Sorta CEP: gas prices

[andwhat]

I don't know if this is just local, but in the past week gas prices have gone up about 40 cents. Why is no one talking about this? Every penny from this "tax cut" is going to be spent on daily expenses.

[bex]

I have noticed that as well. Prices are still around 2.50/gallon near me but i feel like there is a really wide range (some places are 269, some are 245). There has been a significant uptick recently.

[alleinesein]

*shrugs* I live in San Diego and we usually have some of the highest gas prices in the US. Prices are always fluctuating so I only notice if they creep up near $4 a gallon.

[readyin07]

Yep. I got gas today and was like wtf?!

[Pom]

Oil is now above $64/barrel. For reference is was $27/barrel two years ago. Natural gas is creeping up too, not aggressively but some increase.

[andwhat]

Jan 29, 2018 16:32:26 GMT -5 alleinesein said:

*shrugs* I live in San Diego and we usually have some of the highest gas prices in the US. Prices are always fluctuating so I only notice if they creep up near $4 a gallon.

I don't think it is a shrug. Republicans are pushing this tax break and how it is so good for the average American, but gas is up. Groceries are up. I don't know if it was here or another board but someone was mentioning toilet paper going from $16-22 since the summer.
If I were a Dem I would be talking about this everywhere. People don't immediately notice these incremental increases but this COLA and tax cut are going to be eaten up.

[juliej]

I wish I paid more attention to stuff like this. We have one car, we drive *maybe* 30 miles a week, on average... we just don't get gas often enough to notice.

[lilibet]

Yep it went up here as well by 11 ish cents, which isn't a ton but was noticeable when I filled up the other day. I wondered if it was widespread since I hadn't really seen anything about it online.

[mrsd2006]

I just got gas at Costco and it was 2.35 a gallon, it's been around 2.10. I definitely noticed.

[isabel]

Jan 29, 2018 16:50:09 GMT -5 andwhat said:

Jan 29, 2018 16:32:26 GMT -5 alleinesein said:

*shrugs* I live in San Diego and we usually have some of the highest gas prices in the US. Prices are always fluctuating so I only notice if they creep up near $4 a gallon.

I don't think it is a shrug. Republicans are pushing this tax break and how it is so good for the average American, but gas is up. Groceries are up. I don't know if it was here or another board but someone was mentioning toilet paper going from $16-22 since the summer.
If I were a Dem I would be talking about this everywhere. People don't immediately notice these incremental increases but this COLA and tax cut are going to be eaten up.

But that's exactly the point, it's not being talked about because nobody notices. TBH, I haven't noticed if gas prices have gone up. They fluctuate quite a bit, so as the average consumer, I would be hard pressed to blame tax cuts for an increase (even if it's true). Same for tons of other consumer goods and daily expenses that add up.

I'm not saying it shouldn't be talked about or that Dems shouldn't be pushing this, but I can totally see how Republicans will get away with it and the country at large will be none the wiser.

[mrs.jacinthe]

Ours continues to hover around $3/gal. But there are stations that are bumping up and I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

[pantsparty]

Jan 29, 2018 16:32:26 GMT -5 alleinesein said:

*shrugs* I live in San Diego and we usually have some of the highest gas prices in the US. Prices are always fluctuating so I only notice if they creep up near $4 a gallon.

PLUS we just had a tax gas increase. I think I just filled up for $3.73 a gallon or something. 

[freezorburn]

I bought gas today, and because my car is a mess, I found a receipt from mid-August. Same price pre-loyalty discounts.

[andwhat]

Jan 29, 2018 16:56:23 GMT -5 isabel said:

Jan 29, 2018 16:50:09 GMT -5 andwhat said:

I don't think it is a shrug. Republicans are pushing this tax break and how it is so good for the average American, but gas is up. Groceries are up. I don't know if it was here or another board but someone was mentioning toilet paper going from $16-22 since the summer.
If I were a Dem I would be talking about this everywhere. People don't immediately notice these incremental increases but this COLA and tax cut are going to be eaten up.

But that's exactly the point, it's not being talked about because nobody notices. TBH, I haven't noticed if gas prices have gone up. They fluctuate quite a bit, so as the average consumer, I would be hard pressed to blame tax cuts for an increase (even if it's true). Same for tons of other consumer goods and daily expenses that add up.

I'm not saying it shouldn't be talked about or that Dems shouldn't be pushing this, but I can totally see how Republicans will get away with it and the country at large will be none the wiser.

I'm not blaming the tax cuts, but don't talk about how I am getting a tax cut and going to have all this money to spend and then I have to spend it on gas and milk.

[sunshine608]

Ours has jumped. I figured the news was focusing on the Flu and not the gas prices.

It's been around $2.10-$2.19 minus jumps during the hurricanes. Today its around $2.45.

[litebright]

I filled up yesterday and that was the first time that the increase registered with me, but yeah. I noticed.

This post made me wonder what was going on with the overall Consumer Price Index, especially in light of some of the "a crash is coming" talk.

Apparently there was a significant increase in gas over the past year, with a big jump in November and the a decline in costs in December. Maybe that's why a big increase recently feels even bigger, because it came right after a temporary decline?

