By Jason Antoniewicz
Gas prices may have stabilized since rising above four dollars a gallon this past year, but Mount Pleasant residents are still feeling the pinch in their pocketbooks.
Chelsea Glisse, a sophomore from Bay City, admitted she makes less treks back home compared to previous years.
"It bugs me but - it's life and there's not much you can change about it," she said.
CMU junior Zachary VanderGraaff said his driving habits are the same as they were before the price hike, but his bank balance is not.
"If gas prices were cheaper, I'd be able to afford a new car," he said, describing his 1992 Chrysler Concorde and its various electrical problems.
Sophomore Emily De Long navigates campus on foot, with enough money in the bank for a car of her own. The cost of its gas is a different story.
"I know if I bought one, I wouldn't be able to keep up the expenses," she said.
Drivers do not have to be categorically strapped for cash to feel the pain of higher fuel costs.
Local resident Rhonda Bigelow, 55, has two children in a two-income household. Gas prices have given her pause in the way she spends money.
"When (me and my husband) go out to dinner, we now take the motorcycle because it's better on gas mileage," she said.
Bigelow and her family used to tool around in a gas-guzzling pickup truck before expenses dictated switching to a Chevrolet HHR.
"We look for fuel economy cars (now)," she said.
Michigangasprices.com is a consumer-driven website with up-to-date price information submitted by its users. According to the site, the lowest price for regular unleaded gasoline in Mount Pleasant as of this writing is $3.93 a gallon.
No comments:
Post a Comment