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But the county is poor - household income of $26,000 is nearly half the national average - and people have to travel a long way to work. (http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/24/news/economy/camden_alabama/index.htm?cnn=yes)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2_99_Gasoline_Price_001.jpgCNNMoney - March 24, 2008

What will the breaking point be like? - Ed

Camden, Ala. -- Corey Carter spends a quarter of his paycheck on gas.

The 30-year old Carter, who earns $7 an hour making car parts for a Hyundai factory near Montgomery, Ala., spends $65 a week on gas, double what it cost just a few years ago.

Paying $30 more for gas out of a $240 paycheck makes a big difference.

"Going out to eat, going to the movies, you can't do stuff like that," says Carter, filling up his Firebird at a BP station in Camden, a quiet southern town 80 miles southwest of Montgomery. "You're working for gas now."… http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/24/news/economy/camden_alabama/index.htm?cnn=yes

Although I do support a gas tax versus doing nothing, taxing gas instead of inefficient gas-using vehicles is sorta like targeting Nyquil instead of the meth labs themselves. The necessary pain is poorly distributed via a gas tax.

What I find interesting is that they weren't already driving fuel efficient vehicles. When you're living so close to the edge that a few percentage points of your income makes such a difference one would think those folks had already learned to "live smaller".

What I find interesting is that they weren't already driving fuel efficient vehicles.

Yeah, Firebirds and Cherokees ain't exactly fuel misers. Not even close. But If your budget's already tied up in gas, then you're pretty much stuck with what you've got.

What I find interesting is that they weren't already driving fuel efficient vehicles. When you're living so close to the edge that a few percentage points of your income makes such a difference one would think those folks had already learned to "live smaller".

Hi Brian;

You would think that the logical thing to do would be to get a more fuel efficient car. But you do not see the media telling people that the main cause of their not having the money necessary for essentials is because a key commodity has jumped an unheard of 33% in one year. If Carrie Fry replaced her Jeep Cherokee even with a 1.9L 5 sp. manual Saturn like I am driving, she would experience an immediate huge cost of living raise. But, more likely she will keep what she has, for buying another car is just "too much money" that she doesn't have. And, does she even know that she could trade her Cherokee in for a cheap Saturn or Neon, that, if driven frugally, would give her a huge raise and make things a lot better for her?

Nowhere do I see the media telling people that these alternatives exist. A lot of this problem is exacerbated by simply not knowing that a small 4 cyl. engine with a good 5 speed, driven frugally, can mean the difference between paying or not paying the mortgage.

You might find all kinds of people running out of gas

http://www.youtube.com/v/FA621_F3bKw&hl=en

1. Try hard in high school so you can get into a votech, comm college, university, apprenticeship, whatever.

2. Graduate/Perfect a skill that is higher than someone in china with no education can do (like assembling hyundai parts)

3. Make > $7 hr.

You are working for the wrong company. people who install cup holders and seat belts into Camrys make 70K a year....and not to make this guys situation marginal, but its hard to make $7/hr if you are a legal citizen in this country and you have even the most basic skills.

Not to sound callas, but I'm surprised I'm not reading about:
Poor family barely getting by. New house and new Suburban last year, now the adjustable interest rate on their house ballooned up and the cost to fill the Suburban is staggering. With the housing market taxed, they will have to take a loss on their house, and with the price of gas, they can't even give their 2007 Suburban away.We're having trouble making ends meet at our house, but we made sure that we put 20% down on our house, and every car we've looked at since 1997 has been the most efficient vehicle in it's class.

Frankly it's hard to feel sorry for shortsightedness.

11011011

You would be surprised with available employment opportunities in some rural communities where there are few employers and little industry. All of which equates to $7-8/hr.

You would be surprised with available employment opportunities in some rural communities where there are few employers and little industry. All of which equates to $7-8/hr.

I bet they have employee incentives where a new base model accent (35mpg) per month with gas would be as much as it costs to drive his firebird. Good Ole boys dont want to be seen in a hyundai though

I live in a rural area where the typical wage isn't that high. Many people have to commute to work 10, 20, or 30 miles. I see more pickup trucks and SUV's on the roads, rather than my kind of vehicle: a Civic.

People who don't have money are the ones who want too much to look like they have money by driving a status SUV or pickup truck. Too bad if gas is costing them too much. They should have bought a car for transportation, not for status.

What's wrong with driving a fuel-efficient car? Americans are going to have to answer that question, and I have no sympathy for people who earn less than I do driving vehicles that cost more than mine, and guzzle two to three times as much fuel.

Harry

Frankly it's hard to feel sorry for shortsightedness.

That's the real problem. It seems that most folks don't plan into the next week let alone into the next year, or the next decade. It also seems that most folks don't know to say no when something sounds too good to be true.

Since the current economic issues started with mortgages that's the best thing to use as an example. So you've been in the same job with the same pay for years and you couldn't get into a mortgage 5 years ago, and you didn't qualify last year, but all of a sudden lenders are falling all over themselves, even competing with each other to get your family into a home.

Alarm bells should be going off. When they start asking you to sign papers you should be the most attentive you've ever been in your life. And when they try to wave off that little word, "variable", you should take that as a pure indicator that you're in for it.

The same way folks bought that they bought the vehicle-as-status idea that was marketed to them. They blew their limited budgets on vehicles that were larger, harder to maintain and less fuel efficient than they had to be, thereby setting themselves up for failure yet again.

The day you start living beyond your means is the day that your life begins to unravel.

This guy doesnt understand the law of diminishing returns. If you are spending 25% of your net take home on gas....you are making less than minimum wage. You can take a job for $5.50 and has a 2 mile or less commute. The minimum wage should cover you for any job in your town at $5.50. (probably no benefits...but it doesnt sound like his $7 job based on his taxes does either.)

"The day you start living beyond your means is the day that your life begins to unravel".

It would stand to reason, therefore, that a country living beyond its means will also begin to unravel?:rolleyes::confused:

It would stand to reason, therefore, that a country living beyond its means will also begin to unravel?:rolleyes::confused:Exactly what I fear is happening to America and what happened to all great nations since ancient Egypt. :(