PA has the highest gas tax in the country. We've been driving husband's EV car instead of my Subaru. But all my places are very close by. The furthest trip is my daily hike on the Appalachian Trail, which is six miles, and Costco the same distance, although we only go there every three weeks. I could walk to my Traders and Aldi, which are 1/4 miles away, and my major supermarket is less than two miles. I love my location, which is close to everywhere I go.

Driving was a routine part of my working years, with commutes ranging from 30 minutes to over an hour depending on traffic and whether I was heading to my office or a client somewhere in the Bay Area. I learned to enjoy driving instead of letting the time and traffic stress me out. Audiobooks and good music (tapes then CDs then selections from my home collection on thumb drives) make the time pleasant.

We still don’t let distance dictate our choices. An example, most of our doctors are affiliated with the nearest medical school, even though appointments can mean a 40-minute drive or longer in traffic. And even though the types of docs we use are readily available closer to home. No matter, the quality is worth it. The same goes for restaurants and stores — we go where we like, as long as it’s a reasonable trip.

We’ve also always chosen practical, fuel-efficient cars. During my working years I drove Mercedes diesel sedans. We've never driven cars that were oversized for our daily needs. (When you need a truck, you can rent a truck). All of my cars and my wife’s cars of choice over the last 15 years (Toyota hybrids) are those that get above average mileage.

Gas prices in my area are always well above the national average, whether during times like now or even when prices plunge. Because we drive cars that get good mileage, I know we use less than others do for the same number of miles and probably always have. I don't need to be concerned about my own usage, but I do feel concern for those at the lower end of the economic spectrum who have trouble getting by. Just like food, I'm in a high cost of living area and things that are cheaper elsewhere are more expensive here. I can afford it but I'm concerned that many others can't. I'm not sure what can be done to make life more affordable for more people.

Things A brings that I can no longer buy in local stores, but were available for the past 40 years. I am sure I will miss a lot.

Yellow label syrup

Pickled baby corn

Canned apples, blackberries, and cherries. (not pie filling, just the plain fruit)

Bags for my vacuum

Wall coat rack

Baking pans

Pie plates

French’s mustard, not in squeeze bottles

and so forth and so on.

ETA: Salsa Brava

How about just typing A.mazon?

And here I thought $4.57 was high when I saw it at a WaWa the other day...

It's not so much the price of gas, but the terrible traffic here that has made me hate driving - along with crazy, hot-tempered drivers who may be packing heat. My little car averages around 35mpg, so I only need to top it off every other week or so. DS has a big Toyota truck, so it's worse for him.

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

What's wrong with just typing Amazon?

I have no idea why I had a problem, but I just started using an initial and quit tilting at windmills. Everyone knows what I mean 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️!

Times like these make me miss my Prius.

Lonejack - Lots of trips. Wife’s relocating for work. I’m anticipating s lot of back and forth.

I unabashedly drive a gas guzzler. When I drive. I fill up (22 gal. or so) 3-4 times per year. There's more than one way to save gas. ;)

Some information clarifications:

" We have high gas taxes in California, in large part to discourage individual car trips "

A search discloses rather different information for the high level of California gas tax:

• Infrastructure Funding (Senate Bill 1): California utilizes high excise taxes to fund, repair, and maintain roads, highways, and public transportation. The state relies heavily on this revenue for infrastructure, with taxes increasing annually based on inflation.
• Environmental Programs: A significant portion of the cost includes fees from the Cap-and-Trade program (roughly 25 cents) and the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (roughly 17 cents) as of early 2026, which are designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Another reason for our high fuel costs is that state pollution requirements mandate special processes in refining that add to costs and that only exist in California refineries. So what exists elsewhere can't happen here. Elsewhere, commodity products can be shipped from a lower price market to a higher price market (to take advantage of the higher prices to make more money). But increasing supply reduces the prices. At least up until now, refineries in other states do not produce fuels that meets California standards so it's as if we were on another planet - fuel from other states can't come here and prices remain higher than elsewhere. .

" PA has the highest gas tax in the country. "

No, I believe California does. In addition, the sale of motor fuels here is also subject to sales tax, for which we have pretty high rates.

Okay Elmer. We rank 4th at almost 60 cents per gallon.

Elmer beat me to it. Lily said PA was the highest in taxes, but I thought everyone knew CA is the highest. How could anyone forget about California? SMH.

