What Are You Doing To Budget For High Fuel Prices Right Now?JalopnikBrad BrownellSat, September 26, 2026 at 1:25 PM UTCAdd us on GoogleSarah Rice/Getty ImagesI remember when I got my driver's license and the first tank of gasoline I pumped into the tank of my 250,000-mile 1991 Pontiac Grand Prix SE cost just 96 cents per gallon. My parents paid me an allowance at the time for the work I did around the family farm at a rate of $20 per week. In addition to my minimum-wage job washing dishes at a local greasy spoon, I was practically rolling in cash for a 15-year-old. Now I'm forty, and I paid over $8 per gallon for diesel in California last week. That sub-dollar fuel didn't last very long, because the same things are true now as they were back then: there's a Republican president in office dropping bombs in another country, the value of the dollar is tanking, and there's a global economic crisis.With unchecked inflation running amok in 2026, this has been one of the most economically devastating years since the global pandemic. With the cost of diesel on the verge of doubling in the last two years, largely as a result of the President's absurd market manipulation war in Iran, the price of transporting everything in this country has exploded. Your groceries are more expensive, your goods are more expensive, and hiring service workers is more expensive.Now that we've gotten the reasoning out of the way, I'm curious what you're doing to cope with it. You're a car enthusiast at a time in history when it's more expensive than ever to be a car enthusiast. The thing you love could be on the verge of running you into the ground. I want to know what you're doing to deal with the increased costs. Are you driving less? Are you taking the keys to something a little more fuel-efficient when you can? Are you giving up some daily luxuries in an effort to balance your books? Let's hear it, sound off in the comments below, and I'll pick a few of my favorite answers for a roundup next week.AdvertisementAdvertisementRead more: At $8,900, Could You Muster Some Interest In This 1978 Ford Mustang II?What am I doing?Bradley Brownell/JalopnikI say this as an extremely fortunate middle-class American home owner, but making my monthly budget balance has never been more difficult. I'm very thankful that I locked in a comparatively low interest rate for my mortgage, and I don't have a monthly car payment, but all of our other costs are way up, and earning a living as a freelance automotive writer has never been harder. I won't spend any more time complaining, but I will give you a look into some of my strategies for keeping the bills paid in these tough times.To offset the increase in fuel costs, I will definitely be driving my plug-in hybrid Audi A3 much more often. With a nice slow 110v charger plugged in off the back of my house, I can get 25-ish miles of all-electric driving, and this car has saved me hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in fuel already. My office is about 20 miles away from my house, and I can plug in at work as well, meaning I can do my full commute without burning a drop of gas. With a gallon of premium currently pegged at $5.35 and the non-electric fuel economy of the A3 around 40 MPG, I'm saving about a gallon a day. My electricity rate in Ohio is about 17 cents per kWh, and the Audi takes just shy of 9 kWh of energy to charge twice a day; that's $1.53 of juice to go the same distance. That right there is a savings of $76.40 per month.With the rapidly increasing costs of car insurance, I've moved most of my cars and motorcycles to storage insurance until I can get some of them sold. If you know anyone who needs a Porsche Cayenne Diesel, a Cadillac Allante, a Dodge Neon ACR, or a BMW R1100 GS, have them drop me a line.AdvertisementAdvertisementAre you eating a much more rice-and-beans-heavy diet? Are you skipping out on dentist and doctor visits? Are you sacrificing daily conveniences to keep your head above water? I want to know what you're doing, so maybe I can implement some of your strategies. Let's work together to get through this, man! Let me know what you think in the comments.Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox, and follow us or add us as a preferred search source on Google.Read the original article on Jalopnik.
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