Fuel prices effects

Here's one for you....have not been able to sell my house and we need 550 gallons of fuel oil for winter. We have 5 gallons. DH fell sick last jan. when we would normally have bought our 550 gallons for the next winter. Now just How do\\the oil prices affect me??? S.

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I stand for Life, Marriage, Religious Liberty and Limited Government. This certainly was NOT a vote for Obama.

Can you say wood heat or part time job or evan local church / red cross

Maybe you guys that think everything is peachy-keen could start a separate thread. Call it "Everything is Great and getting Better". Here we just wanna gripe and point out the obvious

I try to look at every situation with realistic optimism (oooo sounds like a media phrase, doesn't it?! ) Yes, the world is changing. Good or bad depends on one's perspective. (Truth is, it's some of both)

I cherish the stories my parents/grandparents/great aunts/uncles told me about their lives during the years of the Great Depression. What I learned from them is that through whatever adversity we face, we can still find joy and integrity, if we are determined to create it for ourselves and look for it in others.

Trials come. Facing those trials is much easier when we are prepared. A storm may be gathering on the horizon .... but it hasn't hit yet! (and who knows but that it doesn't stall or change course! Either way, being quietly prepared is never something to regret. )

Enjoy the weekend.
BW

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BeckyW. "on the sunrise side of the everlasting hills"

You know I feel that history tends to repeat itself. Therefore my mother and father who lived through the Depression and we where poor, tended to make do and nothing was wasted. I learned the importance of being prepared with food put away. I think it is foolish to shop everyday for that day's meals. We have know way of knowing what the future holds but to me with all that is going on in this world I feel we need to be prepared for whatever may happen. We don't drive too much and there are no unecessary running to the store. We have a constant list going of what we need to replenish and shop carefully. We don't eat out very often as it is just too expensive. We may be headed for harder times but I don't miss any sleep over it. The Lord has always provided for our needs and I don't see that changing in the future. Our needs will be met but not all our wants. So whatever happens God is still on the throne and He will take care of us.

RenieB

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The Will of God will never Lead You where the Grace of God cannot Keep You

Ok, ok, gripe away. ;-)
Actually, if I'm going to worry about something this week, it's going to be the situation in Lebanon/Israel. That's skeery.

Well, yes and no.

They've always been fighting over there. I remember a friend who came here to the States from Lebanon way back when I was in 7th grade. (I believe that was in '71... Golly. 35 years ago!) Anyway, if you follow history, you'll see that the region has always always always been fighting.

It's just publicized a lot more now, and may have more of an effect on us because our nation is so oil-dependent and the world is so much smaller.

I'll also refer you to the books of Matthew and Revelation.

No matter who is in "power", the regular everyday folks have always just kept on going. We know what we can control and what we can't, so we take care of business and trust God to handle the rest.

This life is very, very short in light of Eternity. Just keep being a responsible steward, a good parent/spouse/friend/neighbor. That's what makes a difference.

Pony!

That there was a depression in the 30's is neither "gloom and doom" nor a "rosy picture". The fact is, there WAS a depression in the 30's and the fact IS we are headed for something similar again.

Ignoring the oncoming train wreck is as bad as imagining the worst when it arrives. In fact, ignorance of where we are headed is probably the greatest sin of all because the events on the horizon are coming like it or not, and to pretend differently does no one any good. So without being gloomy or painting a false rosy picture I think it is in the benefit of all to recognize the realities of the day.

Ignorance of those realities has helped get this country where it is today and continued ignorance will help dig the grave deeper. This country is in REALLY HUGE trouble politically, economically and socially.

Other than that it all looks great!!!

Just think the D O E fuel surcharge for Trucking companies is now $1.55 cents per gallon. Now thats why the price is going up. Nut put the blame where it belongs.The Greedy future traders in N Y C at the stock exchange..

Well said Renie B. We try to be careful with what money we have, we strive to be self sufficient (not that it always works), we raise our own meat and try to keep the garden going, but when it comes right down to it....whose hands is our life in?
I think from what I read in the paper and see on the news......and when we go shopping it takes almost half of my husband's paycheck to buy groceries and $50 to fill up the truck, it's scarey and oil just keeps going higher and higher in price, pretty soon we're going to have to buy a horse and buggy. Money just does not stretch very far anymore, it barely stretches from one payday to the next, especially if you have a family you're trying to support on it.
I'd like to know where everyone finds bread for a dollar a loaf?? Last time we went to Wal-Mart, Wonder white bread was $3 a loaf! We can get it cheaper if we shop at Aldi's, but the nearest Aldi's is 75 miles away.
What is the gas prices where you're at? Here where we are regular unleaded is $2.80 a gallon and diesel is over $3 a gallon. Where we live we have to haul water and we have a one ton truck to haul water with and with the rise in gas prices and they just raised the price of the water. I'm not a doom and gloom person, but can things keep going the way they're going????

