Fluctuating Gas Prices Will Never End

These days, gas prices seem to be a weekly topic on local and national news channels. Every time there is some type of fluctuation, it causes an uproar, usually because it is a difference of ten cents or greater. The reasons as to why is definitely a mystery with new myths popping up each day and almost all the supposed reasons being incorrect. The real discussion should be not as to what causes the price change but how it affects our everyday lives. Should we adjust our way of life to accommodate less driving or have we already?

In the U.S., we saw gas prices go as low as $1.75 and as high as $3.00 in 2005. In 2006, we saw almost the same trend with a low of $2.10 and so far we have leveled out around $3.00 or so. While I can agree that $1.75 works a lot better on my budget with two kids and a lot of ground to cover in my SUV each day, there is actually some good reason as to why we see such change each year. The first and most obvious reason would have to be that during the winter months when we drive the least, prices drop to accommodate the resulting increase in supply and the opposite occurs in summer months when we drive the most.

Another major cause in price change occurs when there is a change in value in crude oil, also dependant on the supply and demand factor. With many large worldwide issues such as weather and war affecting the supply, this can be part of the reason but is definitely not the main factor as many people believe. You may be pondering though, “Why does the price of fuel go up with the price of each barrel but not back down with it as well?” That is a simple answer as well – supply and demand. With the prices rising, less gas is purchased during a time that the companies have to sell extra to make ...

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...ust get in the car and drive for no reason? I definitely do not, I don’t have time too! And I’m sure most other people don’t either. When we get in our cars, we usually have somewhere to be and I need groceries and I need to go to work so I can’t cut down on how much I drive even if I wanted to.

So in conclusion, we should all quit blaming the politicians, who in fact have lowered the taxes by a small margin to assist during the hard times and the oil companies who have faced the largest ratio of production costs in history. So unless you can setup a carpool and split the cost of gas with others or are willing to utilize public transportation, there is no sense in worrying about what you can do because there isn’t much we can do. We should adjust our budgets and not our way of life because an increase in everyday life costs is inevitable and just a fact of life.