$8+ gas by June?

[Jim]

Gas is up to $4.50 in Maranara, and I'm sure well over that in the Valley and Flagstaff. Some places out of state are already well over $6. However, in Arizona we are still not yet seeing $5+ as a common price, if at all.

Should this change, will you be likely to alter or change summer travel plans?

I'm considering dropping a trip to the Cabeza Prieta in the next month due to prices, as I can still go next winter if they drop. However, this was in a framework of prices dropping in a few months and prices being more reasonable come summer. If gas around here is $8 on average by June, $4.50 will seem cheap, and I will wish I at least did my desert trip.

My goal this summer was to go to the White Mountains in California, a region not exactly known for cheap gas, so I probably wouldn't do that if it was at $9 or $10/gallon in western Nevada and far east California. Wouldn't drive to eastern Montana or North Dakota, either. Maybe I would visit Flagstaff, instead? Maybe I would just go to the Angle Orchard and gorge on peaches?

[Alston_Neal]

The price we pay at the pump is not only determined by cost but also corporate profits and greed which are a part of capitalism. Capitalism is very flawed indeed but it is still head and shoulders above the alternative. I maintain that politics does play a significant role also, as price manipulation can help either of the parties with furthering an agenda.

How does this apply to all these countries, just curious.
You can convert to US dollar and US gallon.
https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/gasoline_prices/

[LosDosSloFolks]

@Alston_Neal
That chart is a real eye opener! Gas is .09 cents a gallon in Venezeula (up from 1 cent a year ago!), but a dozen eggs is $150.00. Looks like inflation is the culprit and likely for other countries too. The fabric of the global economy is very complex. You should talk to someone that knows global markets or at least stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night. ;-)

[RedRoxx44]

Forget about gas! I've been pricing AC units; thinking of replacing moms' and mine since they are getting up there in age. So far the quotes are used car prices of about 5 years ago! ( nicer used cars not rust buckets).

[CannondaleKid]

I've been pricing AC units

We were a bit shocked a year and a half ago when it was time to replace ours. But since it was going to cost a pretty penny anyway, we splurged a bit and went with a Bosch infinitely variable-stage AC unit, and while we did replace a 12-year old unit, we were more than a bit pleasantly surprised by it cutting our electric usage by 40%.
So we feel it was well worth the extra cost over even a newer two-stage unit.

And for your benefit @Chumley, no we didn't simply compare year-to-year electrical cost, we compared long-term heating/cooling degree-days with actual electricity usage.

[chumley]

@CannondaleKid Thanks for the data. My AC is 26 years old and I know I could buy a used vehicle for the price of replacing it but I’m happy to hear your experience with the variable stage unit, which I’ve been considering.

[xsproutx]

@LosDosSloFolks
Nah, I don't see it as an attack. Your response is/was perfectly reasonable and fair. You're absolutely right that if you look at the 2 year/3 year/recent year, it's up. But if you look at the price versus 12 years ago... it's low. And I that's really the point I'm getting at: we complain about gas going up, but it was higher 12 years ago, with some periods lower since... and how many other things can you say that about? It's just a weird false equivalency that gas gets that nothing/not much else does. Generally speaking, reasonable levels of inflation are considered a sign of a healthy economy (note: reasonable. Current levels aren't that) and we expect that with other products, but gas? That feces better stay at 2.50!

Also, funny enough, I had more than one engineering professor say, "Math is dude poo mess" Like anything with numbers, it's about which numbers you start with, where you got them, and how you filtered to get there!

[LosDosSloFolks]

@xsproutx wrote "Like anything with numbers, it's about which numbers you start with, where you got them, and how you filtered to get there!"
Precisely...tht's the "garbage in, gargage out" rule.