Gas The issue of purchasing gasoline is prevalent on my mind as it is for most folks. At nearly three bucks a gallon, its currently isn't easy taking into account not only my needs at the pump, but those of my staff. Our gas mileage allowance is set at work, and its hurting some folks. It's negatively impacting the ownership of my business, my employees, and me. The reality is, for the time being at least, the price of gasoline isn't going down. In the past 18 months its doubled, which means campers, that we are spending twice as much just to get around. Here are some stories I found around the internet that I found to be disturbing and somewhat scary at best. The Times is reporting there is some talk about gasoline hitting $90 bucks a barrel. This was the most revealing analysis for me of the gas crunch. At The Washington Monthly. Here's part of what it says:

It turns out that the average household uses about 1100 gallons of gasoline per year and has an average income of about $44,000. Take out 20% for taxes and that's a disposable income of $35,000.

So at two bucks a gallon that means the average household spends 6% of its disposable income on gasoline. At three bucks a gallon it's more like 10%. And that's only the average.

snip

At the other end, though, are the people who make less than average and drive more than average. They probably spend 15-20% of their incomes on gasoline. That's a lot.

Times are rough. There is no doubt about it.

  ¶ 4/23/2006 08:01:00 AM