CINCINNATI — Planning a road trip for spring break? It just got a lot more expensive, thanks to soaring gas prices.
With gas now over $4 a gallon almost nationwide, drivers like Whitney Lee are rethinking how much they want to drive.
"You have to cut back, and even stop driving, it's pitiful," Lee said.
Let's say you had been planning to drive from Cincinnati to Orlando or the Tampa-Clearwater-St. Pete beaches. That's about 900 miles each way.
Using 1,800 miles as our roundtrip figure, we wanted to know what the trip will cost someone driving an average mid-size SUV that gets about 23 miles per gallon on the highway. Roundtrip, you would burn 78 gallons of gas.
How much you will pay for gas?
A month ago, with gas at $3.25 a gallon, that trip would have cost you about $254. Now, with the average national gas price nearly $4.25 a gallon, that same trip will cost $332, which is $80 more than just a month or two ago.
If you drive a full-size SUV or pickup that gets just 18 miles per gallon, expect to pay as much as $390 roundtrip.
The good news is that gas is cheaper in Georgia due to lower fuel taxes (still around $3.99), so if you refill there, you should save a few bucks.
It's doubtful people will cancel spring break plans because gas will cost $80 to $100 more than Christmas time, but be sure to budget for it, so you don't waste your money.
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