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Gas Prices and Geocaching

knowschad

By knowschad
in General geocaching topics

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GOF and Bacall

GOF and Bacall

Posted
Posted (edited)

Let's say you have a 15 gal. tank. Now let's say the price is up $.50 per. gallon over last year. That means a tank of fuel is $7.50 more than last year. OK. How much fuel did you use on an average caching trip last year? Half a tank? That's $3.50 more that it will cost this year. Is that really enough to stop you from having all that fun?

Edited by GOF and Bacall
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mpilchfamily

+mpilchfamily

Posted
Posted

When your on a strict budget it hurts. Fortunately i live close to work. My budget for gas is $40 a month. I have an 11 gallon tank so i tend to only need about 7 gallons when i go to fill up. At worst i have to gas up twice a month before the price went up. So when it went over $2.85 i had to really cut back on driving to stay in my budget.

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MamaKatS

+MamaKatS

Posted
Posted

Gas price increase in just the past day or so has made me very much wish I'd postponed my fabulous All-Day-Kid-Free Caching till another time (as much as I enjoyed it). Now I'm scraping $$ together to make it to work till Friday, LOL (thank God, tomorrow is thursday! LOL!). Didn't quite budget "enough" gas money for this week (had gas prices not jumped so high, woulda been ok). That 40 mile (one way) commute of mine really sucks all the fun out of life - LOL! But, what goes up, must come down, eventually, I hope. :)

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knowschad

knowschad

Posted
  • Author
Posted

That's $3.50 more that it will cost this year. Is that really enough to stop you from having all that fun?

Never!!! Banish the thought. My point was to have fun with the most distant caches now, and you can pick up those close to home if/when gas goes up to $4-$5/gal. Of course, I have hundreds of unfound caches close to home, so some of you in less cache-dense areas might not be getting the humor in my suggestion.
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GOF and Bacall

GOF and Bacall

Posted
Posted

When your on a strict budget it hurts. Fortunately i live close to work. My budget for gas is $40 a month. I have an 11 gallon tank so i tend to only need about 7 gallons when i go to fill up. At worst i have to gas up twice a month before the price went up. So when it went over $2.85 i had to really cut back on driving to stay in my budget.

 

Gas price increase in just the past day or so has made me very much wish I'd postponed my fabulous All-Day-Kid-Free Caching till another time (as much as I enjoyed it). Now I'm scraping $$ together to make it to work till Friday, LOL (thank God, tomorrow is thursday! LOL!). Didn't quite budget "enough" gas money for this week (had gas prices not jumped so high, woulda been ok). That 40 mile (one way) commute of mine really sucks all the fun out of life - LOL! But, what goes up, must come down, eventually, I hope. :)

 

The fuel for geocaching should never come out of your basic transportation budget. Save that for what it is for. Getting to work, school, etc. Use your entertainment budget for geocaching.

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DanOCan

+DanOCan

Posted
Posted

I suspect if prices go up another 20cents/liter or so I will give serious consideration to doing the more mundane caches closer to home rather than driving further away to get "special" caches. I'll also start doing caches "while in the area" rather than planning special trips just for caching purposes.

 

Pretty much the same thing I did last time gas prices went stupid.

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geodarts

+geodarts

Posted
Posted

My radius has expanded over the years. There are only a handful of unfound caches that do not require a bit of a drive. The prius gives me a little flexibility. A PHEV might have been nice but it is not within the budget. Still, the price of gas where I live is quite a bit above the national average. So when I go out, I need to make the day count by heading towards a place to take a nice hike or where I can explore country roads (with caches). It may not be worth it to drive 50 miles for lamp posts.

 

We have enjoyed a certain amount of privilege compared to the price of gas in Europe. so unless the economy completely collapses I suppose we will do what we have to do. And if things reach that point, I probably will have other things on my mind.

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lamoracke

+lamoracke

Posted
Posted

whether its something I would normally bring up about or not, its still something I think about in my head and is a reality but not just because rising gas costs of late. There are many areas I would go if I could afford it and gas (and ferry) costs are a big factor in where I can or cant go. More than one way hour+ trips for caches for me are rare nowadays (ie my cache I did this last Monday).

 

Reality is, even 12 miles away is more like 18 miles driving for most areas around here, or a ferry run for me.

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mpilchfamily

+mpilchfamily

Posted
Posted

The fuel for geocaching should never come out of your basic transportation budget. Save that for what it is for. Getting to work, school, etc. Use your entertainment budget for geocaching.

 

Good point but my entertainment budget is just as limited if not more so. I love on a very tight budget. So much so that my rent increase this year may break me. I may have to give up caching to get a second job. Just the price i pay to allow my wife to be a stay at home mom (her choice).