Yesterday, I paid 3.87 a gallon for gas-Oklahoma.

I have about a 60-minute commute to work one-way and travel a lot for work, so yes higher gas prices sting. Fortunately for now I can work a hybrid schedule on regular non-travel days, but that privilege can be taken away at any time (not just for me -- for all of my colleagues).

I'm in the market for a new car and have been testing hybrids and non-hybrids. I've still yet to find one that hits that sweet spot of good gas mileage and comfortable ride. It's personal, like trying on clothes -- the same size many fit one person but may not fit another or for whatever reason you just don't like it or aren't comfortable in it. I know what I want to buy but the MPG isn't good and I do have to be sensible. OTOH, I don't want to buy a car solely based on gas mileage and be unhappy with it, especially not with the price of vehicles getting (IMO) way out of hand, and I drive too much to not be truly comfortable in the car and happy with the purchase.

Anyway, to the question -- I can usually find what I need in town, the essentials, if you will. For my weekly grocery shopping I do drive about 15-ish miles to the next town over because that grocery chain is less expensive overall than what I have in town, and there are many more things in that town so I can accomplish multiple errands while I'm out that way. This routine has been the same since I've lived here, so no the current gas prices aren't affecting my regular grocery routine.

However, I have been re-thinking traveling for other things here and there, depending on the situation. Just this week I re-thought my yearly spring trek over to a favorite plant nursery. The drive is just too long, I didn't feel like an hour one-way and with the cost of gas it's just wasn't worth it to go browse and maybe pick up a couple small things. Or somtimes I'll order something and pay the shipping because it would cost less and time is a valuable non-renewable resource.

Agree with Elmer that CA ”wins” for highest fuel costs. I looked it up because, if I were answering the question I woud’ve said my state, WA, wins that dubious honor. We have only to read @sephia_wa posted pic to think that. Here’s the key point of a Google search:

Key 2026 Gas Price Details:

• Highest State: California ($6.15 - $6.16 per gallon)
• Top 5 Most Expensive (May 2026): California, Washington, Hawaii, Oregon, and Nevada.

I’ve been reading this thread with interest & seems that this spectacular fuel debacle is having one single benefit - we’re all adopting more efficient driving habits. There’s a number of reasons cited for doing that but the largest benefit is our air quality / environment. That’s @hobbitmom silver lining.

A side comment in reference to @LoneJack Zn 6a, KC asking why A store can’t just be spelled out & @Sherry8aNorthAL saying her posts didn’t post when she did that. Quite awhile ago I read a comment here that use of that name wasn’t allowed here since A is a competitor of the host of these forums. Made sense to me & I didn’t care enough to question it.

The prices for regular in my area is from the high $5 range to the mid-$6's . Another 25-50 cents for premium. It's a good time to not have the premium using cars I used to have.

Elmer - I had thought it was a good thing my husband sold his diesel fueled truck a few years back too. Even though diesel fueled passenger vehicles are usually higher MPG.

There was a period when we had third cars that were VW Golf/Jetta diesels. Some wagons, some sedans. Our first VW diesel was a late-70s model we picked up at the factory in Wolfsburg. Called Rabbit rather than Golf (US specs), then a Dasher rather than Passat. Ditto.

We had them for decades before the Dieselgate disaster and then one after. The later year models taken off the road by Dieselgate could have their control software reprogrammed for emissions compliance and they were quietly resold by VW (with EPA approval).

Those were fun cars. Shockingly quick (quicker than gas versions, had those too), nimble cornering on winding roads, very comfortable and roomy and could get in the high-40s+ mpg at, let's say, highway speed limits plus some. That was when diesel fuel was about on a par with gasoline most of the time. Cheap and fun transportation.

I've never owned a truck and never will. I've never had any use for one. Plus, we park cars in a closed garage and unless I'd have had a larger than normal one built for a pickup truck, it wouldn't have worked.

We had good uses for a truck. We had a Dodge Ram 2500 short bed quad cab truck & put it to very good use. Besides carrying large plants & trees home for our back yard - I’m the gardener / landscape designer - we were kayakers & had racks with cradles for the two kayaks. It was much easier to load / unload them from the truck bed than it had been to do same to the top of our Explorer. This truck was garaged - a condition of buying it. It fit into the garage bay with enough space to close garage door behind it & get by the front of it to the side door out of garage to side yard. We’ve never used the parking spaces in our garages for anything but our cars. Besides keeping our cars clean, it’s a convenience and safety thing for both of us. No hot or cold cars for us to get into when leaving home. Not a choice for everyone I know & we all have our priorities. 😉

And then there’s the issue wirh Super. Remember that was only a quarter more or so per gallon? Now at about a buck more, it’s roughly the same cost to drive my wife’s midsize SUV as my truck. And speaking of Diesel, that’s eveb worse, at like $6 here,

$ 4.69 today in PA.

