Oil Hits $100 a Barrel

I just paid my gas bill for December. It wasn't pretty, but sadly I've come to expect it. I live in a 3 year old house. You'd think it would be energy efficient, but think again. The company that got the contract from the builder to be their insulation subcontractor was probably the one that bid the lowest. So instead of using spray foam insulation, or at least giving the buyer the option for an extra charge, regular bat insulation was installed by whomever the subcontractor hired. In the attic, blown in insulation was applied there.

The windows also are a little leaky. This amazes me. A new house and we have cold spots. That's not right! The home builders were making money hand over fist a couple of years ago. They were happy to profit handsomely and to keep building like crazy. That, along with way too many risky loans have lead to the sharp downturn in housing. My dad told me that I should sell a stock when it had a nice profit and not get too greedy and that I should leave a little meat on the bone for the next guy because "pigs go hungry". This seems to be true of business as well.

I think if I am ever to have a house built again, that I will pay far greater attention to the insulation and windows.

I also, sadly have come to expect that I'll be paying $3.50 or more per gallon of gas for the foreseeable future, and possibly much higher. On Wednesday afternoon, the price of a barrel of oil hit $100. The wholesale price of a gallon of gas hit $2.56 . You can add anywhere from 55 cents to $1.00 for the pump price depending on where you live. Barring less use, greater domestic production or a stronger dollar, it looks like high oil prices will be the norm

I can imagine that these extra costs can be very troubling for many people where the added expenses can force them to have to make some tough choices. I know that I am lucky as I can still afford the increase, but my wife and I now choose to take my Honda Civic instead of the Honda Odyssey when we can because it gets about 70% better mileage. I hope that my next car,assuming it doesn't cost a fortune, will run on batteries or a fuel cell or something that isn't dependent on how much a barrel of oil costs.

I can't control the price of gas or the costs of electricity, but I can control how much I use and how well I use it. And I'll also see what I can do around my house to better seal it up against winter's cold.