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mresoteric

mresoteric

Posted
Posted

There are plenty of caches nearby and I prefer hiking to driving.

You people are taking me MUCH too seriously!

I don't know what your situation is, but where I live there are a lot of caches. I guess that probably isn't true for everyone. I happen to be in a large populated area and we also have a lot of wildlife area. This means there are a lot of caches hidden where we normally hike. So I don't see gas prices as a problem for me. I understand it is for others. I didn't mean to say anything bad about those that are affected.

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Chokecherry

+Chokecherry

Posted
Posted

That's $3.50 more that it will cost this year. Is that really enough to stop you from having all that fun?

Never!!! Banish the thought. My point was to have fun with the most distant caches now, and you can pick up those close to home if/when gas goes up to $4-$5/gal. Of course, I have hundreds of unfound caches close to home, so some of you in less cache-dense areas might not be getting the humor in my suggestion.

 

I've kind of exhausted a lot of the caches in my immediate area as we aren't dense here. My schedule doesn't allow for a lot of out on a whim caches. So I saved the local ones for whims and on the weekend would spend an evening or occasionally a whole day and go to a destination and do a bunch there in one fell swoop. Or on my way to stuff do some caches on the way there.

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Sol seaker

+Sol seaker

Posted
Posted

There are plenty of caches nearby and I prefer hiking to driving.

You people are taking me MUCH too seriously!

 

You're on the Geocaching boards--what do you expect? :)

 

I was going to say it, but someone beat me to it!!

I already try to get caches when I go places. I'll need to go somewhere far, and my first thought is, "NEW CACHES!!!"

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Cpt.Blackbeard

+Cpt.Blackbeard

Posted
Posted

I put $100.00 worth of gas in my pickup Monday, it did not fill the tank, not so long ago $75.00 would fill it, I know I could have put another $30.00 in before it would have been filled.

I've been hauling in scrap metal this week trying to get enough money to meet the minimum payment for February on my Mortgage, March is due next week. Down to half a tank already, I don't need higher prices.

 

When I started caching 6 years ago it took me three days to find every cache within reasonable driving distance, think I was up to 11 by then. That's when I knew that for me caching would be a very occasional day out, not a regular activity.

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gundark2000

+gundark2000

Posted
Posted

When your on a strict budget it hurts. Fortunately i live close to work. My budget for gas is $40 a month. I have an 11 gallon tank so i tend to only need about 7 gallons when i go to fill up. At worst i have to gas up twice a month before the price went up. So when it went over $2.85 i had to really cut back on driving to stay in my budget.

Heck, I wish I was driving what you have! I'm on a tight budget myself, my daily driver's a classic `77 Ford F-100 pick-up: 19 gal. tank, 13 mpg avr. job's 11 miles each way so I have to fill up once a week just to be able to get to and from work. And NO, selling it is NOT an option! My dad bought it in`84 and handed it down to me 2 years ago. What I DO need is to sell my other car nd get something more fuel efficient. Just don't have the time right now to fix it before I can put it up for sale.

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Sioneva

+Sioneva

Posted
Posted

Those of us who own cars with serious wanderlust are gonna have a very serious problem. :mad: One day caching trips of 250 miles roundtrip are not uncommon... were not uncommon... on any weekend that is remotely decent as far as weather.

 

And I don't even want to THINK how much money I'll spend on gas going to MOGA.

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TheAlabamaRambler

+TheAlabamaRambler

Posted
Posted (edited)

Geocaching cost me my truck!

 

I love big vehicles, but since I started geocaching those gas hogs became too expensive. I like to go to events and have many times slept in the truck on caching trips so I could afford the gas to get there.

 

My favorite was a custom 454cu Dualie GMC Suburban that got 8 mpg. It was killing me on cache expeditions (I cached in it in 24 states) so I had to either downsize or quit traveling to cache.

 

Now I drive a Chevy HHR, not much of a truck but it gets 24 mpg so caching isn't as expensive.

 

Life is full of trade-offs I suppose.

Edited by TheAlabamaRambler
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t4e

+t4e

Posted
Posted

$/gallon..miles...MPG...all this imperial stuff hurts my brain

 

i guess i should consider myself lucky, i use Premium in my car and i don't have to look at the price, if it doubled over night i would reconsider my caching habits and just go more to places where you can park the car and grab 5-6 caches by hiking

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GOF and Bacall

GOF and Bacall

Posted
Posted

$/gallon..miles...MPG...all this imperial stuff hurts my brain

 

i guess i should consider myself lucky, i use Premium in my car and i don't have to look at the price, if it doubled over night i would reconsider my caching habits and just go more to places where you can park the car and grab 5-6 caches by hiking

 

A bit OT but there are very few vehicles out there that need to run on premium fuel.

