This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Moms Talk: How Will Rising Gas Prices Impact Your Family?

The rising price of gas and its repercussions may not change much for local moms.

Welcome to Moms Talk, a forum for local parents to express themselves on hot-button issues.  Our question this week:  With gas prices going up and expected to be much higher by summer, will people consider changing their driving habits, particularly for summer vacation?  Medford parents give surprising answers.

Tiffany Reevior: We're not planning a lot of driving this summer, so I don't think outrageous gas prices will change our plans very much. I wish we could cut back on driving more, but I think we've already made most of the changes we can. We may try riding our bikes a bit more as the weather gets better.

Tiffany is the mom of a 7 year-old and has lived in Medford since 2007.

Nancy Quinn: I don't think the price of gas will curb our summer plans that much--unless it goes as high as $5 a gallon.  We stay local during the summer months anyway.  The farthest we usually travel is to the Cape.  We take advantage of (an amazing Medford resident perk) as many days as possible--and all the museums, parks, attractions in Boston are accessible by T.  has affordable parking and takes you right into town.  The 96 bus that runs through Medford is also a great route--it drops you right in Harvard Square.  A great plus is kids under 11 ride on the T for free.

Nancy has been a Medford resident for seven years.  She has a 2 year-old and a 4 year-old.

Find out what's happening in Medfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Alicia Hunt: I think the high gas prices might affect people who do things like drive back and forth to the Cape or the mountains every weekend,  but if people are going to do one family vacation, I don't think the high gas prices will change whether or not they go. I know that it won't affect us, because the cost of gas to drive to our summer vacation isn't much compared to our share of the rental house, or even food.

Alicia Hunt is the mother of three, two 6 year-old twins and a 2 year-old.  Alicia about greener living.

Find out what's happening in Medfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Judi Harrington McLaughlin: I've been in the practice of driving wisely for a while.  I tend to group errands with appointments so I am not driving all over the place every day.  I chose a summer camp that is en route to my office, and I plot grocery stops along the same route.

The two things I've been working on are maximizinggas points when I grocery shop to shave off some of the price at the pump, and I downloaded AAA's TripTik app which tracks gas prices in your area.  The latter helps fillup in an unfamiliar part of tow without necessarily getting slammed financially.

Judi has lived in Medford for 11 years, and is the mother of two girls, ages 6 and 8.

 Adrienne Szafranski: I would hope that the rising gas prices would cause people to think more about their driving, but I would be surprised if it caused any great change.  Gas prices have affected my grocery and budgeting more than they've affected how my family drives.   I had already sworn off grocery store trips for one item, but that was more for my health than the planet's; Foodmaster is in walking distance. Even though gas and food prices are going up, I still have the same budget to work with, so this will probably be a summer of potlucks!  It also means we save slightly less, because we still need to get to work and school and something has to give. 

Adrienne is the mother of two boys, 5 and 6 1/2, and has been a Medford resident since 2000.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?