ALPENA — Motorists in Alpena are getting sticker-shock when they are forced to fuel up their vehicles, as gas prices have climbed to nearly $3 over the last several weeks state-wide. If they continue to rise, it could limit people’s vacations, discretionary spending and possibly cause prices in stores and restaurants to climb.

For Sara Thompson, of Alpena, the price of gas has had an impact on her wallet and because she has to be more careful on what she spends on other things and hopes the prices drop before summer because her family enjoys camping and boating, which consumes a lot of gas.

“We like to load up the kids, take the camper and the boat and head out. We camp all over the state, but if these prices keep going up we won’t be going as far or as often,” Thompson said. “We have already had to pinch pennies some, so I hope it goes down soon.”

Although the prices seem high right now, they are about the same as they were last year at this time, when gas prices were about $2.82 cents a gallon on average in Michigan. Darren Donnon said he notices the gas needle in his truck doesn’t move up as far as it used to a few months ago when he puts gas in.

“I can put in $50 and it seems like it didn’t do anything,” he said. “I’m lucky because most of the driving I do is just around town, so it lasts me, but the money I am spending is still adding up much faster than it was.”

Bridget Hall said she doesn’t like the high prices of gas, but she has no control over how much it costs, so she tries not to stress too much over the added costs.

“There is nothing we can do and I have to get it no matter what it costs, so why complain about it,” Hall said. “That doesn’t mean I like it because it does affect me, but what can I do? I have a car and that car needs to have gas in it to run to get me where I want to go.”

Trenton Seymour said he believes if gas prices remain elevated it will cause a domino effect and the cost of other things will rise too. He said that could lead to personal finances becoming an issue for his family.

“It seems like the prices of everything is going up, not just gas and I know I can’t afford it,” Seymour said. “Prices of gas always seem to go up fast and then takes a long time to come back down. It does hurt how much money I have to spend on groceries, rent, my car payment and the other bills I have. It will make it harder for me to get ahead.”

According to the AAA website there are several things motorists can do to lower gas costs and preserve fuel usage. It says driving at a slower speed lowers gas consumption and for every five miles per hour a person drives over the speed of 50, it is like adding 0.18 cents to the price of gas at the pump. It said if gas prices are hurting you economically, carpooling, ridesharing and use of public transportation can save money, and buying a more fuel-efficient car is also a solution. Keeping recommended air-pressure in tires and avoiding leaving the car run to warm up is also a good way to lower gas usage.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpeanews.com.