As the weather warms and the homework wanes, there are some summertime records that are fun to watch, including homerun derbies and hot dog eating contests. Other records are not so much fun, namely, soaring gas prices and media coverage of soaring gas prices.

We hate being redundantly redundant. And trust us, every time we see a headline or newspaper info-graphic about “pain at the pump,” we’re equally annoyed. Most of us pump gas, we see the prices and we feel the pinch. We don’t need some lame local news jockey with a phony voice to make the problem real with a few dramatic pauses.

With the average tank of gas going for $3.62, it’s gotten to the point where commuters’ headaches can be equally attributed to the high price itself, as well all the ink and airtime spent speculating about what’s next. Of course, we don’t want to be hypocritical in our own digital blog ink…

That’s we’re trying to offer some fresh perspective. Do the math, and unless you’re someone who drives for a living or makes major league commutes, you’ll realize you’re not losing as much as you might have thought. In the past two weeks alone, gas prices have risen a hefty 15 cents per gallon. If you fill up a 10-gallon tank twice a week, that’s $3 extra a week, or $156 year.

Everyone’s situation is different. And for hourly workers and job seekers who struggle to pay bills each month, any amount is a lot. But mix in a carpool here and a bus ride there, and things get a bit more manageable. Bring your lunch to work and trade your car’s A/C usage with a quick crank of the window, and you’re doing better than OK. All of a sudden that $156 is down to pocket change…unless, of course, gas prices continue to jolt.

All we’re saying is that before you cancel your summer vacation or buy a brand new, fuel efficient motor scooter and cool pink helmet, do the math first. You may just save yourself a few bucks down the road.

• Search for summer jobs and part-time jobs now.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 5th, 2008 at 2:00 pm and is filed under Jobs, Work, Careers, Seasonal & summer, In the news, Personal finance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.