The Impact of Gas Prices on the Family Trip

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The Impact of Gas Prices on the Family Trip

By JLP | May 8, 2008

Summer is just around the corner, which means a trip to Kansas to visit family is in our future. Since I have had gas prices on my mind lately, I thought I would calculate how much we can expect to spend on gas for our trip.

Although we don’t own a gas-guzzler, our Rendezvous hardly gets the best gas mileage. Once my wife and I load the car down with kids, junk, and throw a car top carrier up on top, I’m lucky to get 20 miles per gallon (on some parts of the trip the MPG might be more like 18). For us, a roundtrip to Kansas is around 1,400 (not including driving around while we are up there). With gas at $3.50 per gallon, it looks like we can expect to spend $245 just on gas for our trip. If my memory is correct, that represents about a 45% increase over last year.

If gas goes up to $4 per gallon, a roundtrip will cost us $280. It won’t break the bank but it is a significant increase over last year. Yes, I could save some money if I were to drive slower but I find when I’m in a car full of kids I like to get where I’m going as fast as I can. Besides, I don’t see slowing down adding much more than a mile or two to my MPG.

Ah, I remember the good ol’ days when we spent about $125 for a round trip. Of course we had less money back then so it still seemed like a lot.

Topics: Budgeting, Cars |

Comments to “The Impact of Gas Prices on the Family Trip”

Chief Family Officer Says:
May 8th, 2008 at 12:02 pm

LOL on the driving as fast as you can when there are kids in the car! That’s definitely me too. (Conversely, I often find that I drive slower when I am alone, since it is “relaxing” time.)

I’ve been thinking about the price of gas for long road trips also. We are going to Vegas in the fall for a wedding and I have been debating whether to drive or to fly …

JLP Says:
May 8th, 2008 at 12:08 pm

For us, driving is a no-brainer. We are a family of five and would have to buy five seats on an airplane (I can’t imagine being able to fly a family of 5 for $245). Then, once we arrived, we would either have to rent a car or depend on family to drive us around. I would prefer to have my own car even though I have to drive 1400 miles round trip.

Philip Says:
May 8th, 2008 at 1:35 pm

I am in the opposite spectrum, driving is illogical to me. Being a single person, with a ford explorer without great mpg, about 18 highway, at any sort of distance I am flying cheaper. For a trip home and back, probably about 1000 miles @ $3.50 I would spend $200 on gas, and I got an airline ticket for less.

And you mention that when you spent $125 was when you had less it seemed like a lot, now people have the same as what you probably had then and are spending the $245, I know that hurts. Of course I am still in the boat about gas prices not changing very many people’s plans yet.

Lanning Russell Says:
May 8th, 2008 at 2:00 pm

I’m afraid today is going to be the good ol’ days of gas prices. We’re not Japan so I’m guessing bullet trains won’t be the answer in Kansas. But this one is bigger than all of us and your Rendezvous. Carpooling. Smart Cars. Wind farms. Huge new investments in infrastructure and R & D. The whole nine yards.

Wilson Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 12:45 am

I pray gas price to reach $8/gallon in a couple of years, when the street would be a thousand times safer, with low-end-bimmer-leasing-badge-whores van-pooling and SUV/Pick-up suckers switched to Prius.

Mike Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 7:41 am

Gas is still cheaper here then most of world. But with my wife driving 140 miles a day the idea of $8/gallon gas scares me to no end! Of course I would feel much better about spending $400 a month in gas if the oil companies weren’t making record profits…

Don Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 7:50 am

“Although we don’t own a gas-guzzler,…”

When I was too poor to afford a better car, I got 18mpg around town. I did consider that a gas guzzler.

When I could finally afford a new car, I was appalled that the best cars (short of a hybrid) only got around 35mpg. My wife has an ‘89 Mustang that at nearly 20 years of age can still get almost that. Clearly there has been little incentive, until recently, to innovate.

JLP Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 8:07 am

Don,

I agree that manufacturers are dropping the ball on MPG.

Michael Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 10:42 am

We have a Dodge Intrepid that does ok for a large family car, about 27 - 28 mpg on the highway. We are seriously considering getting a smaller car, especially since we live in rural area and you have to drive to everything - public transportation is not an option. I’ve even thought about getting a 8 or 10 year old beater (with a four cylinder), and dropping a rebuilt engine and tranny in - would still be cheaper than any new car I could get. There are a lot of trucks and SUV’s parked and/or for sale in our area. There is a lot of truck use here by folks that just don’t need a truck much or at all; it seems like some guys are literally afraid to be seen driving anything other than a big truck. Unless you are hauling or towing something on a consistent basis, there’s just no way you can justify it financially. Renting a big truck makes way more sense for the occasional job where you need a truck.

For our summer trip from the South to the Detroit area, we’re looking at 5 tanks of gas, based on past use. This week a fill-up was $43 … so I am guessing at least $215 for the trip.

We had the Skybus option last year, and I was able to score some of the $20 tickets and that saved us quite a bit. No such luck this year!

Bob Says:
May 12th, 2008 at 7:00 am

I read about families cancelling their family trip to, for example, Disneyland because of the higher price of gasoline. The admission to Disneyland is high; the cost of hotels and meals there is large; many people stop at a motel on the way down or the way back.

It strikes me that the higher cost of gasoline is often very little as a percentage of the whole trip.

What percentage of the total cost of the family trip does the cost of the gasoline make up? How much greater a percentage of the cost of the trip does gasoline make up in 2008 than in 2007?

