Is the gas prices affecting you vacations ? How are you going to take or enjoy ur summer. will u have a stacation at home ?

By Tunnia on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 08:32 am:

It's not affecting ours in the fact that we are still going, but we are not happy about what we are going to have to pay. We spend the week of the 4th of July with my parents at their beach house as has become tradition over the last few years. They would be really disappointed if we didn't come and bring their grandchildren for the week! It cost us over $300 in fuel to drive down to my parents over Memorial Day for my brother's wedding so we know it will cost above and beyond that when we go down in July.

The gas prices have cut back drastically on our day trips though. We used to jump in the car or truck and take a day trip to the mountains or to some other interesting area within two to three hours on the weekend. Now the only drive we do, on rare occasion, is to a wild life management area and park about 50 miles away. We haven't pulled the camper at all this year.

By Trina~moderator on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 08:45 am:

We booked our July 2008 vacation a year ago. We rented a farm house with a pool in the Lancaster, PA area and will be meeting relatives there for a mini family reunion. It's all paid for, so we're still going despite gas prices.

Actually, due to the CT gas tax, gas is usually cheaper in other states, so we'll enjoy cheaper gas prices during our trip. LOL! Currently, Regular is $4.35 here.

By Karen~admin on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 09:58 am:

We finally tipped above $4.00 per gallon here locally. :-( We don't do a lot of extra driving, fortunately. Where I used to fill up once a week, I fill up once every 2 weeks or even less since I'm not working now, and most of my driving is less than 8-10 miles round trip these days.

However, we are feeling the fuel crunch in airline travel and the rise in food and utility costs in a big way.

By Dawnk777 on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 10:04 am:

With college to pay for and fuel prices so high, DH didn't want to go anywhere this year. We will just be taking day trips here and there, this summer.

By Colette on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 11:31 am:

We are still going because I already paid for the cottages. But if I hadn't we probably wouldn't it's a 600 mile drive.

By Luvn29 on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 11:54 am:

We are still going on our annual vacation to Myrtle Beach, however, once we get there, we won't be doing nearly as much driving as we usually do.

We've also cut back at home to accomodate the gas prices. We used to go to a lake about an hour away, and to Gatlinburg, about 2 and a half hours away quite often, but we are cutting those trips out.

By Kaye on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 12:40 pm:

It hasn't cut back our summer plans, but it has affected our daily world.

I don't drive if I can bike. The school is about 1/2 a mile (or less), often I would drive to pick up my child. We all bike now. I think we are going to start biking to the store for quick trips to, it is a bit further. My dd is biking to sitting jobs in the neighborhood.

Also we car pool more, used to we would meet up at places, now we ride together.

I am also learning to group my errands together, so I don't drive everyday. I am down to 4 or 5 days a week now.

We are also eating in a lot more, to help save money, and i guess that also saves gas

When we are on vacation this summer we will plan to carry items to eat with us, just to save $.

By Karen~admin on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 04:53 pm:

Kaye, I am grouping things together as well. We live in a suburb maybe 20 miles west of New Orleans. Metairie, the closest suburb to New Orleans (from our direction) is where my doctors are, my insurance agent, the hospital, etc. I had several things I needed to do this week in Metairie, and am also having lunch with a friend on Friday. So I have scheduled my mammogram, my bloodwork, my lunch and a meeting with my insurance agent for the same day, so I don't have to drive out there 3 times this week.

Also, if I run out of something in between grocery trips, unless it is something I absolutely HAVE to have, instead of running to the store, I am just waiting until my weekly trip to the grocery to get it.

DH and I are flying to D.C. on Sunday, and for once, do not plan to rent a car, we will be using public transportation while we are there.

By Yjja123 on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 05:13 pm:

Our upcoming cruise is paid for, so no vacation changes.

I have changed my driving habits. Now that summer is here, my kids activities are on hiatis. I am not carpooling, so that is helping.
I also am limiting my grocery shopping to once a week. I have found that it is far better, in the long run, to go shopping once a week. It has freed up time for me to spend in my studio. I am saving not only gas money but wasted money in the stores.

By Reds9298 on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 10:03 pm:

We've always lived in the country, so grouped my errands to as many in one day as possible since I stopped working 4 years ago. We only do one driving vacation generally anyway, and it's to visit with my grandmother, so gas could be $10/gallon and I would still go!

We've mostly tried to cut back on eating out, which for us is a lot of gas since we live way out. We didn't eat out too much anyway, maybe twice/week, but that's been cut back even. I still find though that we have day trips within 2 hours planned for the summer. It's expensive, but I'm not going to make us stay in because of it. We have memberships to the zoo and history museum, and we're still going as much as usual.

Biking is a terrific idea, but again, we live so far away from town that it's not feasible. When I go to the grocery, it's for a LOT, never a little. I run errands only about 2 days/week.

We are currently spending about $1000/month in fuel. DH is commuting until we sell our house (the majority of that), and I drive for my DT appointments. I'm not letting it stop me! We have a Disney trip planned in the fall, but that's a flight.

Ditto Karen...the grocery and utility increases are just as bad. I can't believe how much I'm spending at the grocery these days, and I went to budget on our gas/electric bills just to be consistent every month. I've never done that before, but it's getting outrageous!

By Vicki on Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - 07:10 am:

We also didn't have a big vacation planned for this year. We took what we normally spend on vacation and added that to our stimulus check and decided to add a deck to our above ground pool and just stay home. LOL We do have a camper that stays at the lake that we go to just about every weekend, but that is only about 20 minutes from our house. We also have a boat there. So our summer will be spent at the lake and by the pool. We might take a day trip or two.... maybe to Cedar Point or something else that is pretty close that doesn't require a overnight stay.

By Dandjmom on Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - 07:59 am:

the weather is going to be nice here over the weekend Karen. May I ask how long will you be here and what part of the city are you staying in?

By Pamt on Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - 09:37 pm:

Our only big trip is to Nicaragua. Ironically our plane tickets from Chicago to Managua are about $150 cheaper than tickets from Baton Rouge to Managua have ever been. It's farther and with the gas crunch it makes no sense. We'll do some day trips, but no long ventures in the car. I am meeting my sister in Chicago for a girls weekend. Chicago is only about a 4 hour drive for me, but when you factor in gas and parking it's cheaper for me to take the train, so that's what I'll be doing.