KW - I agree. My story, last summer the tranny went in my truck. 14 years old, about 120K on it, plus some other issues, I wasn’t willing to fix it. Told my wife that after a quarter century of driving trucks plus her SUV’s, I was ready for a car. After a month or so of being indecisive she said, ”You can still get a car whenever you decide, but I’m done with you not having a truck.”

So here I am with a new truck, no car, and it’ll probably be like this for a while. I do hope to downgrade it to spare vehicle status at some point, but for now there are teo many cars in the driveway and it would not make financial sense besides.

I looked on Gas Buddy, diesel is in the $7 to $7.50 range here. If I still had one of those cars, the cost wouldn't dissuade me from keeping it. They were fun to drive.

FOAS, you brought a big smile to my face. My parents lived this discussion. My father was of the one car per tush (licensed driver) mind for a long time. Then his knees started getting old. He needed the work truck for the tools and construction products (he used to speak longingly of a Lamborghini and the refrain was not until he could figure out where to put the ladder rack), and camping plus other travel. It irked him to have to drive it to the library or the barbershop, however, when he couldn't take my mother's sedan. A short time into empty nesting, he came home with a cute little Eldorado. We called it the "Bat Out of Hell" as pushing big, heavy vehicles had made his foot too heavy for such a delicate creature, which really liked to go very very fast. We did look around quite a bit to see where he was keeping the spare tush....

I think DH paid $5.55 at Sam’s today (we’re in SoCal). I’m guessing it’s about the same at Costco. Sam’s Club and Costco are both about 2 miles from us…very close to each other (half mile-ish). We don’t have far to drive for groceries of any kind. TJ’s is 3 miles and our regular market is less than a mile. Target’s also close and in the same shopping center as TJ’s.

i have to go 20 miles to get to a grocery store. i keep a running list and try to stretch my trips out to once every 3 weeks. my spare bedroom has turned into a storage closet for non-perishables.

gas here is $4.60/gal right now. of course, that will increase as the war drags on and as of july 1, the illinois gas tax will be 50 cents/gal.

i do have a dollar general "market" just outside of town 5 miles away. i usually buy cleaning supplies, paper towels, etc. there but the one time i tried buying ground beef because i thought a cheeseburger sounded good, i got it home and opened the package. the meat was slimy and smelled "off" so i threw it out into the woods for the coyots and coons. that was the first and last time for dollar general meat!

I love it, JoanM!!! I think I’ve still only seen one or two on the road, but even commercials and pictures bring a smile!

Coincidentally I put a coupkr bucks down to get my name on the list for other EV’s that are technically VW products, the upcoming new Scouts. Remains to be seen if I actually buy when thr day fibally comes.

I love your VW, too, Joan!!! I saw my first one a couple of months ago. It was pulling out of a driveway on my street. As the woman came up to me, she saw the big smile on my face and stopped to talk. She was thrilled with it and I was happy for her!! Brings back so many great memories.

As for gas, our prices are 1/2 again as much as they were before the war. That's all I need to know about it. I am just thankful I am retired and can control where and when I go. I probably only get gas every 3 weeks or so. It's the cost of groceries that will be putting me into bankruptcy.

I've been ordering from some things from Walmart and Target. I bundle my items to get free shipping. What seems to be happening is I am getting the delivery option instead. Usually next-day service.
Here is Florida, the Costco is not convenient, done don’t go too often.

Yesterday we got gas for $4.15. Three other stations in a close radius were higher.

Love your VW, Joan. Brings back memories of a great time. Our first car, where we brought babies home from the hospital, was a VW bug. Probably couldn't go past 60mph. Now, Husband has a VW EV.

