150 a barrel by July 4!! Can you believe it?? Investment banks invest, so when they put out a report like that, they only drive up the prices in commodities that they’ve already invested in. Throw speculators in the mix and now we’re all paying higher prices at the pump. There was absolutely no change in the actual oil market itself. The Times quoted someone saying that this whole thing was a bubble, but the end is not in sight.

Initially, I was pretty pissed, but once I got passed the anger the news made me glad that I have an RV and this is why:

It’s an incentive for me not to be paralyzed by gas prices. If prices were higher because of some tax to curb global warming, I’d do everything I could to reduce my consumption. (CM and I shopped around for the most fuel-efficient RV that we could find. The one we ended up buying gets nearly just as good gas mileage as our Honda Odyssey. Which is pretty sad now that I think about it.)

But this is about a handful of people getting rich while we suffer. I feel that as a parent, my children need to travel in order to gain wisdom about the way the world works. They need to learn about different cultures and different ways of doing things. I want them to see that all people don’t obsess over money. I’m going to make that happen even if gas gets up to $10 a gallon because I feel that kind of knowledge is priceless.

How do you react to higher gas prices? Do you stay home or is it business as usual?