KC Says:
May 12th, 2008 at 9:13 am

I’m with Bob here. I know a few extra bucks can put a strain on a budget, but if it puts a strain on the trip you couldn’t afford to go in the first place. Just buy one less pice of crap at Disney World or eat at a less nice place for dinner once or twice during the trip. That will help. And drive smarter - slow down on the highway, coast up to a red light in cities. These are all techniques I use now and they are fairly effective. I’m not saving huge sums of money, but it helps and I should have been doing it all along.

I usually drive from Memphis to NC to visit family. When gas was $3 for premium I could get there and back for $120, now its nearly $4 so that is $160 for the trip. Its still way cheaper than flying (recent ticket just cost $250), but at least I don’t have to rent a car as family will transport me. So either way its not cheap, but $40 isn’t going to keep me from seeing my family. And if time is a constraint $110 isn’t going to keep me from flying there.

Vito Says:
May 12th, 2008 at 9:46 am

What is wrong with people in this country? The oil companies are making billions IN PROFITS. What will it take for us to realize where we are heading? People are so complacent. Remember the Boston Tea Party? How is it most people stand idly by and swallow whatever garbage is thown out. What about our kids and their future? What about the ramifications of higher fuel costs? What needs to happen is get us out of the middle east, start concentrating on our problems here and forget the GLOBAL ECONOMY. The rest of the world is laughing at us.

Jeremy Says:
May 12th, 2008 at 10:34 am

Why is it wrong for a company to make a profit? While most oil companies are seeing record profits, the profit margins are actually low to average across the board. The S&P energy sector which includes the big oil companies has a profit margin of about 10%. If you have $100 billion in revenues and see a 10% profit, sure, you have $10 billion in profits, but as a percentage, that isn’t very much.

If you owned your own business and only realized a 10% profit, you’d be broke. Selling $100,000 worth of widgets only to pocket $10,000 isn’t going to pay very many bills.

If you want to complain about oil company profits, you should also look at what your bank is pocketing. Citigroup, Bank of America, and HSBC come in right below, and even higher than some oil companies in terms of raw profits. Damn those banks for making billions!

If you are mad that a company is making money, then just become a shareholder so you can pocket some of the profits as well. Personally, I like finding easy ways to make money. It is a lot more enjoyable than worrying and complaining about everything.

JLP Says:
May 12th, 2008 at 10:43 am

Jeremy,

I thinks it’s best to ignore silly comments like that one. Clearly they don’t understand how the oil business works.

Jeremy Says:
May 12th, 2008 at 12:43 pm

You’re right, JLP. It was still fairly early and I was cranky without my coffee.

Guido Says:
May 12th, 2008 at 2:45 pm

It’s all about supply and demand or the perception of. Demand for oil and oil based products is probably at an all time high, supplies are steady or if you listen to certain documentaries declining, this will continue the trend of increasing oil prices. Sooner or later the price will come to a break point and consumers will look for other alternatives to oil. Prices will not stabilize until the factors that drive supply and demand change. Oil companies are not the only ones making money on this serge in oil prices, land owners, well management companies and oil supply services are cashing in too. I remember several years ago when my mother-in-law’s brother had to close up shop because well owners were shutting down rigs because it cost more get the oil to market than what they were getting paid.
Does anyone remember the gas lines of the 1970’s? The Japanese cashed in by introducing fuel efficient cars, and Americans had to look for alternatives such as walking, biking, and mass transportation. I personally have invested in bicycles for the family. We still drive the automobile, however if the opportunity presents itself we will take the bikes now. Just the other day my son and I did a community service project at a nursing home 5 miles away. Normally we would drive but this time we left a little early and rode the bikes. Not only was it fun for him but healthy for both of us. I may not seem like much but it adds up. The question is how much more can gas go up before chaos breaks loose?

DebtFreeDave` Says:
May 16th, 2008 at 4:45 pm

I just got back from Ireland, gas was over $9 a gallon. I’m glad to back in the states for plenty of free gas.

mike3 Says:
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:09 pm

“Vito” says:
“How is it most people stand idly by and swallow whatever garbage is thown out.”

Maybe because they DON’T KNOW ***WHAT*** TO DO???

“What needs to happen is get us out of the middle east, start concentrating on our problems here and forget the GLOBAL ECONOMY. The rest of the world is laughing at us.”

Yes, we should. Time to abandon BOTH wars — Iraq AND Afghanistan. Actually abandon the whole damn “war on terrorism” charade as well.

And the rest of the world is in deep s*** too, it’s just as foolish as us. But I’ll agree that we’d better concentrate more on resolving our own folly. If we could really solve all our problems we need not be dependent on the global economy and so it can deep-six itself (it will as they’re just as dependent on oil or at least dependent enough that an ever-widening supply/demand gap assured by Peak Oil Fact will have serious detrimental effects) and yet we’d still have some semblance of a country and order here. But if we don’t, we’ll blow it and go and crash just like all the other fools who are laughing at us for our foolishness yet not taking huge action to fight their own either (I haven’t seen many if any non-American countries, nor America of course (gee what a shock), pledge 100% oil independence by 2040 like they need to since 2040 is the date oil becomes worthless as an energy source (EROEI < 1) according to the Hubbert Curve Model that is proving to be very accurate.).

Remember: there will come a time when all those big oil profits will dry up and even the Rich(tm) will find themselves in deep, deeeeeeeep poverty just like everyone else…………. talk about gloom/doom but that’s why we’d better DO SOMETHING BIG to turn this around even if it means giving up the precious “American Way of Life(TM)” because it is actually a bad thing.

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The Impact of Gas Prices on the Family Trip