I'm about 10 miles from the closest town/city, which is where I go for various activities and some shopping, but frankly the grocery store there is not very appealing: high prices and poor quality produce. It may be closer than going 20 miles to my nearest Costco, but I don't want to reward them for their bad business. It's nice to have some groceries only 15 minutes away, but I only go there in an time crunch. There's also a small local chain where I will go for specific things, but it's only for those special things I'm willing to pay a higher price. Just about all my grocery shopping is > 30 minutes away, except during the local produce season, when I have my choice of several farm markets. I'm definitely glad I drive electric.

We are approaching $4.00 per gallon. We really don't venture far for groceries, have everything we need in our small city. Groceries are very expensive now.

Went to Aldi's the other day on my tricycle with a large back carry basket. Used $0 gas.

Gas was $3.85 at several stations in the town where I went shopping today. E85 was $3.70. Too bad I already had a full tank so I couldn't take advantage. I went by the station where I filled up last week for $4.05 and it had gone up to $4.16.

So I went to the feels closer, "better" store. The price for cherries was ridiculous, but they're out of season and it was a big bag. The prices for avocados were worse and so were the tomatoes! We don't need them that much! The gas it took to get there was negligible, even in my uzzler, compared to the produce!

Lucille, our admiration is for you, our hero. intelligent and wise choices. you are definitely not lazy. westsider

Gas in KC is $4.29. I have 2 grocery stores and walmart within 1.5 miles, so no change there. My friends and I have doubled up on driving to some event or lunch. And it has been more fun carpooling.

I'm paying the equivalent of 7.50 here. Hence the trike LOL

Well done for doing the conversion, Islay. I was too lazy. US gallons too!

ETA so I did it. Cheapest petrol in our town (at Supermarket) is ca. $8.00 per US gallon.

Not that it affects me as I long ago ditched my car and the family car seldom moves from outside the house.

Here the price is about Cdn $1.80/L, which is about $6.80/gallon.

I envy the trike riders. It sounds lovely, and positively bucolic. Around here, the idea is terrifying, though they are technically street legal, nowadays.

At the last place I bought gas, according to Google AI, it's $6.35/gal. +/-$0.08 for regular and $7.00 +/-$0.50 for premium. I guess I filled up just in time... It also informed me that regular was about $0.15 less per gallon at the creepy gas station and $0.45 less at the bargain staion I've never heard of near the creepy gas station..

" the creepy gas station "

This sounds like a story we should hear......Creepy?

LOL! Nothing so entertaining. The better gas stations around here are affiliated with the big oil companies. They're clean and well run. There are a few that are immigrant family owned and run, also big oil, but a little down at the heels, though still clean and not unpleasant. All of these locations have been there forever. Gas stations close, but new ones rarely open. There are some bargain off brands, however, at sites that aren't necessarily as old, but I've known people who regretted using them because of gunky impurities, and rock bottom octane. They're also known for more sketchy clientele.

The creepy gas station is as bright and shiny, at least on the surface, as any of the other nice big oil ones, and it has been there forever, as well, but at some point it changed hands. The people who work there, the last 15 years or more, aren't nice, and sometimes the gas isn't either, more like at the off brand places (who knows what they sneak into their tanks in the middle of the night?), and the clientele seems sketchy, too. Grim-faced and weird vibes. It's creepy. And across the street from a very nice gas station--or it was. It was redone recently, and I haven't been in. As I said before, I buy gas every 3-5 months. The creepy one is easier to get into, but ever since it's been creepy, I drive around the block to be able to go to the other one.

Oh boy - that reminded me of a local story: a gas station had water infiltrate their tanks and many people's cars were damaged costing hundreds in repairs.

Here they put deisel in the regular gas. Fried all the cars.

Putting gasoline in the tank of a diesel vehicle also causes damage.

Water, unless there's a lot of it, I believe isn't as damaging for either.

Here in NYC the regular is around 4.50/gallon.

Just checked the distance, Costco is 1.3 miles away, Lidl 1.8, Trader Joes 9 miles.

We gang that up with visits to MIL’s.

We live near the East River near a park. It’s a good ten minute walk to the train, and very limited shopping within walking distance. Two little stores a few blocks away, but they’re more convenience type stores.

In rural Missouri, we are paying about $4.09. Which comparatively doesn’t sound as bad as some of yours, but taking into account the abundance of lower-socioeconomic class citizens here, it’s quite painful for them.

Oops - it was diesel, not water - delivered to the wrong tank...

https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/regional/florida/circle-k-fuel-issues-seven-southwest-florida-gas-stations/67-34717a38-5f8f-4ac2-9aed-339fe2292b13