Thank you so much for your post Renie. I've watched the doom and gloomers here for over a year, and I wondered why they never thought of God.

And Rose thank you for posting. I agree whole heartedly with you about them starting the chicken little posts.

I have a suggestion. Based on the many like threads here on HT, we can save a lot of typing on peoples parts. First of all the Chicken Little people are not going to change, they will post about the collapse of the economy, the times getting bad. Then they'll start posting about the "dumb""stupid", etc city folks. There will be the posts saying that the city folk will starve to death because they don't know how to grow a garden.

Then there will be a city person who will post that they're not dumb or stupid and will tell how they've been gardening for years.

Then there will be the "I don't have any debt people" who will say that those who do have debt are, dumb, horrible, stupid, not as good as them. Then there will be a post by me and a couple others saying that if it weren't for credit we'd never been able to buy our homes, land etc.

Oh yes, there'll be the posts about the college educated being unable to survive. And then there will be posts countering those posts.


Their posts will be buried in a bunch of posts by the "we have guns" and we know how to use them crowd. They will say how all the starving city folks will come streaming into the country side to steal the country folks food.

Never mind that in the Big Depression it was just the opposite. The country folk headed to the city in order to find work because that's where both the jobs and the soup kitchens were.

Then there will be about five pages of posts of about how horrible it will be, mixed with a few posts from the positive side. And then about page six, someone will start calling others names and a typed brawl will ensue. Then Mean Dean will post a "lets be nice post" and a day latter poof the whole thread will disapear.

If I recall right, nothing major has changed since we had this very topic was brought up and beat to death . Nothing was solved during that thread. Does anyone think that this thread is going to be any different?

Jeez, talk about stealing someone's thunder. Now what are we supposed to do? You just took all the fun out of the next 4 pages of potential posts.

Spoil Sport!

Nikki

I don't buy store bread. Yuck! I make it, and if I figure it out, it's surely less than $1 a loaf -- AND it is fresher, no preservatives, and lots of good grains in it. Hmm... yeast, flour, grains, milk, fat, salt, sweetener... Get at least 3 loaves a batch... Heck, maybe 50 cents a loaf? And if you were to buy the bread I make at the store, they'd be charging closer to $5 and calling it "specialty" bread!

Gas around here is $3.35 for regular. We've been adding acetone to each tankful, and have increased mileage by 5 miles per gallon. Multiply that by 16 gallons, and that means the old '89 Cherokee is getting an additional 80 miles to the tank.

Still, we are doing our best to cut back driving as much as possible. I've been trying to follow DH's good example. That man will ride his bike nearly everywhere, God bless him! If things DO keep going the way they're going, well... Hey, we'll all be in the same boat together.

Pony!

You put acetone in the tank? How does that work? I've never heard of that idea. Does it hurt the engine at all? How much do you put in?

I'm not a doom and gloomer, but I think living debt free is a good idea and that's what we do. If you don't have the money, don't buy it. Now, we kind of cheated on the land as it was given to us. Our house we built ourselves a board at a time. It took us 3 years but it's ours free and clear. Everything else we have we've either found it for free or paid next to nothing for it. We don't do this because of the world, but because we've learned that us and credit don't work. You're sick and tired of whatever it is that you bought, or perhaps don't even remember what it was you bought, but you're still having to pay for it.

On the other hand.......things are getting worse and no one can deny that.......economically, morally and educationally. Things are very expensive and wages aren't keeping up with it, we're quickly getting to the point where there are no absolutes when it comes to right and wrong, now we're in the "what's right for you is right for you" way of thinking and the public school system as a whole isn't doing too great either. They're teaching stuff that has no business being taught in school, going back to "whole word recognition" instead of teaching phonics and spending a vast amount of time teaching children not to listen to their parents and exploring ones sexuality. Anyone who thinks that things are getting better needs to watch TV from just 30 years ago, it's amazing the difference, especially the family structure. Where men were still head of the house and laid down the rules, now most shows the men and women are equal, but it doesn't matter because the kids don't obey anyway.