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northernpenguin

+northernpenguin

Posted
Posted

$/gallon..miles...MPG...all this imperial stuff hurts my brain

 

i guess i should consider myself lucky, i use Premium in my car and i don't have to look at the price, if it doubled over night i would reconsider my caching habits and just go more to places where you can park the car and grab 5-6 caches by hiking

 

1 US Gallon = 3.78541178 litres

 

So, today's $1.17/litre here (or $1.32/litre premium) is about $4.42/Gallon (or $4.99/Gallon for the premium stuff)

 

Needless to say, I don't miss my Equinox anymore (I had the 2005 that was measured in gallons per mile, not MPG :lol: ). The Corolla does much better for fuel economy but not so good at ground clearance. Having said that most of the people that I cache with think my Corolla is Trail Rated.

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4wheelin_fool

4wheelin_fool

Posted
Posted

Gas prices affect everything that is bought and sold, due to an increase in transportation costs. It also limits travel for people wishing to visit areas and spend money, preventing any stimulation of the economy. The previous rise in gas prices is what precipitated the downturn, and the economic crisis at the end of 2008.

 

It it predicted that here will be a continuous rise in gas prices due to the turmoil in the middle east, which will cause a much larger economic crash at the end of 2012 after the Jeb Bush/Palin ticket wins, but just before they take office. Many ATMs will stop working and other mayhem will ensue. Enjoy the cheap travel and grab the caches now while you can. :ph34r:

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bflentje

+bflentje

Posted
Posted

Gas prices affect everything that is bought and sold, due to an increase in transportation costs. It also limits travel for people wishing to visit areas and spend money, preventing any stimulation of the economy. The previous rise in gas prices is what precipitated the downturn, and the economic crisis at the end of 2008.

 

It it predicted that here will be a continuous rise in gas prices due to the turmoil in the middle east, which will cause a much larger economic crash at the end of 2012 after the Jeb Bush/Palin ticket wins, but just before they take office. Many ATMs will stop working and other mayhem will ensue. Enjoy the cheap travel and grab the caches now while you can. :ph34r:

 

I am as Conservative as the next guy but that was a joke, right?? At least it was funnier than the Platinum membership bit.

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northernpenguin

+northernpenguin

Posted
Posted

Gas prices affect everything that is bought and sold, due to an increase in transportation costs. It also limits travel for people wishing to visit areas and spend money, preventing any stimulation of the economy. The previous rise in gas prices is what precipitated the downturn, and the economic crisis at the end of 2008.

 

It it predicted that here will be a continuous rise in gas prices due to the turmoil in the middle east, which will cause a much larger economic crash at the end of 2012 after the Jeb Bush/Palin ticket wins, but just before they take office. Many ATMs will stop working and other mayhem will ensue. Enjoy the cheap travel and grab the caches now while you can. :ph34r:

 

Gas prices will rise... Yes.

The world will end as we know it. Unlikely.

 

Gas was 0.21/gallon in 1928. It rose to 0.26/gallon by 1948.

So..... I'm gonna take the above as a joke.

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4wheelin_fool

4wheelin_fool

Posted
Posted

Gas prices affect everything that is bought and sold, due to an increase in transportation costs. It also limits travel for people wishing to visit areas and spend money, preventing any stimulation of the economy. The previous rise in gas prices is what precipitated the downturn, and the economic crisis at the end of 2008.

 

It it predicted that here will be a continuous rise in gas prices due to the turmoil in the middle east, which will cause a much larger economic crash at the end of 2012 after the Jeb Bush/Palin ticket wins, but just before they take office. Many ATMs will stop working and other mayhem will ensue. Enjoy the cheap travel and grab the caches now while you can. :ph34r:

 

I am as Conservative as the next guy but that was a joke, right?? At least it was funnier than the Platinum membership bit.

 

It will be funny only if it does not happen. Both will run for office, although Palin does not stand a chance to win, her strong showing will be the excuse for Jeb to put her on the ticket. George was not qualified to run for office which is why they put him in first. Jeb is plenty qualified, and a much better politician so now it will be rather simple for him to win once the economy goes sour again.

