$5 gas perspective

codgerbill · Mar 15, 2011

I remember getting out of the Military (1964) and gas prices were somewhere between 30-40 cents per gallon. When I finally retired from the workforce after 43 years (2006) gas prices were somewhere around $2.50/gal. Even at $5/gal I think gas prices had not kept up with inflation. The only caveat is that with all that's going on now wages are being decreased. I am wondering if the gas prices would have kept up with inflation would we have had $5/gal gas already? We will, as others have said, limit ourselves to maby one or two long distance trips this year and stay closer to home for the rest.

Roy · Mar 15, 2011

We rented a site for a year and will take Day trips from that location with toad.
Thinking about I or 2 trips a year then Move the unit after that to the next location .
I think " GAS" is on the way up and to stay it's Cheaper to drive the toad 3 to 5 hours then the M.H.

scottydl · Mar 15, 2011

codgerbill said:
Even at $5/gal I think gas prices had not kept up with inflation.

From 30-40 cents to $5 is well over a 10x increase. Do you think most everyday average items have increased that much in price in ~40 years? I don't really know, being a 1977 baby myself.

But that seems like a big jump for most items. I remember gas being 62 cents/gallon when I was a kid (early 80's) and around $1/gallon when I was first driving (mid 90's), so to jump from $1 - $5 in a matter of 10-15 years seems excessive. On a worldwide perspective, the unfortunate fact about INflation is that it actually means DEflation of the U.S. dollar value to other countries. That will make our economy less and less important to other places upon who we rely for goods and manufacturing.

Wizard46 · Mar 15, 2011

I remember my Daddy saying he would never buy another Coke when they went from 5 to 6 cents

jje1960 · Mar 15, 2011

Wizard46 said:
I remember my Daddy saying he would never buy another Coke when they went from 5 to 6 cents

Wow... while I don't remember 5 or 6 cents Coke... I do remember the old 10 cent Coke machine at the Firehouse for sure! Hated that thing... was so hard to pull the bottles out you would hurt your fingers on the cap!

Hard to believe I remember 10 cent Coke and I'm only 50....

XJXtian · Mar 15, 2011

My friend's dad sent me this message in an email. I thought I'd share. It made me laugh. What are we gonna do other than just ride it out anyway?! :

Diet Snapple: 16 oz $1.29 ... $10.32 per gallon
Lipton Ice Tea: 16 oz $1.19 ..........$9.52 per gallon
Gatorade: 20 oz $1.59 ..... $10.17 per gallon
Brake Fluid: 12 oz $3.15 ...... $33.60 per gallon
Vick's Nyquil: 6 oz $8.35 ... $178.13 per gallon
Pepto Bismol: 4 oz $3.85 .. $123.20 per gallon
Whiteout: 7 oz $1.39 ....... .. $25.42 per gallon
Scope Mouthwash: 1.5 oz $0.99 ......$84.48 per gallon

And this is the REAL KICKER....
Evian water: 9 oz $1.49..$21.19 per gallon!
($21.19 for WATER and the buyers don't even know the source)

codgerbill · Mar 15, 2011

Scotty,
My comparison was the price of gas 40 some years ago to the wages I was getting then. I would guesstimate that a tenfold increase in wages is about on par with the average increase in gas prices ( the years I speak of are from the early 1960's). Back then if you were making $3/hr as a blue collar worker) it was a decent wage. 8)

PJ Stough · Mar 15, 2011

codgerbill said:
Scotty,
My comparison was the price of gas 40 some years ago to the wages I was getting then. I would guesstimate that a tenfold increase in wages is about on par with the average increase in gas prices ( the years I speak of are from the early 1960's). Back then if you were making $3/hr as a blue collar worker) it was a decent wage. 8)

I doubt that many blue collar jobs that paid $3.00 per hour in the early 60s are paying $30.00 per hour now. In the late 60s packing house workers in Iowa were making ~ $4.65 per hour, if you adjusted that wage for inflation only, they would be making ~ $25.00 per hour now. The reality is that today packing house workers in Iowa make ~ $11.00 per hour. Not a good sign for our economy.

Paul

RLSharp · Mar 15, 2011

Here is a picture of me sometime in the mid-1950's washing a windshield. I can remember unleaded selling for 15?/gal when I first started working at this station after school in 1952.

jje1960 · Mar 15, 2011

Paul & Ann said:
I doubt that many blue collar jobs that paid $3.00 per hour in the early 60s are paying $30.00 per hour now. In the late 60s packing house workers in Iowa were making ~ $4.65 per hour, if you adjusted that wage for inflation only, they would be making ~ $25.00 per hour now. The reality is that today packing house workers in Iowa make ~ $11.00 per hour. Not a good sign for our economy.

Paul

In the 70's I busted butt in a factory as a fabricator/welder, made $4.30 per hour. It was a $4.30 per hour job... quickly realised that's not what I wanted in life, moved to another factory fabricator job and ended at $11.50 per hour in 83'... it was an $11.50 per hour job... quickly realised that's not what I wanted in life, moved.... I'm happy now, a few moves later over the years... gotta do what ya gotta do to keep up vs sitting in the under achiever job and blaming everything else. Just one guy's opinion... Will yet again do what we gotta do to keep up with the potential $5 (most likely above) fuel prices... however will not stop doing the RV thing, just adjust!

