Price of Fuel and its effect on you - Page 15 - Montana Owners Club

RVWheels · 07-07-2008, 05:03 PM

Gentlemen,

The recent postings have been much too personal. Please keep the thread on topic and adhere to the MOC Mission Statement. Personal attacks are not acceptable on the MOC.

Thank you,

RVWheels

richfaa · 07-08-2008, 03:24 AM

The high cost of energy has affected us in yet another way. we are at the FCRV Campvention in PA..The F standing for family. A great organization with huge emphasis on family and kids. There are families, kids and teens everywhere.It gives one a good feeling to see that Rv'ing is having a positive impact on their lives. The national campvention numbers are down 35% this year. There are 10 vendors here, half the normal number.The 35% down means 500/600 less folks causing a ripple effect on the vendors and the local merchants. The organization is in deep financial stress as this event was planned a long time ago and the camventions are planned and booked through 2010. We are camped with the Mid west region, Ohio, Ill, Ind, Wis, Neb and the topic of conversation is the same..This can not go on..energy is having a huge impact on folks.. Now this organization is more broad based than MOC... Example there is a tent right outside our Montana using our outside outlet for power. There are several tents and pop ups in the row behind us. There is everything here from the simplest of tents and pop ups to the high dollar MH. I think a broader based cross section of folks are represented here and the high cost of energy has a greater effect on them.

We are a international organization, Canada and USA. The Canadians helped off set the financial woes as the Economic conditions that prevent many from the USA from traveling are a encouragement to our Northern Neighbors in terms of a stronger CA Dollar and lower fuel prices (to them). There are more Canadian units registered here than units from the home state of PA. Ohio always has a strong representation but we are 21 Units..about half the usual number and only two families with kids. I hope that the FCRV can adjust and adapt. There is talk of a dues increase and we would be glad to pay double the dues. It would be a terrible loss if we would become a victim of the present economy.

richfaa · 07-08-2008, 03:49 AM

In terms of RVwheels post.Of course he is correct. Since I started the thread I guess I can comment.

"OK this is the place to express how the high price of energy is effecting our RV'ing." That's what I posted . I saw the subject as sort of a round table discussion as how we are individually affected. That means that I an affected in a different manner than you and how I deal with is will be different. It should not be argumentative as ones method of dealing with is is just as good as the next. I see the thread as
educational and might even present a idea or two for somone to better manage the situation. I do have one hang up.. I deal with verifiable facts
not hearsay..If it is my opinion or In my experience I will so state.I also do not believe that every media source and Political person is lying and miss representing the facts. I believe in our form of Government and that it works. So those are my tweak points and you may get a rise out of me on them. If the moderators think we are out of hand..shut it down.. Back to the subject..

dsprik · 07-08-2008, 04:12 AM

I totally agree with Rich's statement. This is an emotional topic, that's for sure. In fact, I believe that it will be the single most driving factor in these upcoming elections. I have already informed my State Senator, who is up for re-election of this.

Times are changing and there is always suffering when that happens. However, this is also the time for opportunities for those with the foresight to seize them. I personally have my eyes wide open and looking.

Price of crude is continuing it's slide this morning. However, I don't count on that continuing. This has happened before only to rebound to new records. When it drops below $100/bbl, then I will believe that the bubble has broken - probably not before that.

John, if we had a Publix up here I would probably apply.

My shoulder situation will probably impeded my efforts to pick up extra income this summer. However, I am pushing forward with looking for opportunities. DW has already found an excellent part time opportunity which is a great help.

c214dick · 07-08-2008, 06:01 AM

Perhaps a more positive response to this forum would include what others are doing to compensate for the rising fuel costs, not just talking about it. I know there have been postings regarding alternative recreational activities but perhaps more, rather than less, would be in order. We know the basics of cost cutting such as going out to eat less, clipping coupons, etc. but how about some things we don't know.

We all appreciate the knowledge that we are in a difficult economic situation right now, but talk is talk and action is action. Rather than quoting chapter and verse how about some POSITIVE alternatives.

richfaa · 07-08-2008, 06:34 AM

I think some of have have been saying that... On this trip to the State College, Pa area via the Ohio TPK then Interstate 80 we decided to reduce our speed from the normal 63/65 to 60MPH and until we got into some hard pulls in PA we were averaging 11.3 MPG. That is 1.3 average better than the last trip on some of the same roads. Our all over MPG was still 10MPg even with the hard pulls. We do use Quicken as our financial program and every expense is categorized. We can see where and how we are spending our money and note any increase over any selected period of time. We do have a travel budget. We have cut things like.. we have no phone land line..we use cell phone..we have no DSL service..we use the Verizon air card. We have cut out all magazine subscriptions..we do not get a newspaper. We have dropped out of some organizations... VFW, American Legion, Loyal Order of Moose..this year AARP, Good Sam and NARFE. We keep our Home A/C at a higher temp and only use it when the humidiity gets to high to be bearable. Dropped our yard service. We can look at our quicken categorized expenses and if we see a 10 % increase in fuel we may cut eating out by that amount to compensate. All of the saving realized go into our travel account.
Oh I drive a bus when I can and Helen works at Disney in the winter..All Travel money. We always know pretty much where we are in our all over budget.. We still have..nice to have expenses that we can cut, Example directtv....of course you must first have such a plan.

boylanag · 07-08-2008, 06:37 AM

I am workamping this summer at Waldenwoods RV Resort in Harland, MI as Ranger Jim. This winter I, or we if Carol's knees improve, will return to work at Disney World in Orlando for Mickey Mouse. By working three days a week this way we are enjoying our lifestyle of Longtiming and the work is great, too. I never had as much fun on a job as I did last year while working at Disney. Imagine, getting paid to talk and interact with people. What a concept.

dsprik · 07-08-2008, 09:51 AM

I, too, love the work at Disney. Working the gates at Epcot, as Jim says, has been the most fun job I have ever had. Our family loves the free Disney and other discounts, too.

