How to budget gas prices into your back to school budget

As September approaches, thousands of young adults across the country start preparing to go to their postsecondary institutions. But this year (more so than in recent years), students and parents are starting to feel the cost crunch as prices for what seems like everything rise across the board. Because a lot of children live away from home during their academic studies, the rising cost of fuel has become of particular concern to parents as their potential visits home from their kids are threatened by the affordability of gasoline.

A lot of parents understand the situation their kids are in and try and offer some financial support for their visits home. Of course, they themselves are also feeling the pinch due to our economic downturn and can’t just give their kids a blank cheque to use for their traveling expenses. This leads to a bit of a Catch 22 situation. They don’t want to give their kids too little and risk having them run out of gas on the side of the road somewhere.(Breaking down on the side of the road can be a real fear for some parents, and can happen when kids aren’t prepared for the responsibility of such long/frequent drives.) On the other hand, university and college students don’t always make the wisest financial choices, which means that the parents of these kids could end up being out money unnecessarily. To add to this dilemma, the price of gas fluctuates daily, so it’s hard to predict exactly when your kid should come home and how much it should cost.

Of course, not all students live away from home when they go to school, and for these students the rising price of fuel is of even greater concern as it has a direct impact on the price they pay for commuting. For some, making the decision of when to fill up could be the difference between paying for their books with cash or with credit.

Getting knowledge about and paying attention to fluctuating gas prices could help both parents and live-at-home/live-at-school students with their budgets this back to school season. Finding out gas prices a few days before they’re posted, could be hugely beneficial when planning your finances. Thus, using a gas price indicator tool like the one below to help you plan when and how much your trips will cost will save you both money and worry.

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