Well, then I saw the weather report and it called for rain today and that kind of sealed the deal. I figured gas would be about $24 to get there and back, along with the $22 to get into the zoo... then lunch... etc etc. A single little trip to the zoo was going to be costing close to $50! I wasn't too excited at the thought of spending all that money and possibly getting rained on.
So, I flaked out on everyone and decided not to go. Since the weather was chilly (a high of, oh, 60* today) and it looked like it was going to storm all day, I suggested the Chelsea Treehouse instead, as its cheaper and a bit closer than the zoo. LeeAnn and I went and stayed from about 11 to 2. The boys had a great time, although they were super tired without naps. Lukas had a meltdown on the way home and Porter was quite naughty this evening. Needless to say, he went to bed at 7pm on the dot.
Anyhow.. my title. Gas prices suck. I hate that they are now determining what "fun" activities we do. I hate that anywhere I drive, I am weighing how much it will cost me in gas and if the trip is really worth it. I hate that the costs of everything is inflated.... food, zoo admission, camping reservations etc etc. Speaking of camping... we're only going once this summer which bums me out. But, campsites have gone up to $35+/night! I mean... really, we could stay in the Super 8 for that much and have a hot shower right in our room. Its sad that this once "cheap, quick family getaway" is now getting more and more expensive. Throw on top of that the $4.19/gallon gas prices (yep, that's what I paid today!), who can even afford to go camp?!
Questions for you (because I'm attempting to be a little bit more engaging of a blogger)...
(1) Has the increased cost of gas affected your willingness to hop in the car and drive to unnecessary places? I used to not think twice about driving out of town to shop, or even just going to Target once a day to kill some time. Not so much anymore. Right now, where we're staying (with my mom), I figure a trip to Target costs me about $8 in gas!
(2) Has your family trimmed down on driving vacations/trips this summer because of gas prices?
(3) Camping (for you campers out there).... what is the price of campsites where you are (campsites that have bathroom facilities and electricity hookup on the sites)? Do you still have the same fondness for camping now that it isn't such a "cheap" weekend getaway- I mean, do you mind paying an equivalent to a cheap motel room to pretend like you're a homeless person for the weekend (aka camp HAHA)?
(what a boring post. sorry. here are a few pics...)
(one of his size newborn onesies... that is getting a little short on his arms. boo hoo!)
Ok, I live in a fairly small town now. A tank of gas will last me about 2 weeks, or more if I'm not busy. So.... the only time I'm completely cringing is at the pump. I feel like I'm giving my right titt. Geesh.... and we have the same car, so, I KNOW how much you are $pending to fill up:)
ReplyDeleteWe still went to the beach for Memorial weekend. We are not going camping, so, I don't know about that one. But yes, I'd say that I will think twice about going somewhere that is over 30 miles away.
Cute pics, btw. Hudson is cracking me up in this shot:)
I agree, Nic. I am putting $100 in my tank a week. These prices are defnitely influencing how I do things these days, unfortunately
ReplyDeleteI have been trying to watch where I go. If I have the day off, I try not to leave. I try to run my errands in one day instead of just taking a Target run. But, I think that living where we do has prepared me for the high gas prices. I got used to not leaving as much when we moved out here. So, I have been used to it.
ReplyDeleteThe gas prices do suck, though. THings that used to be cheap getaways (camping) are becoming even too expensive and that is sad.
I know where you are comming from. This whole gas prices thing has made me think twice about anything.. then I always think that I really should just put the little man in the bike trailer and ride to the store.. but in the end time always wins the battle and I am usually kicking my self.. We love to camp.. and site prices are the same here.. this year we have decided to split the site with someone to cut down on costs a little. even though sometimes they charge extra... You do what you have to do... and find things that dont cost a frickin arm and a leg..
ReplyDeleteI do think more about where I go these days, but I refuse to sit at home all summer, like a friend I just talked to on the phone! I try to do cheaper things, like go to a playground, or the farm, or the mall.
ReplyDeletegas prices suck!
ReplyDeletesince i live an hour away from any kind of decent shopping, it would probably cost me $20 just for gas. my mom lives there and i will have her pick me up some of the things i need for her to bring up when she comes up once a week.
we haven't trimmed any of our planned 'vacations' this year because of gas, however we still talk about how much it will cost us!
camping - we love it and are still planning to do it as our weekends allow. here, camping in the state parks is $12 a night. not too bad, but we don't have hookups and they only have outhouses - but hell, we use a 5th wheel and we're good to go anyways so it doesn't bother us. we usually are only gone for the weekend though.
good post and...super cute shots of the boys! :)
Great topic Nicole. This has been on my mind a lot lately.
ReplyDeleteWe have drastically changed the way we go about our daily errands. Matt recently started a new job that had BOTH of us commuting about 40 miles to and from work. Matt was filling up every 3 days and I was filling up every 4 days. We couldn't carpool because of our difference in hours. After adding up how much we were spending a month on gas ($600+/month), he decided to go back to his old job where we are now carpooling 2-3 days a week. Now we are only filling up his car once a week and mine every 5 days or so. ?As for errands...we try and figure out everyone we need to go and make one big trip, rather than make lots of small trips back & forth. I used to be like you and go browse Target just for fun (whicih usually resulted in spending money on unnecessary things), but I can't justify it anymore. Especially with the babies coming.
We don't have any really fun vacation spots near us so that question doesn't really apply, but I have several friends that post poned their trips because of the gas prices.
Plain & simple...gas prices suck!
This topic has also been on my mind lately as well. The weather not being so nice has actually helped us in staying home and saving some money on gas. I don't like being a homebody with my two kiddos, but the way that everything has increased in price over the last year or so is making us do things around the house and the neighborhood, rather than drive anywhere. I now try to do all of my errands on the same day It is tough. I have started to use coupons a lot more than I ever did in the past. I have always been fairly frugal, but now I pretty much don't by anything but gasoline that is not on sale. I am constantly trying to ask myself, "Is this a need or a want?" I agree, "Inflation sucks!"
ReplyDeleteWe are camping over 4th of July at East Tawas, MI. I think camp sites are $27 a night. There's only a Holiday Inn up there and cabins starting at $500 a week. Gas prices are a killer, but what can we do about them? Now that I live closer to town, just a little, it's not bad; but also the kids are out of school. I agree if you run in town for one thing, make sure you are doing all your running.
ReplyDelete