My eyes almost popped out like a Tex Avery cartoon last weekend when we passed a pair of gas stations out on the highway selling regular for under two bucks per gallon. The magical psychological price point was shattered, with both stations at $1.98. Here we are, a week or so past Election Day, and The Associated Press reports that U.S. retail gas prices rise slightly, just in time for the big Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Imagine that.

I always give thanks that we never have the need to travel far for Thanksgiving. The extra pinch at the pump is especially unwelcome at holiday time. According to that AP story, we’re lucky to be stuck in the swamps of Jersey, as the price for regular-grade gasoline is roughly a quarter below the national average. (You just have to know where to fill up… the difference in gas prices from one side of town to the other is non-trivial.)

Seeing that I won’t be spending hours on the road, I’m hoping to spend some time this weekend updating my page that lists cars that get great gas mileage… in between the leftovers and football games, of course.

I’m expecting heating oil prices to rise, as well. I waited until the last possible day to get our tank filled last month. This saved us a couple of hundred bucks, as the price dropped dramatically from the end of the heating oil season last spring.

Timing is everything…

Tags: gasoline, gas prices, heating oil, thanksgiving, high mpg cars