Gas Prices in Central Pennsylvania Leave Little Room for Other Spending

In St. Mary's in central Pennsylvania, we are at $3.27 per gallon and rising. With predictions of gas rising past the $4 a gallon range, we are headed for a lean summer. Our families like many in America have started adopting this motto: If we have to do errands, we do them all at the same time. You know what I am talking about. Before we used to just drive whenever or wherever we wanted without a second glance. Now we create strategic plans of where we want to go and how we go about it.

Our family of four used to spend anywhere from $40 to $60 dollars in gas a week. Now that has increased to $50 o $80 a week. Like most other American families, we live within our means and have the little leeway when it comes to our budget. We have had to adjust it accordingly, cutting a little bit here and a little bit there. Unfortunately this makes the natives (our kids) restless, when you have to tell them no because you are penny pinching. It makes for a stressful time.

As a business owner of a small internet site for auto accessories and performance parts, the rise of gas price in the recent year and the upcoming rise of upwards of $4 per gallon, has created quite the problem for myself and other business owners in my industry. We have seen a slight decline from previous years and we are bracing for the upcoming year to hit hard not only in the auto accessories and performance, but car manufacturers, private car sellers and such.

Oil is hitting record highs. Oil prices have increased since 2003, and you can see the massive upward spike in oil drum prices as recently as March 2008. Gas prices are expected to surge past $4 a gallon before summer, with drums going well past the record of $111.80 per oil drum. Suffice it to say the big oil companies are making some real money now; but that is another article all together.