A few days ago, on my way home from work, my husband helped push a stranger’s car into a gas station.
The driver had run out of gas as she entered the station, several dozen meters from a pump.
Driving empty was something I did frequently in my twenties, but back then gas never reached $5 a gallon.
The incident perfectly sums up the philosophy of the present moment: we all try to stretch what we have as long as possible.
According to AAA Texas, Friday morning the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline was $4.68. That’s 12 cents more per gallon than what I paid to fill my tank on Thursday.
I texted my husband from the train station to report my incredible gas prices.
“Only $4.56!” ” I wrote.
“What a bargain!” he answered without irony.
At karate this week, which a friend is offering free to homeschoolers, we learned that one of the families who attend regularly decided to drop the class because the price of gas made the trip too expensive.
I read later in the day how local first responders, locked into fuel contracts when the price of gas was half of what it is now, are dipping into reserves to ensure they can continue to serve their communities without interruption.
NBC5 reported that MedStar, the ambulance provider for Tarrant County and other surrounding areas, spent more than $100,000 more on gasoline, year-over-year, in May.
Rising fuel costs haven’t forced MedStar or other local law enforcement to start handling some phone calls, as has happened in some parts of the country, but significant budget adjustments are In progress.
These financial recalibrations are also underway for ordinary families, as food costs begin to stress even those with cash to spare.
A local friends text thread, usually used to share interesting articles and our children’s childhood antics, has recently been dedicated to swapping tips and tricks to make food shopping last longer.
Try adding more beans to each meal. How about a little extra starch – rice or potatoes?
We are going to add another container garden to grow vegetables.
Don’t do anything again until all the remnants are completely gone..
None of these women are part of a family currently living paycheck to paycheck, although each of us has done so at one time or another.
But we all try to feed families with two, three or four children — some of them teenagers — and fight to keep our grocery budgets from exploding along with food prices.
The COVID-era federal cash injections (which, ironically, have contributed to our current runaway inflation), have all been spent. How hard does life get for families without a little cushion?
In some ways, the Texans are lucky. Because we live in an energy producing state, gas prices are not as high as in the coastal states. The national average is now $5 a gallon, but prices have hit $6 in some areas.
And food costs in Texas are also relatively lower. But income too.
Feeding Texas, the state network of food banks, reports that food insecurity is already a concern for 1 in 8 Texans. Given the increased demands on food banks, more families will likely begin to meet this definition.
Indeed, according to the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator, a family of four in the Fort Worth/Arlington metro area can now expect to spend $728 on food per month, or a total of $8,734 $ in 2022.
That sounds like a lot, but it has nothing to do with transportation costs, which current estimates will cost $13,919 this year.
And we’ve only just entered the summer driving season.
Indeed, it’s going to be a season of stretching things out to make them last.
So be sure to watch out for your neighbor in case they need a little help, like a nudge to the nearest gas pump.
