I must admit that I really don’t have a clue how gas prices really work. I even read a little bit of an article at HowStuffWorks.com, but that didn’t help clear it up. This past Monday morning, before Katrina hit, I paid $2.53 per gallon. That afternoon, after Katrina hit, the price shot up to $2.88 and has gone over $3 at most stores. Wal-Mart’s gas prices are typically how I gauge where we’re at. They had gone as high as $2.98, but today dropped down to $2.83. I don’t understand.

What really gets me is that the prices have very little to do with how much the store actually paid for their supply, it seems. The gas that has shot up over fifty cents this week isn’t new gas. It’s gas that, for the most part, they paid for last week before the price went up. That just doesn’t seem right and that they’re taking advantage of the situation. It’s hard to point the finger because we’re kind of at the mercy of the gas stations. We don’t want to stop driving, so we have to basically pay what they say.

Check out GasBuddy.com to find where the cheapest gas in town is.