Comments on: Did You Get Suckered Into the Fake Gas Price Hike from Hurricane Ike?

By: Tania

Tania — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 11:25:40 +0000

I’ve just been sitting around waiting for something to happen.,

By: Amy

Amy — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:11:39 +0000

Here in Ontario the price went up 13 cents a liter

By: M. Cooke

M. Cooke — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:42:20 +0000

Gas prices in SC soared to over $4 a gallon. Higher than anytime during the summer driving season. What’s crazy is the price is still $4 or more Almost a week after the hurricane.

By: keith

keith — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:57:01 +0000

here on the east coast (georgia) our gas shot up from 3.68 to 4.49 and even 4.89

By: jim of Blueprint for Financial Prosperity

jim of Blueprint for Financial Prosperity — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:11:56 +0000

I wasn’t affected but I probably would’ve fueled up not so much because I’d be afraid of $5 gas but because if deliveries are affected, you could potentially not get gas even if you could pay for it.

By: Sean

Sean — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 01:25:24 +0000

A few of our nearby gas stations actually ran out of gas. Luckily, we had several other stations in close proximity, but it was odd to see the blank price billboards.

By: Rebel

Rebel — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 20:39:45 +0000

Here in Knoxville, TN it went from around $3.80 up to about $5.00 with many station out of gas. In fact, one of the big chains here, Pilot, is under investigation for price gauging. Luckily I had a little over half a tank and I don’t drive much. So I am holding off until it comes back down some. But it was rediculous here.

By: Ryuko

Ryuko — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 19:58:48 +0000

Gas prices went up here, too (we heard from a friend that they had already gone up $1 on the east coast tho… not sure if it was true), and my wife had, just the day before, convinced me to top off from 1/2 tank and save 9 cents a gallon (er… about $1 total).

As far as irrationality, people really need to think about how much it will cost them before freaking out. Yes, $4 gas is a huge pain compared to $2 gas. But it’s not that much worse than $3.85, and stocking up is foolish when we get so much of our oil from all over the world.

I recommend reading “Oil on the Brain” by Lisa Margonelli (I got it from my library, you probably can too); it’s a fantastic read about how the oil industry works, as well as insight into what the rest of the world thinks of America, and you’ll feel much more educated afterwards. She’s also got a website of the same name, with more info like that. It is always important to be educated in how things as important as oil or stocks work, since they form such an integral part of our lives.

Note, depending on how big your gas tank is, and how far you drive regularly (or, how far away the nearest gas station is, I guess), you can add 1-2mpg to your fuel efficiency running with half a tank or less. If you’re paranoid, keep a 10 or 20 gallon tank at home somewhere. Obviously, a compact car isn’t going to get a huge boost from this, but in an SUV like mine (or bigger), the weight makes a difference, and 1-2mpg can easily save you the equivalent of 30-50 cents a gallon. Do the math!

By: Atwater Village Newbie

Atwater Village Newbie — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 19:52:53 +0000

Call me crazy (or a Prius driver) but I buy gas when I need gas. Manipulating my schedule around unpredictable price changes costs me more than just maintaining my personal inelastic demand.

By: Connie Brooks

Connie Brooks — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:34:07 +0000

Thankfully we have a policy of always keeping our tank 3/4 full. So when things started going wonky around here, we were set.

Having an emergency plan in place, and doing things like keeping your gas tank full will ALWAYS save you money.