Everything you ever wanted to know about acetone in your tank:

http://www.lubedev.com/smartgas/additive.htm

We carry the acetone in an old Sta-bil bottle, and add 6 oz per tank (16 gallon tank). I went from an average of 12.5 mpg to 18 mpg. Not bad for an old Cherokee. Still looking for ways to increase mileage, short of dropping a diesel in there and converting to straight vegetable oil.

Pony!

I have a friend here, who works in a restaurant. He filters the used fry oil, and puts it in his car.

My wages are frozen at a 0.5% increase per year for the next 3 years.
I can tell you for a fact Im seeing my dollars buy less and less.At 7% inflation,I will have lost 20% of my purchasing power,in just three years!
A true,very real 20% paycut,and Im not alone in this happening to me.Bet most of you are seeing the same.

So much for having an education will protect you,it wont.Not if others cant afford your service,and thats happening all over.In many fields.

Guess being an RN is out,I need to retrain??Thats the stock answer you hear around here.

Heck,if nurses are getting slammed,you better believe others are far worse off.

Doom and gloom,or a reality check?
I call it reality.

BooBoo

I don't know about doom and gloom, but there's no doubt that you aren't going to see oil going down in price very soon.

I mentioned hydraulic oil from a local farm dealer in another post. It was $40 for five gallons about a week ago. I was in there on Friday and it is now $48! They are going to keep a few pails around for emergencies and it's all going to be bulk sales now.

Now, if you think that kind of increase in oil prices isn't going to be make large changes in how you live or do business, you are living in a different world than me! The person with a low income is going to be hit hard.

Jennifer

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-Northern NYS

We got the money to fill our tank for winter and are doing it Monday. Let you know the price here, cash price that is.
I sincerely believe our oil prices will be very iffy to put it mildly within 6 weeks. Before the end of six months, there will be rationing. Moving is almost out of the question entirely. It will be too expensive to move. Hope to stock up on a few things Monday too, including one or two stashes of gas for emergencies, and cans of oil to keep the car running. Fix up the one good bicycle too. Things will probably diddle around with the middle east wars for a few weeks before things get really ugly. Some panic will set in here. We have two close relatives in the air force and hope to hear some hints of things to come from them. Do what preps you can do this week.
S.

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I stand for Life, Marriage, Religious Liberty and Limited Government. This certainly was NOT a vote for Obama.

Petroleum is the basis for or global and national societies. If the price of the crude product jumps and remains high it pushes up the cost of everything else. This isn't doom and gloom it is straight fact. For example, the price of asphalt has tripled this year and looks to be going up more as the crude oil prices skyrocket. Vehicle fuel is going up though propane prices are mixed between staying low and spiking depending on where you live in the country. All other prices for things go up due to higher production and transportation costs. The only thing not rising at the same rate is wages.

That reality means something has to give somewhere. If you have cut back on as much travel as you can, then you need to cut something else back or eliminate it. After a time you may reach the situation where you have to decide whether to buy food or medication, heating fuel/propane/electricity or food, or buying new tires (as yours are virtually bald) or paying the light bill. This would be because your pay hasn't increased while your expenses have.

In a situation like this you can either be doomy or perky, but that doesn't change anything but your attitude and outlook. If you have to do without real basics, real necessities to have enough money for the rest, you can be as positive as you like, but you will still have a rough go of it.

There are some real harsh realities we all will need to face regardless of the timeline involved. It isn't going to be pretty or comfortable either. If you want to nip at each other that is your thing, but either direction in thinking will not change facts. Our country and our world isn't the same as it was in the 1930s during the Great Depression. Then people still had some common sense knowledge of basic skills like gardening, frugality and such whether city of country folk. Today we are a culture with a majority out of touch with past common knowledge and self-supportive skill sets. Then we had places people could go within the country to find work even if it was a struggle. Today we offshore so many jobs now that work is harder to find while we have more and more gluts on skilled people. Then we had simpler lives with few luxuries thought to be necessities that could be lived without. Today we have so much that many people think cable tv and air conditioning are mandatory things as well as having access to malls and dining out regularly.

My personal view is one of pessimism due to seeing how unprepared and clueless so many people are around here about the probability of rough times ahead. I am upbeat about my preparations though pessimistic in that I know I can do better and I need to do better. While I want to be optimistic about our society, every day I find an example that tells me I need to rethink that position.

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Those who refuse to respect the natural rights of the individual and uphold their oath to protect and defend the Constitution deserve the punishment they receive.