Drivers adjust to $4 gas

Gas prices are inching their way toward $4 a gallon and continue to put a strain on people at the pump.

With the national average reaching $3.98, many drivers are filling their tanks for $60 or more.

As a result, many residents have to cut back on other expenditures to have the money for gas.

Kristy Brinkley, who lives off Holland Road, said the high prices keep her from leaving the house some days.

She said she had to skip a trip to the grocery store, which is only a few miles from her home, last week because she couldn’t afford to fill up.

“If I don’t have enough money to get gas, I don’t go anywhere,” she said. “I’m doing the best I can with what I have.”

Trey Bryant also has cut back to be able to keep up with gas prices.

He avoids driving his truck nowadays because it costs more than $70 to fuel it, but he and his wife also have cut down on eating out and buy store brands at the grocery store to save money.

“We started doing that when gas got up to $3,” he said. “We’ve gotten pretty good at it.”

Bryant has also given up visiting his niece in Raleigh on a regular basis, because he cannot afford the extra travel.

In contrast, Sarah Kinna, who commutes 30 minutes to work every day, said she is cutting out anything but her travel. She takes monthly trips to both Clarksville and Maryland to see her parents.

“You have to go places, so you have to give other things up,” she said.

Instead of cutting down travel, she said, “food and fun go out the window.”

Some residents are working around the gas prices and driving less.

Rochelle Askew is trying to cut down on driving by using her bicycle to get her around, but she is spending about $60 in gas every week.

To curb the price tag, she stopped filling up with premium and has downgraded to regular.

However, David Monn said gas prices don’t really affected him.

He lives in the Holland area and works in the Newport News shipyard. He has a truck he drives recreationally, but to get to work, he carpools with two coworkers in a small, fuel-efficient car that gets about 45 miles to the gallon.

“They both drive trucks, and it’s easier for them to pay for gas, and I keep up the maintenance,” he said.

As a result, Monn doesn’t pay for any of the gas used to get him to work.

There might be hope on the horizon for drivers though. The price of oil fell to $97.18 a barrel Friday after hitting a two-year high of $114.83 Monday. Friday’s price is the lowest oil has been since mid-March.