I am looking for seasonal part time work up north here, also. My shoulder is a minor inconvenience (I have a CAT scan scheduled for 7/10), but I have a couple of opportunities in guest relations with a couple of different companies. We are definitely not traveling as much with our 3400 this summer. Went to Mackinaw Is. with some friends, but that has been about it so far this summer, and that was by car (not on the Island - horses only).

richfaa · 07-08-2008, 11:18 AM

Oil has plummeted over the last couple of days but not to get excited..yet.. My take is the speculators taking profits and the fact that the dollar is up over the major currencies. If it can continue the next few days it will be a sign of panic on the part of speculators. Remember these guys buy on Margin so if they purchased at say 135.00 per barrel they have only a fraction of that actually invested.Plenty of room for profit taking..Let as all hope that this may be the light at the end of the tunnel???

Mrs. CountryGuy · 07-08-2008, 11:24 AM

Dick,

Your suggestion is a fabulous one, me humbly thinks it needs to be it's own thread.

This thread has been what affects have the prices of high fuel made on your RV experience.

Another, for, how are you combating the high prices probably is in order and it would be good to not have them intertwined.

To keep on subject, how it has affected me, well, hmmmm, lets see. oh, forget it!

richfaa · 07-08-2008, 11:39 AM

Carol and Dick.. I will open a new thread....very good idea.

Charlie · 07-17-2008, 09:08 AM

What's this????? The price of crude is down ~$14/bbl. the past three days. Wonder when we are going to see some relief at the pump? Sure hope the some of the long commodity hedgers that have initiated this problem are getting burned with the price drop.

richfaa · 07-17-2008, 09:13 AM

That the price has dropped for the last 3 days is the beginning of a good sign. There are many forces at work here. Only when the price drops to below 100.00 can be begin to suspect that the speculator bubble has burst. If these huge drops continue over the next few days we may be on the right track..If we see a huge increase Friday..then nothing has changed...speculators taking profits..then driving the price up to take more profits in the future.

Delaine and Lindy · 07-17-2008, 09:46 AM

Diesel went from $4.69 to $4.79 this week?????

dsprik · 07-17-2008, 10:33 AM

This could be a very encouraging sign. Have to wait and see...

Trying to lock in todays prices long term

richfaa · 07-17-2008, 10:57 AM

I saw that and it is encouraging but only a rumor..of course the speculators buy and sell on rumor. Check out Gold..Folks are going out of oil and buying Gold..another encouraging sign. Corn is also down by 27.00 a sign of lower ethanol production. There is a lot to watch to get a idea of what is going on..

Just to cheer you up a bit. The average price of diesel fuel ONE year ago today in Ohio was 2.932...today it is 4.744 a 61.8 % increase.

What's in your wallet???

richfaa · 07-21-2008, 04:54 AM

Today should be interesting on the commodities market (oil) Early trading should show a increase as speculators attempt to drive up the price of oil.They have to drive it up as they can not afford to see it slide even more. Any excuse will do, Iran, Storms, Make something up. If they can not drive the price up it will drop in later trading and that could be significant... Today may be the make or break day. Our 401K may suffer some if oil drops a lot ..but I don't care..I need a better economy to spend my 401K money in.

dsprik · 07-21-2008, 05:05 AM

Rich how do you interpret this graph off of AAA's site? Specifically the changes in the last month. Looks to me like someone is picking up a windfall all of a sudden and it doesn't seem to be the oil companies?

*On Edit~ Oh yeah... and it's sure not the guy pulling up to the pump...

c214dick · 07-21-2008, 05:51 AM

Louise and I took a road trip on Saturday, w/o Monty, to check out some campgrounds in central Wisconsin. Of the 6 private campgrounds that we visited, 5 offered limited nightly stays with the majority of their sites being seasonal. With the size of our rig, there was only one that we would have been able to park at. The sixth campground appeared to be abandoned, was near a lake and a bar within stumbling distance.

The rates at the one that we would fit in were about $50/night with full hookups and a little cheaper for longer stays. The size of the seasonal sites would not accomodate our 3400 and even if they could we would never be able to drive to the site. We also checked out some county and state parks. Rates were obviously much more attractive but again there was a problem with the site size.

The reason for the trip was to make sure that we could camp while enjoying some of the local fairs and events offered during the rest of the summer. There was also some consideration to parking as a seasonal if we found a campground that offered lots of activities but was within a couple of hours from home.

On the plus side, if there is one, we found diesel for 467.9 - 479.9 and regular for 394.9 - 409.9.

richfaa · 07-21-2008, 07:40 AM

Fuel station operators are in a difficult position with the price of oil fluctuating so rapidly. Example.I fill my 5,00 gal tank of gas and pay todays delivery price of 4.00 per gal.The next day the delivery price goes up to 4.15 per gallon.. do I keep my price that refelects the lower delivery price or do I raise it to the increased delivery price thereby making more profit.(that is why the price of oil goes up today and the price at the pump goes up today) Now I know full well that the delivery price may go down..now what do i do. do I lower my price to refelect the lower delivery price and lose money, or keep it at the same price. If all the stations in town lower the price then I have to also and will take a loss. So when I can make some money because I have cheaper fuel in my storage tank I have to do it..(that is why the price of oil goes down but the price at the pump does not go down much if at all)
There is also the fact that if there are 20 stations in town we all may have purchased
fuel at differing delivery prices.. There are still stations that have fuel that reflected the 140.00 per bbl price.. What do they do???? This is s complex issue.

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