"All the major energy component indexes increased over the past 12 months. The gasoline index
rose 10.7 percent, the electricity index advanced 2.6 percent, and the index for natural gas
increased 4.7 percent."

www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2018/consumer-price-index-2017-in-review.htm

www.bls.gov/cpi/

Article on gas prices:

www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-bz-gas-price-update-20180116-story.html

[Champagne Supernova]

My old car required mid-grade. My new car takes regular and I'm paying about the same amount I was paying to fill up my old car every two weeks right now. I believe the fuel tanks are the same size. Yeah.

[isabel]

Jan 29, 2018 17:02:25 GMT -5 andwhat said:

Jan 29, 2018 16:56:23 GMT -5 isabel said:

But that's exactly the point, it's not being talked about because nobody notices. TBH, I haven't noticed if gas prices have gone up. They fluctuate quite a bit, so as the average consumer, I would be hard pressed to blame tax cuts for an increase (even if it's true). Same for tons of other consumer goods and daily expenses that add up.

I'm not saying it shouldn't be talked about or that Dems shouldn't be pushing this, but I can totally see how Republicans will get away with it and the country at large will be none the wiser.

I'm not blaming the tax cuts, but don't talk about how I am getting a tax cut and going to have all this money to spend and then I have to spend it on gas and milk.

Ah, I see. Well, I have thought talking up all the extra money in our paychecks was ludicrous from the get-go. If mine has increased, it hasn't been noticeable (which is saying something since my H is currently unemployed and we're counting every last penny).

It's like the HD founder talking about how Dems don't have brains because of course $1k is a lot of money and can pay a mortgage. Well sure it can. For a month. And then what, you jackass? Getting a $1k bonus (and not even annually) isn't exactly fixing America's working families, you nimrod.

[goldengirlz]

Did your state recently pass a gas tax? I know we did here in California to help fix our roads. I believe ours was $0.12/gallon.

Other than macro issues affecting the O&G industry, if gas prices are going up where you are, it’s more likely that your state is to blame.

But I feel your pain because I paid $3.39 yesterday and thought I got a good deal (I drove past a few stations that were $3.99).

ETA: And I totally agree with your larger point. If states need to find new revenue sources and the economy is in the toilet, then a federal tax cut is a big damn Beside the Point.

[mscatra]

How much is a normal increase for your areas? Where I am in MI the normal price increase is usually .40 or so. I think we are in the same or close to the same range as we have been. The station by my house is up to 2.75, and I think it was down to around 2.30 before the increase.

[karinothing]

AAA says the national average is 30 cents higher than last yr

[raangoli]

I noticed that this weekend. It seems to have jumped like .25 cents/gallon which doesn’t seem like a lot but when you have two cars that need to be filled every week to 10 days, it adds up. I was seriously like wtf when I saw the jump.

[poundcake]

Ours is around 2.79 to 2.85. We have a huge tax though.

[pinkdutchtulips]

I live in the SF Bay Area and only start really paying attention when it hits $3.25/gal at the cheap places. I can't remember the last time I saw gas for less than $2.59/gal

[claudiajean]

Ours jumped a few weeks ago by about $.30 but came back down around Thursday or Friday.

[Deleted]

Ours is probably somewhere around $2.70 average, I usually go to BJs or the Hess station and those are about 20 cents cheaper than everywhere else on average.

But yeah...grocery bill is up, gas up, Comcast bill raised $5/month, AT&T went up $1/month, Eversource wants to start billing a $6 monthly fee for line maintenance after raising their rates, health insurance premiums went up - so the extra few bucks we save from the tax cut is gonna go to pay all the increased bills we have this year.

[tres3]

Dollar is also suddenly weaker. It was under 1.30 per 1 GBP a few weeks ago and now it is up to about 1.42

[goldengirlz]

Jan 29, 2018 18:27:59 GMT -5 BirdGirl said:

Also, of all the things to go up, I’m ok with it being gas. Anything that pushes us to alternative fuel sources (and I’m not talking about coal).

While I agree with you in theory, I think the gas tax tends to hit lower-income people harder and not just for the obvious reason that it’s regressive.

In many cities, lower-income people are more likely to live farther from job centers and have long commutes, more likely to have blue collar jobs that require driving from site to site, less likely to be offered work from home arrangements, etc. etc.

For many people, it’s literally raising the cost of having a job.

[kadams767]

Jan 29, 2018 19:54:21 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

Jan 29, 2018 18:27:59 GMT -5 BirdGirl said:

Also, of all the things to go up, I’m ok with it being gas. Anything that pushes us to alternative fuel sources (and I’m not talking about coal).

While I agree with you in theory, I think the gas tax tends to hit lower-income people harder and not just for the obvious reason that it’s regressive.

In many cities, lower-income people are more likely to live farther from job centers and have long commutes, more likely to have blue collar jobs that require driving from site to site, less likely to be offered work from home arrangements, etc. etc.

For many people, it’s literally raising the cost of having a job.

Don't forget the cost of shipping goods!  Food deserts get even worse when gas prices increase.

[mryrcn]

I live in Seattle so....