Have you heard the new Ronnie Dunn song on the radio?
He sings: "Three dollars and change at the pump / The cost of livin's high and goin' up."
That rings true for a lot of us.
The average Arizona household spent 7.3 percent of its income on fuel last month, according to AAA Arizona.
"Motorists know that a gallon of gas costs more than it did last year, but what they may not realize is that 55-cent spread quickly equates to an $80 hike on the monthly family budget," spokeswoman Linda Gorman said in a media release.
It cost an average $49 to fill a 15-gallon tank in Arizona last week - a record high for Thanksgiving week. It would take about seven hours of minimum-wage work in Arizona to pay for that tank of gas.
AAA also reports 40 percent of us plan to scale back on travel as a result of current economic conditions.
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Other car costs are difficult, too. About 29 percent of drivers in Western states say the economic downturn has caused them to delay or skip routine auto maintenance, according to the annual Allstate Good Hands Roadside Assistance Survey.
The economy is keeping some drivers from making needed repairs, too, said 911 Collision Centers Senior Vice President Michael Quinn.
The shop is taking nominations this week for free repairs through its Rescue My Ride program online at www.911collision.com.
Have you found a way to save on car costs, or have you changed your budget to allow for more gas money and tuneups? Are you asking Santa for a gift card to a gas station or a repair shop?
Share your thoughts at roadrunner@azstarnet.com or send us a tweet at @StarRoadRunner. Responses may be used in a future column, so please include your first and last name.
ROAD Q
Jorge Francisco Paredes writes: "Do you know why it says 'Arizona 77' on the AZ historic vehicle plate?"
Answer: It's the year the historic vehicle plates were introduced.
Those limited-edition copper license plates were only issued from 1975 through 1977 for historic vehicles, classic cars and horseless carriages, Arizona Department of Transportation spokesman Harold Sanders said in an email.
They've been making them the same way - with the embossed '77 - ever since.
Arizona stopped putting embossed dates on plates when it started issuing maroon plates in 1981, said Clark Wothe, president of the Arizona License Plate Society.
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Send your Road Q questions by email to roadrunner@azstarnet.com or to 4850 S. Park Ave., Tucson, AZ 85714. Please include first and last names.
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