With 60% of Americans living pay check to pay check I wonder how many of those living on the edge are using their windfall from cheap fuel to pay off debts and then set some aside. In my area it appears that a great many people have suddenly found they can afford to eat out and have a few drinks. The ‘Bar & Grill’ establishments have their parking lots packed on Friday and Saturday nights these days.
With 60% of Americans living pay check to pay check I wonder how many of those living on the edge are using their windfall from cheap fuel to pay off debts and then set some aside.
Some are…but the savings is dependent on how much your drive and the efficiency of the vehicle you drive. Most people I know who are really financially strapped already own very efficient vehicles…so their savings isn’t much.
There are also a great number of middle to upper middle class families who live from paycheck to paycheck. It’s not just the poor.
@Docnick, maybe it is an exchange rate issue. At today’s exchange rate, $80,000 Canadian is $$60,000 US. Senior teachers in my area do earn that.
NH and I think Maine have one of the lowest pays for teachers in the country. This really hurts the Math and Science departments because the pay is so low it’s very tough to get qualified teachers in those subjects. Starting salary for a person with a BS in mathematics in NH and MA in the public sector is the same pay as a Math teacher who’s been teaching for 30+ years. All my kids went to private high-schools…but public everything else. The middle school has ONE teacher that’s qualified to teach Math…there are 5 math teachers. The other math teachers have degrees in History || English || Foreign Language. What I found was they barely knew the subject material they were teaching. The high-school isn’t much better…thus the reason why we sent our kids to private high-schools.
$1.99
I guess if 60% of the people live pay check to pay check 10% of the population earning above average incomes are one check away from being dead broke,@MikeInNH. And yet I hear my conservative friends howling to privatize Social Security and end Medicaid and ACA. They somehow overlook the problem of paying to support 60% of the population once they are too old to work. There aren’t enough bridges in So California for all those people to live under… But then many won’t live long.
You don’t have to live under bridges in SoCal. They live at the beach in Santa Barbara.
We did pay a premium to profs with experience, both full time and adjuncts… but the modest pay still motivates many of them to take on additional credits. We also offered a stipend for taking on Dept. Chair responsibilities, but most didn’t think it was worth the aggravation.
I have no idea what primary and secondary teachers actually make in NH, but I know it ain’t terribly much.
The honeymoon may be over. Prices around here are going up again. I paid $1.78 yesterday, and I noticed they are around $1.82. today. The lowest number I recorded in my fuel diary for the car was $1.40 a couple of weeks ago.
There’s a legislative initiative right now to add a $10/barrel federal tax on crude.
I started to stroll through the thread to see if that had been mentioned already, but the thread is too long. Apologies if it’s old ground.
SUV’s are selling now, people are so stupid,
SUV’s are selling now, people are so stupid,
Completely agree. Some folks have very short memories. I remember when gas was nearing $4 a gallon a few years ago, and people were dumping their SUVs and big pickups for cents on the dollar.
We did pay a premium to profs with experience, both full time and adjuncts
I looked at teaching computer science classes part time at a couple colleges in NH. Southern NH and Daniel Webster. What they paid wasn’t worth my time.
I know a couple professors at St Anselm’s…and they don’t pay that great. One guy does on and off consulting work for me to supplement his income. One summer he worked for me full time. For the 3 months he worked for me…he made more money then he made full time at St Anselm’s.
And speaking of education, the seemingly lucrative position teaching automobile ‘technology’ several years ago turned out to be much to political for me. Educating kids these days requires far too much time and effort in dog and pony shows.
Spoke too soon…
Now it seems the rest of the oil producing countries want to stop the production of oil…which will drive the price of oil UP. The never ending coaster ride.
“freeze output” means “no more increases”, not “stop”. It’ll have a small effect, but the world-wide inventories are huge right now. It’ll be a year to work off the excess, I bet.
Well in ways this scenario may wake some people up ,maybe not . I cant believe what I heard , that POTUS wanted to add a $10 a bbl tax on the crude oil ,apparently He has no idea what this is going to do to the price of gas and diesel on top of the anticipated increases and speculation .Someone will test the waters a little ,then emboldened ,the rest of the gang will follow suite ,I hope it stops short of $4 a gal .
$10/bbl is 25c/gal. Of course that could easily result in raising the price at the pump 50c. But in the long run the increase in the price would be marginal according to ‘free market’ principles.
Basically true ,but dont you think that would be an excuse to jack things up a bit more ?( a handling fee for instance ? a percentage increase ? stuff compounds after awhile ) I come from a time when gas wasnt much more then 25 cents a gallon .
Reminds me of the "hard to obtain " fee some dealers used to try to stick customers with and you know what ? If I buy new ,I will get every incentive out there or not buy at all (sorry I meandered ,I dont trust the market )
25ct tax equates to 50ct price rise? U must be Hilary bobo.