 

Palin is originally from north Idaho, with family members who belong to the Aryan race compound that was located there at the time. The goal is to swing the pendulum farther to both the left and the right until a split occurs. For a new world order to occur, all of the countries must be more equal. Palin's husband also works for BP. The oil mayhem in the Gulf was supposed to trigger Obama to stop all offshore drilling to give the oil companies a reason to raise the gas prices again, but he didnt take the bait. However the turmoil in the middle east will be used for that, as dictatorships will not be popular in the future anyhow.

 

Overall, it will put a damper on powercaching, and spur more creative hides in unique spots, so that is a plus. :D:ph34r:

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4wheelin_fool

4wheelin_fool

Posted
Posted (edited)

Gas prices affect everything that is bought and sold, due to an increase in transportation costs. It also limits travel for people wishing to visit areas and spend money, preventing any stimulation of the economy. The previous rise in gas prices is what precipitated the downturn, and the economic crisis at the end of 2008.

 

It it predicted that here will be a continuous rise in gas prices due to the turmoil in the middle east, which will cause a much larger economic crash at the end of 2012 after the Jeb Bush/Palin ticket wins, but just before they take office. Many ATMs will stop working and other mayhem will ensue. Enjoy the cheap travel and grab the caches now while you can. :ph34r:

 

Gas prices will rise... Yes.

The world will end as we know it. Unlikely.

 

Gas was 0.21/gallon in 1928. It rose to 0.26/gallon by 1948.

So..... I'm gonna take the above as a joke.

 

The price of gas in Venezuela is only 23 cents per gallon.

You would think that they would export more to make money, but they dont because they cannot. There is no competition in the oil industry. The last time gas prices soared, oil company profits soared also. When you have record prices, and record profits at the same time, that indicates that there is no competition.

 

Some competitions are good, and some are not. When there is no competition, creativity follows. The oil companies are trying to get creative in their excuses to raise prices again. Similar to creativity in caching which dies when people start competing against each other, using cut and paste logs and similar hides. More business competition is good, but not in a hobby environment such as caching.

Edited by 4wheelin_fool
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jholly

jholly

Posted
Posted

Gas prices affect everything that is bought and sold, due to an increase in transportation costs. It also limits travel for people wishing to visit areas and spend money, preventing any stimulation of the economy. The previous rise in gas prices is what precipitated the downturn, and the economic crisis at the end of 2008.

 

It it predicted that here will be a continuous rise in gas prices due to the turmoil in the middle east, which will cause a much larger economic crash at the end of 2012 after the Jeb Bush/Palin ticket wins, but just before they take office. Many ATMs will stop working and other mayhem will ensue. Enjoy the cheap travel and grab the caches now while you can. :ph34r:

 

I am as Conservative as the next guy but that was a joke, right?? At least it was funnier than the Platinum membership bit.

 

It will be funny only if it does not happen. Both will run for office, although Palin does not stand a chance to win, her strong showing will be the excuse for Jeb to put her on the ticket. George was not qualified to run for office which is why they put him in first. Jeb is plenty qualified, and a much better politician so now it will be rather simple for him to win once the economy goes sour again.

 

Palin is originally from north Idaho, with family members who belong to the Aryan race compound that was located there at the time. The goal is to swing the pendulum farther to both the left and the right until a split occurs. For a new world order to occur, all of the countries must be more equal. Palin's husband also works for BP. The oil mayhem in the Gulf was supposed to trigger Obama to stop all offshore drilling to give the oil companies a reason to raise the gas prices again, but he didnt take the bait. However the turmoil in the middle east will be used for that, as dictatorships will not be popular in the future anyhow.

 

Overall, it will put a damper on powercaching, and spur more creative hides in unique spots, so that is a plus. :D:ph34r:

I didn't realize that Rush talked about geocaching.

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wimseyguy

+wimseyguy

Posted
Posted (edited)

For once I agree with narcissa that much of this is fueled by market speculation and profit mongering. According to the most recent US Gummint data, Libyan imports represent less than .05% of our imports over the past three months. So why the reactionary price hikes? :mad:

Because they can. Bastiges.

 

I also agree with the OP and plan to get to the fun further away caches sooner instead of later, in case I do have to cut back on recreational driving. That's why I'm headed to the desert outside of LV in a few weeks. :lol:

Edited by wimseyguy
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Smurf

+Smurf

Posted
Posted (edited)

Here in the UK, petrol(gas) is currently £1.28/litre (

 

Going on todays exchange rate of £1 = $1.60

 

That makes One US gallon (3.785 Litres) = $7.75

 

and one Imperial gallon (4.546 Litres) = an enormous $9.31

 

I'll swap you all day long and twice on Sundays

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

BUT ,, the main complaint here is the fact that the petrol(gas)is £0.32/litre the rest is TAX

Edited by Smurf
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