gas prices

No, I am not going to complain. Although it does stress me out a little! I just thought I would chronicle the changes we have made in our family to counteract the price change.

1. The poor Durango doesn't get to see the light of day much. It is very sad. Since Wendell's new job includes a company car, I get to drive his crappy little ford focus around town while he is at work. It gets more then twice the gas mileage. And as an added perk, it is quite the status symbol;)

2. I don't run errands anymore. I never just go to the store. I hit wal mart after the gym because it is right next to it. (obviously I don't get to wal mart often;) More examples-
- I did Costco returns today after movie fun because it is only a mile away from the theater, and I couldn't justify a separate trip. Of course, this meant standing in a very long line with a toddler who was already annoyed at having to be quiet for a two hour movie, and three other children. I NEVER go to Costco with kids. Ever. Not since my oldest three were little. It is not worth it. During the school year, my wonderful grandma comes over while the kids are in school and the baby is napping. I have been running errands by myself for years. Costco with kids is right up there with my least favorite things to do. I know most of you do it all the time. Not me.
- We didn't have fresh fruits or vegetables in our house for roughly 3 weeks. This is because the fruit market isn't really on my way to anything.(I have a hard time paying twice as much for them at the supermarket. I have issues, I know). I got my shots last week and swung by the FM on my way home. Shots = every 3 weeks. The day I went last week my family consumed: 1 whole pineapple, 1 whole baby cantaloupe, 1 whole bag of cherries, 1/2 bag of grapes, roughly 10 bananas, 3 nectarines, random carrots, and 1/2 pound broccoli. In 24 hours. Somehow I need to work the fruit market back in once a week. No my kids weren't totally deprived. We still had canned and frozen fruits and vegetables. But apparently it is not the same unless it is fresh.

3. Every time I go somewhere unusual I mentally figure out how much it is costing me in gas. I am getting much better at mental math.

4. We may never see Wendell's family in Utah again;)

5. Camping at the beach is not nearly as cost effective as it used to be. It is almost cheaper to stay in a nice place then it is to tow the tent trailer to the beach. If we find one that will fit my family ( all 50 of us) we may have to change our family vacation. Just kidding fam. That will probably never change no matter how expensive it gets. We don't really do it for the money. We are a family that likes camping. And it is fun to have a family commune for a week. We like a million little cousins running around. We like forgetting whose kids belong to whom. It just takes a little more creativity to budget multiple vacations. Choose a vacation to drop? I don't think so.

Is my budget so tight that all of these changes are absolutely necessary? Probably not. I think this is my way of coping with change and pretending I have control over something that seems a little out of control.

Basically it is helping me to be a better planner. This is probably a skill I needed anyway. So I should be thankful that I am forming new habits and learning to plan ahead. Yeah doubling gas prices!!;)

How about you? Am I the only one making changes?