Cheap(er)

This morning on my way to school, I filled up our Oldmobile Delta '88 land yacht with 15 gallons of unleaded gas. The total price? $27, which works out to about $1.75 a gallon - the lowest I've seen in St. Louis all fall.

Let me use my "I remember when voice" for just a second: I remember when gas was consistently $1.19 in Colorado for most of the 90's; in the 80's (even with Illinois' high gas tax), I remember filling up with gas that was $.89 a gallon. Glory days.

By those standards, $1.75 is high, but it's amazing how a summer of $3-almost $4 gasoline makes it seem low. Yes, I know that even at the latter price our gasoline is less expensive than gas in most of Europe, but the downward trend of of late is welcome news to my ears (not to mention to our gas budget).

Anybody else rejoicing? What's the lowest you've seen gas going for these days (and what was the highest you paid for it last summer)?

Comments

[nick]

O boy am I! Working so far from home and having only one car we have to fill our 14-gallon tank at least twice a week. The lowest I have actually seen yet is $1.78, unfortunately that was just after I had paid $1.83 at another station.

In early January of 1998, my college roommate and I made the 1600+ mile drive (straight through) from Lincoln, NE to Miami, FL to watch Nebraska play in the Orange Bowl. As we passed through Atlanta, I remember seeing a gas station sign advertising gas for $.79 a gallon. That's my "back in the day" story.

[Anne]

Here in Hawaii it's down to $2.59 from a high of well over $4.00 this summer. I'll happily take that while it lasts. And it means our electric bill is going to go down a bit here, too.

[nick]

Oh, I forgot to say my highest. I'm pretty sure I never broke the $4 mark; I seem to remember $3.98.

[Chelsea]

It was $1.83 last week, but it's back up to $1.86 now. I almost took a picture of the pump when I filled up the minivan for less than 35 bucks.

Highest this summer, I think, was $3.84. And I had to drive out of my way to get that price.

My youngest turns 5 on Monday, so I updated his baby book. When he was born gas was $1.19 a gallon and that seemed expensive.

[justjuli]

It's $1.79 at one gas station nearby. But most stations are selling for around $1.84ish.

I remember Fall of 1998 filling up my tank for $12. Gas was $.99/gallon then at some mom & pop gas station near my college town.

This summer, I paid as much as $4.16. It was down to $3.78 before I left for Kenya for a few weeks in October. When I came back, gas was $2.64 and I couldn't believe it! (I was in a remote are and had no contact with home - so had no idea about what was going on with the financial world and gas prices!)

[clay johnson]

$1.71 on the way home from Kansas City last week, but I'd just filled the tank at $1.83. Figures.

[Megan]

I saw it for $1.65 at my favorite QT tonight! I wanted to fill up, but I only need 1/6 of a tank, so it seemed silly. Maybe tomorrow though. :)

[John R.]

I just paid 1.68 in TN.
Hey to you and the Fam. We'er on a trip looking at colleges for Savannah. Thoughtr of you as I wrestle with this issue.

[Craig]

Filling up today for $1.49 and thinking about buying a third vehicle just to take advantage of the low gas prices (it's the American way, you know).