Gather Little by Little

I’m pretty sure I don’t have to tell you that the price of gas is WAY down compared to a month or two ago. Unless the soaring price of gas in the summer forced you to sell all your vehicles and ride a horse and buggy to work, you have surely seen and felt the relief at the gas pumps already. In my area of the country we just dipped below $2 per gallon and are now in the $1.89 range. I couldn’t be happier as I am finally able to fill my tank in one shot without feeling nauseous when I see the total cost.

Along with gas prices, the price of heating oil is also lower than it has been since I purchased my home three years ago. Those two things alone make my life significantly less stressful as I’m not worrying about freezing and able to make it to and from work in drive instead of neutral. Now if my memory serves me correctly, when the price of gas was on the rise, the price of….well…everything went up. If we follow the same path as the price of gas falls, shouldn’t we be seeing relief elsewhere?

Apparently, these things take time as well. There are several factors that go into the price of items on our shelves and gas prices are not the only thing determining cost.

• Technically most items are shipped on trucks with use diesel fuel, the price of which has not come down as quickly as gasoline.
• You must also take into consideration many larger companies purchase by contract and what is going on the shelves today may have been “bought” at a time when gas prices were considerable higher.
• Another consideration, the cost of items used to make the items we purchase everyday. Corn and wheat prices are not lowering at a rapid rate and crop supplies are affected by weather, specifically hurricanes, floods, and drought.
• Some stores that reported a loss as they tried to keep prices low during the surge in gas prices are somewhat hesitant to change prices now until they have a better idea of how stable the oil market will remain. Still other stores claim that pricing is really out of their hands and largely controlled by the manufacturer.

With all things considered, I look forward to seeing prices drop in other areas, but for now I will be satisfied with the relief at the pump. How have the lower gas prices affected your day to day living?

Trisha Wagner is a freelance writer for DestroyDebt.com, a debt community and debt forum. Trisha writes regularly on the topics of getting out of debt and personal finance.

Photo by: slopjop