‘A dollar or two increase is devastating’: US readers on toll of rising gas prices

With the US and Israel’s war on Iran now in its seventh week, with a fragile ceasefire in place since earlier this month, Americans are continuing to feel the effects at the pump as global fuel prices rise.

For several readers who spoke to the Guardian, the impact has forced difficult trade-offs – from accessing essential medicines and groceries to facing the brink of homelessness amid an already rising cost of living.

For Mandy, a 42-year-old mother in central Utah, higher gas prices have made it harder to visit one of her children, who has disabilities and lives hours away.

“Before [Donald] Trump and [Israeli prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu started their war, gas in my town was $2.70 a gallon. Now it’s $4.19 and I’m terrified it’s going to go closer to $5 before all is said and done. One of our children is disabled and lives in a group home two and a half hours away,” she said.

“It was already expensive to go see her but now it’s all but out of our budget, which is absolute anguish for her and me. We live in a rural area. There is no public transportation.”

Even as she described the strain on her own family, Mandy pointed to the broader human toll of the conflict, referencing US and Israeli attacks in Iran and Lebanon, including a February airstrike that killed at least 175 people at an Iranian elementary school.

“I’ve just been feeling like this war will cause a recession. Even worse is what I imagine the civilians of Iran and Lebanon are enduring … I’m furious about the bombing of that school, the horrible, criminal rhetoric coming from our secretary of defense and president. All of this is being done in the name of every American and it’s disgusting,” she said.

Lisa, a 56-year-old living with disabilities on a tribal reservation in Oregon, said rising gas prices have disrupted her ability to access necessary medication.

Lisa. Photograph: Courtesy photo

“My caregiver and I have had to cut back our trips to pick up my prescriptions, even though they are necessary. Because I live in rural Oregon, the basic necessities are 40 minutes away, so if a doctor calls in an additional prescription after I’ve already been in town for the week, that prescription has to wait for the following week for me to pick it up,” she said.

“Medical transportation is now doubled up with many rides being a ‘ride-share’. So what used to be a four-hour trip is now easily five to six hours with the additional person – not great when you are dealing with numerous medical issues.”

For Michael Adcox, a retired firefighter in Alabama, the rising cost of fuel – combined with broader inflation – is exhausting his household.

“I am a disabled retired firefighter and we are on an extremely tight fixed income. My wife continues to work but the sudden increase in gas and the general inflation is collapsing our financial security. We are actually on the verge of homelessness,” Adcox said.

Similarly, Melissa Meyer, chief executive of IPM Food Pantry in Cincinnati, Ohio, said rising gas prices have driven more people to rely on food pantries – even as those same costs strain the operations of local food banks and their volunteers.

Melissa Meyer. Photograph: Courtesy photo

“Increased gas prices put additional costs on our operations as we must increase gas costs for picking up and delivering food across five counties of southwest Ohio … We are not cutting back our services in any way, yet,” she said.

Still, Meyer noted she is “especially concerned about our rural neighbors and our working poor”, adding: “Both depend on transportation to get to work or get food … When you are not making a livable wage, a dollar or two increase in gas per gallon is devastating.”

Others described how higher gas prices are reshaping their working lives. Maverick B, a 35-year-old in California who works in training and development, said the effects extend well beyond everyday expenses.

“It has also impacted my work commute, making it where there is a risk of having to call out of work to conserve enough gas to make it to the next paycheck. We did not consent to this war, these decisions, the billions being sent to Israel for weapons. We should have more say in what our tax dollars go to, not have them held hostage by an administration that has no sense of reality on what we need,” B said.

Rising fuel costs are also having indirect effects. Cathi Newlin, a 63-year-old ceramic artist in Sacramento, California, who also cares for her husband with Parkinson’s disease, said her income has been hit as consumers pull back.

Cathi Newlin. Photograph: Courtesy photo

“A substantial portion of our household income is generated from the sale of my art and the classes I teach. These are surely luxury items in any economy but when people have to spend more on basics like gasoline, they don’t have as much money or desire to spend on art. The rise in oil prices very much affects my income and the price of my materials,” Newlin said.

The strain has also underscored the lack of alternatives to driving. A 30-year-old IT worker in Poulsbo, Washington, said the “relentless rise in gas prices has fundamentally altered my daily decision-making”.

“I now seriously question whether any given trip is necessary at all,” the IT worker said. “Unlike residents of dense urban areas with robust public transit systems, many of us have no realistic option but to drive … That reality makes the price gouging at the pump feel even more egregious because there is no way to opt out. The ability to make independent financial decisions should not be held hostage by an industry we cannot avoid.”

Katherine Botelho, a 63-year-old retired IT professional in Pompano Beach, Florida, said rising gas prices have forced her to “seriously” consider “buying an electric bicycle or scooter for some of my transportation needs”.

“Unfortunately, I would need one that is enclosed as I cannot tolerate prolonged sun exposure. An enclosed scooter is a very pricey item and not realistic in my current financial situation,” Botelho said.

Katherine Botelho Photograph: Courtesy of Katherine Botelho

Forced into early retirement and now living on social security, Botelho described a growing sense of confinement: “It’s as though I’ve been forced to stay at home as a prisoner of a war that I neither support nor approve of.”

For some, rising gas prices have also made holding a job financially unfeasible.

MA Tullos, an artist and mother near Austin, Texas, said: “When my husband lost his job, he wasn’t just the primary way money came into the household – he was how we managed our healthcare. So we had agreed that after spring break in March, if he hadn’t found anything, I’d be trying to get a retail job that at least offers insurance while he hunted for a new one and worked on freelance work.”

However, Tullos explained that the only job that responded offered two- to four-hour shifts, six days a week, “which after taxes and social security withholding, wouldn’t cover the cost of commuting and paying for insurance for a family as a part-timer”.

“It’s literally too expensive to work,” she said.