Gas as a % of income

[boxchain]

Rural US Takes Worst Hit as Gas Tops $4/gal

This article makes the interesting point that it's not the SoCal-ians with their $4.50 gas that is really being seriously impacted, it's the people in the rural south and west that are truly being hurt by gas prices. Since their incomes are very low and gas usage high (through both living far away from anything and driving old beat up trucks), they are spending a serious amount of their money on gas.

Keep in mind this is on average and I'm sure there are plenty of people in CA who are too poor to drive to the store, and people in the south don't need exotic mortgages to buy a house.

So, what are you paying as a percentage of income?

[Red]

Erm you don't want to know......suffice to say there isn't an option for it

[getnpsi]

I'd say over 10% when im a nice guy and I fill up the gf's car.

[elhigh]

My numbers would be a lot more alarming if my wife and I didn't share the ride.

[MetroMPG]

I put $119 worth of gas in my car in 2007. $75 this year so far. (Sheesh. No wonder the rotors rust up.)

But I don't commute (work from home), and I bike most of the year for local trips in an ideally sized city for cycling. And this winter, I offset a fair proportion of what would have been gas-powered local driving with the ForkenSwift.

Who are the other sub 1% people? Either you drive little, or you're making some decent coin!

[fshagan]

Its an interesting question ... I'd have to add up my wife and my use. I do know that a gallon of gas is cheaper for us now than it was in the gas crunch of the 1970's (it was about 25% of my hourly rate, where now it is under 10%).

[getnpsi]

Oh wow if you want to play gallon of gas vs hourly rate im in the serious poor house. I spend about $50 a week on the aspire. I was spending about $60 a week on the other car, BEFORE the gas prices went over $3.75 for PREMIUM. Now around here its $4.29 for 87oct.

[meemooer]

gas is 37% of my hourly rate. I spend at least 200 a week on gas, including weekend errands and helping friends out for a small amount of pay. I work 50 hours a week just to offset the cost of fuel. i figure $160+ a week in overtime helps make it not hurt as much when i have to fill. But with recent predictions, i either need my work to give me a big raise, a demo, a gas allowance or a bonus[to use as a down payment on a motorcycle]. And since none of those will happen, i've been looking for a local job, even though it'll pay less

[COMP]

15% +++++++++ group

[Ryland]

My total cost of ownership of my car per year is around %5 of my income.

[GenKreton]

I am proudly under 1% There is a bit of cheating because I didn't figure my MBTA pass for the T and buses of Boston, though. But that's not really gas either. Bicycling, walking, and public transportation have all but obsoleted car rides since I don't go to school in the middle of nowhere anymore.

[Peakster]

So far this year, purely gasoline usage consisted of 10.15% of my total expenditures... Oh wait. Sorry. You mean percentage of my income? Well I don't really know what my yearly income is quite yet .

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

I put $119 worth of gas in my car in 2007. $75 this year so far. (Sheesh. No wonder the rotors rust up.)

Are you serious?! That is so freaking miniscule. I wonder if you spend more to fuel the lawn mower than your car?

Who's the other sub 1% person? Either you drive little, or you're making some decent coin!

Yeah, I guess the poll question could work both ways. $5.30/gallon gas probably doesn't matter much if someone makes a six-figure income.

[tasdrouille]

I put roughly 250 per month to fill our 2 cars. FE is going up, but so are the gas prices...$5.71/gal here...

[i_am_socket]

At current gas prices, average yearly income (before tax), and FE: Gas is a minimum of 2.134% of my income per year if I only drive to work and back. It's probably about 3%, but I don't track actual spending so I can only calculate and guestimate.

Back in High School and College, a gallon of gas was 10-15% of my hourly rate; but then it was cheaper I got paid dirt as well. Luckily an hour and a half of OT a week will fill my tank these days. Still, I do miss $0.87/gal gas...

[boxchain]

Just to clarify, I'm not talking about hourly rate, I'm talking about how much you spend on gas per week/month/year and how much you make in the same time period. (I used month since I don't get gas every week)

Public transport, biking, etc, isn't cheating, unless we're talking about cheating the oil cartel! Maybe figure in your 'transportation' costs, but I'm what really curious about car commuters.

[IndyIan]

That would change my percentage quite a bit!

I was reading somewhere that even buying economy cars new and trading every 4 years costs about $7k/year including everything, insurance, gas, depreciation, maintenance, registration, etc..
Kinda scary eh! We don't have new cars and therefore no car payments but just insurance and gas is about $5000 a year for two cars doing about 45000km/year combined. I guess its the cost of living in the country...

[tasdrouille]

I went with gas as a % of my available income. With the taxes we have here, the highest in NA, that changes the figure quite a lot.

[NoCO2]

I'm at 8.3% of my annual income...granted...I only use between $60 - $120 per month for gas.

[COMP]

Originally Posted by NoCO2

I'm at 8.3% of my annual income...granted...I only use between $60 - $120 per month for gas.

thats a week

[meemooer]

actually i should add another 10 bucks per week for oil, i go through 5 qts a week..... i figure 1 qt every 100 miles.... yea i need a new engine.. vehicle... job.... life..... credit score