When it comes to the price of gasoline, 2008 was the best of times and the worst of times.
Gas is now at 5-year lows, just months after it hit an all-time high. And as we remember a year many of us would like to forget, we must include the price at the pump.
March 2008
We knew 2008 was not going to be a very good [image-nocss] year as soon as we saw what was happening at the gas pump. Cincinnati area gas stations raised their prices above $3 even before the snows had melted.
May 2008
And as spring bloomed, so did gas prices-from $3.15 to $3.95 by mid-May.
One driver told us, "It's getting a little outrageous, just to drive around!" Another said, "It's too high; I feel I work every day just to pay for gas."
What we didn't know at the time is that we'd have to work even harder to fill our tanks by summer.
June 2008
As speculators pushed the price of crude oil over $100 a barrel, Cincinnati gas stations pushed their prices up to a high $4.29 a gallon the last week of June.
But that was just the start: Truckers and airlines slapped us with fuel surcharges, while supermarkets upped their prices, and restaurants and small businesses suffered.
One restaurant owner told us, "Cheese, eggs, everything that goes up in the grocery store hit us, and our prices go up."
September 2008
But in September, the financial markets melted down, and as they did, so did gas prices.
By early October, pump prices had fallen by half, and signs showing $1.99 had drivers rejoicing.
"My God, I'm ecstatic," one driver told us.
November 2008
Falling demand worldwide brought prices down to $1.72 and lower by November, and some tri-state [residents] received a Christmas gift of gas below a buck, for the first time in a decade, when several stations rolled out 99-cent promotional deals.
What's next for 2009?
So what will 2009 bring? As long as the conflict in Gaza doesn't turn into a major Mideast war, economists call for continued low gas prices as a result of the recession.
But forecasters say when the economy recovers, pump prices will too. So enjoy what we have this New Year's, and don't waste your money.
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