Have gas prices affected you?

[Neurotica]

I've only been driving for a little over three years, and gas has gone up more than $1.30 in that time. ($1.19 was high right after I started driving. Then it spiked to $1.30 and stayed around there for quite a while.) About $0.50 of that increase has happened in the last month. I just got gas a few days ago at $2.39 (and the next day it went up to $2.49). The last time I'd gotten gas, it was $2.09. The fill-up before that was at $1.99. I don't know, but every time it jumps here, it seems like it's by 10 cents. I'm sure it's gone up to $2.59 by now and I just don't know about it.

No one around me seems too concerned, but I'm a full-time student and I only work part-time over the holidays. So, it costing more than $25 to fill my 11 gal tank is a lot to me. At least I traded in my 17mpg truck two years ago for a 30-32mpg car though. I live that far from university though, so if gas goes up much more, I won't be coming home on every weekend as I have in the past.

I live in a rural area, so there isn't any public transportation, and biking/walking isn't an option. It's 7 miles to the house of the friend who lives nearest to me. And it's 10 miles just to get into "town" and another 10 to get to the city, which is of course where everything is.