by Yolanda Larkin

Created on: May 23, 2008   Last Updated: May 28, 2008

Rising gas prices are causing the budget belt to break all across the nation! However, believe it or not we are still behind other countries with our per gallon price. Yes, some of those other countries have "free" health care and education, but, are taxed at a much higher rate...so what do we have to complain about?
Our rising gas prices are creating a trickle affect. Some of this trickle is good actually! I live in an area of Washington State that is at about $4.00 a gallon these days, some gas stations are higher! If you go North to Seattle, WA gas is even more. Do we really need it to go down though? This is my thought...gas prices have gone up, and consumerism and unnecessary driving has gone down. Is this a bad thing? No, we needed a wake up call anyways! We need to be cautious, we are living in a time that everything we do will greatly affect the greater good. Think about how much we have just wasted all these years. Think of how much we can save in the next 50 years!

Rising gas prices have affected my direct life in many positive ways, we quit driving everywhere! My husband commutes to work about 80miles round trip daily, to offset that expense we bought a motorcycle. Not only does he get awesome gas mileage (40+mpg) he now gets to drive/ride in the HOV/Carpool lane! It is saving us gas and he has shaved over a 1/2 hour or more sometimes from his commute. Can't beat that! My daughters had the chance to visit Europe last summer and they came home saying that they couldn't believe that Europeans all drive the same make of cars over there and/or ride bikes,motorbikes and such as their transportation. Of course, they also used public transportation. They didn't see any S.U.V's! Isn't that funny? That is all you see here in America. (I know; there is a surge in small car purchases. Finally people are waking up!) So, by commuting on a motorcycle we are saving on average $80 or more a week right now on fuel. We have been doing this for 2 1/2 years now.
I am a stay at home mom. I had noticed that there were many of us stay at home mom's that did the same thing each day and we live in the same area, so I started a carpool. We split the days during the week and now there are some days that I don't even drive my car at all! This has been a great thing, and if it is not your day to carpool you actually have a few extra minutes for yourself a day! Not to mention the fuel savings/time/environmental impact!Positive changes! You also get to know other children and other

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