PJ Stough · Mar 15, 2011

jje1960 said:
In the 70's I busted butt in a factory as a fabricator/welder, made $4.30 per hour. It was a $4.30 per hour job... quickly realised that's not what I wanted in life, moved to another factory fabricator job and ended at $11.50 per hour in 83'... it was an $11.50 per hour job... quickly realised that's not what I wanted in life, moved.... I'm happy now, a few moves later over the years... gotta do what ya gotta do to keep up vs sitting in the under achiever job and blaming everything else. Just one guy's opinion... Will yet again do what we gotta do to keep up with the potential $5 (most likely above) fuel prices... however will not stop doing the RV thing, just adjust!

I dont see that your post has anything to do with what I posted, but it sounds good.

Paul

glen54737 · Mar 15, 2011

one of my most memorable rv trips was with my uncle and his family "up north" in Michigan and how he wasn't F@#$ going to pay $.47 for a gallon of gas. it was 1976.

gwcowgill · Mar 15, 2011

I remember .15 a gallon gas in the 50's and paying .09 a gallon at an embassy gas station in the 60's. No matter what, we will still be camping maybe not as far. We are on a fixed income so we go as far and long as the income allows.

Mexray · Mar 15, 2011

The inflation of personal wages may be a factor for some that can 'afford' 5$/gal fuel...However, please don't forget that there are countless millions that rely on their vehicles to go to/from jobs that aren't earning those 'inflated' wages mentioned above...

Higher gas prices are a back breaker for these lower category wage earners - the higher fuel prices take needed $'s away from other necessities, AND even some otherwise discretionary dollars needed to help keep the economy rolling...

Also don't forget that the higher fuel prices rise, the more of a 'windfall' our Taxing Authorities enjoy - especially sales taxes based on dollars, not gallons! The Golden State of Calif. loves higher fuel prices, and we have more vehicles needing this stuff than any other state...

Grin and bear it, fellow fuel users out there...we can't win, as the speculators and petroleum processors continue to stuff their coffers with our hard-earned dollars! :-[

jamarynn1 · Mar 15, 2011

I remember 25 cent per gallon gas, 5 cent cokes from the machine and 11 cent White Castle Hamburgers. We paid more for our first new car than we paid for our first house. I can also remember vividly when people were saying "$1 a gallon for gas??? Nobody is going to pay $1 a gallon for gas....they'll just quit driving!!!" Sigh.....

We're leaving May 1st from Florida on a 6-month trip to Washington State and back and the budget is going up faster than my blood pressure... If we put it off til next year, the gas will probably be $7 a gallon.

Wendy · Mar 15, 2011

FWIW, our first house in 1973 cost $23,000. It's now worth well over $250,000 (NO, we don't still own it). Lettuce was 15-cents a head and it's now $2 per head, at least in Yuma. Gas was 30-cents a gallon and it's now over $3 per gallon. All are about 10x increase. The good news is that in 1978, my parents were averaging $6 per night for campgrounds and the average now is, I believe, less that 10x that.

Wendy
Pueble el Mirage, Phoenix Az, for a week

NY_Dutch · Mar 15, 2011

The Consumer Price Index has risen about 610% since 1964. Allowing for inflation, a gallon of gas that cost $0.40 in 1964 would cost $2.84 today.

http://www.usinflationcalculator.com

taoshum · Mar 16, 2011

XJXtian said:
My friend's dad sent me this message in an email. I thought I'd share. It made me laugh. What are we gonna do other than just ride it out anyway?! :

Diet Snapple: 16 oz $1.29 ... $10.32 per gallon
Lipton Ice Tea: 16 oz $1.19 ..........$9.52 per gallon
Gatorade: 20 oz $1.59 ..... $10.17 per gallon
Brake Fluid: 12 oz $3.15 ...... $33.60 per gallon
Vick's Nyquil: 6 oz $8.35 ... $178.13 per gallon
Pepto Bismol: 4 oz $3.85 .. $123.20 per gallon
Whiteout: 7 oz $1.39 ....... .. $25.42 per gallon
Scope Mouthwash: 1.5 oz $0.99 ......$84.48 per gallon

And this is the REAL KICKER....
Evian water: 9 oz $1.49..$21.19 per gallon!
($21.19 for WATER and the buyers don't even know the source)

Evian water is tap water in a plastic bottle... 3 cents per gallon plus 2 cents for the bottle, cost is 5 cents. Sell it for $1.49 for 9 oz or $8-9 per gal. Gas is cheaper than water unless you buy it from the city instead of Evian. Then there's gold for $1300 per oz... gold and oil track each other, huh?

Alaskansnowbirds · Mar 16, 2011

If you think those prices are bad. Check out what printer ink costs per gallon!!

jim and di · Mar 16, 2011

NY_Dutch said:
The Consumer Price Index has risen about 610% since 1964. Allowing for inflation, a gallon of gas that cost $0.40 in 1964 would cost $2.84 today.

http://www.usinflationcalculator.com

Something wrong with that calculator. I did purchase a new VW bug in 1965 for $1750 according to the formula Its worth 12,300 today. Where? I will take three. Also gas tax has far exceeded inflation adding to the price of a gallon.
M2C

$5 gas perspective

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