The Single Best Way to Survive This Painful Gas Crisis
How to fight back during recession
Embrace the new normal!
That sentence has never sucked more. The new normal means the cost of a gallon of gas is more than double what it was in 2020, and it doesn’t look like things will be getting any better anytime soon.
Meanwhile, several economists are predicting that even if the energy market bubble burst, it doesn’t mean we’ll feel any levity at the pump.
So what can you do to survive this painful gas crisis?
The Gasoline Domino Effect 🎮
Gas prices have a domino effect on the economy. When they go up the cost of living goes up, which forces people to spend less money elsewhere. This hurts businesses and can lead to job loss. As a result, we’re all feeling the pinch of high gas prices even if we’re not directly affected by them.
The Russian-Ukraine war might seem like the perfect scapegoat for all of this, but that's only a small part. The reality is that there are many factors driving up gas prices, and the situation is only getting worse.
Here's a look at some of the key drivers behind higher gas prices:
- The cost of crude oil has risen due to production cuts by OPEC nations.
- Tensions in the Middle East have led to concerns about supply disruptions.
- Individual gas stations and their owners are price gouging. This is due to retail gas owners predicting that the oil market will not crash despite clear warnings of it doing so.
Economists are also warning consumers to not expect an increase in US oil supplies to come to the rescue.
"Even under the most optimistic view, US production increases would likely add only a few hundred thousand barrels per day above current forecasts," the Dallas Fed economists wrote. "This amounts to a proverbial drop in the bucket in the 100-million-barrel-per-day global oil market, especially relative to a looming reduction in Russian oil exports due to war-related sanctions that could easily reach 3 million barrels per day."
How to Survive the Gas Crisis ❤️🩹
Buy an electric car. Sell your gas guzzler. Live like a monk and sell all your material possessions.
Clearly, this isn't the answer, but it's the one that the mainstream media will tell you to live by. Cars that look like this are not the solution:
The reality is that there are things you can do to insulate yourself from the pain of high gas prices without making major changes to your lifestyle.
Here are some tips:
- Keep your car well-maintained. A well-tuned engine can improve your gas mileage by as much as four percent.
- Slow down. Gasoline consumption increases exponentially as speed increases. The best way to conserve gasoline is to drive the posted speed limit or slower.
- Finally: gas prices suck, but we’ve been so isolated for so long that you should prioritize seeing the people you care about. It’s worth it. ❤️
Final Thought
Biden? Putin? The Saudis?
They're all a little to blame for the high cost of gas, but at the end of the day, there's not much we can do about it. The best thing we can do is be smart about how we use our gas and try to insulate ourselves from the pain as much as possible.
If you enjoyed that article, check out our full blog over at Leasly.com and Medium!
