Royal Dutch Shell plc, or as many of us know it as, just Shell announced yesterday that it will have to eliminate 5,000 jobs due to the 62% drop in 3rd quarter net income.

It reported a net income of $3.3 billion or 53 cents per share, but that is less than half of the net income that it reported last year of $8.5 billion. Since the drop, the company has to do something, so like most companies the first place it cuts is its workforce. The cuts represent about 10 percent of the total number of employees for the company.

CEO of the company, Peter Voser, said in a statement, “Our third quarter results were affected by the weak global economy. We see some indications that energy demand and pricing are improving, but the outlook remains very uncertain, and we are not expecting a quick recovery.”

The company did not disclose where the cuts would be coming from, just that they would be coming.

It is quite annoying when a company starts to expect the kind of money they were making when things were outrageously overpriced. Of course the company make $8.5 billion in the third quarter last year, that is when gas prices were outrageous (and not to mention oil was at nearly $150 a barrel). With oil at half the price it was a year ago, it only makes sense that the company’s profits would be taking a tumble. I mean, we’re paying $2.50 at the gas station when we used to be paying $4.00, or more in some cases.

It is also irritating when the first thing a company resorts to as a cost cutting measure is to get rid of jobs. Could the executives not put their minds together to get a better idea than to cut jobs? This is 10 percent of the company’s workforce that they are talking about.

I suppose, though, in the near future that gas prices will be ridiculous again and that the economy will be on the right track once more. Until then, everyone can expect stories such as this one to come out about how jobs are being lost and profits are falling.

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What would you give up to have a highly customized credit card?

Question:

Perhaps the real question is what kind of concessions would you be willing to make on things like APR and benefits to have a card that is uniquely you?

Answer:

I would rather have an ugly card than to have to worry about my 30% APR or not having any kind of benefits from the card. I have seen where people have to pay higher APR’s on the cards that have a cute picture of their cat or dog or kid just because the credit card company went through the “trouble” of putting a customized picture on the card. This isn’t always the case, but, like I said, I would rather have an ugly card.

So the truth is, I would not make any concessions when it comes to my credit cards and how they look. I never see my credit cards anyway because they’re always stuck in my wallet. If I’m at the gas station, I use the blue one. If I’m at the grocery store, I’ll use the red one. This is how I know my cards.

There are many ways to cut your costs during the summer, especially if you plan on doing a lot (or any) driving. With gas prices going back up, traveling this summer may be looking more expensive than when you planned your trip. Well, there are ways to save a little bit of money on that road trip this year.

As always, what I will start calling the golden rule of frugality, SHOP AROUND!!! Comparison shopping means that you are going to get the best deal. At the same time, don’t drive 30 miles out of your way to save $.02 a gallon, that’s crazy and really not worth it. You can do price comparison on websites like GasBuddy.com and some GPS systems even have gas stations filtered by price. These websites do depend on users to enter in gas prices, so the prices you see may not be what they are for that day (or that week if you’re going to a small town).

Secondly, if you’re a cash carrying member of the population use it. Some gas stations have started trying to pass merchant fees off to gas buyers and have started charging more for gas if someone is paying with a debit or credit card. This is a legal way for the gas stations to help with how much they’re paying for credit card fees. The good news for you is that usually these gas stations that charge more for credit card transactions are usually cheaper than everyone else.

You should also perform regular maintenance on your car. Giving your car a tune up and getting the oil changed according to when the manufacturer says can lead to higher MPGs and more miles on your car. Keeping your tires inflated can also help improve your MPG’s by 3% over the course of a year, which could total to 20 gallons of gas! Air filters are another one of those little things that sometimes we forget about that can increase your fuel efficiency.

A little tip I picked up is that if you like stopping frequently for gas, don’t fill up your tank because the less full your tank is the less heavy your car is and the more miles per gallon you will average. I usually fill my car up to ½ a tank, and then refill at ¾ a tank. It is time consuming, but overall I’m getting better mileage out of it.

Lastly, if you really want to cut back on fuel consumption for your road trips, take it easy and try not drive too aggressively. The faster you accelerate the more gas you are burning.

When oil goes up, gas stations and refineries have no problem charging consumers more, but when it goes down…oh no…Now, sure gas is wayy down from last summer, but at the same time, it shouldn’t be where it is now. I had to explain to my friend why gas costs more when oil keeps falling and the explanation I gave her didn’t even make much sense to me.

Oil dropped to $34 a barrel today because of “economic fears.” Economic fears has become the leading cause of anything to happen it seems like. Hmm.

From the AP:

SABMiller said lager volumes fell 1 percent in the three-month period that ended Dec. 31, compared with the same period a year earlier, because of the economy.

“Consumer demand has been affected by the current global economic slowdown, and has continued to weaken in many of the group’s markets,” the company said in releasing its quarterly trading update, which does not provide financials.

So I suppose this means that beer is not recession proof, however sales of beer haven’t declined as fast as sales of other consumer goods…and I don’t see Budweiser asking Congress for a bailout either.
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The lowest price in the U.S. was $1.37 in Cheyenne, Wyoming and the most expensive was $2.41 in Anchorage, Alaska.

I was very surprised to see gas at a local gas station at $1.39 for regular unleaded. All the other stations in my area were around $1.50, but that one station was, obviously, cheaper.

It will be cheaper for everyone to travel for Christmas this year, which is good for almost everyone.

I suppose that those analyzing oil prices were wrong…for now anyway.

Tuesday I paid $3.16 a gallon for regular unleaded, Wednesday it was down to $3.03 and today $2.78. I feel kind of scammed by the gas station, but I needed gas and couldn’t wait…my fault.

Even with the news that OPEC may cut oil production, oil is still way down. People still have to get from place to place, and most of the time they do so in their car. I believe that in the last year consumers have cut back from their huge gas guzzlers to trade down to "sippers" or just more fuel efficient SUVs and trucks. Whatever the reason for the decrease in oil prices, my wallet is grateful.

I, along with plenty of others, am calling this gouging. Not one of the gas stations was charged $4.75 a gallon for gas with their most recent supply, so why are they passing this OUTRAGEOUS price difference onto consumers? The answer: Because they are allowed to. Markup to wholesale prices can be up to $.60 on this most recent trade.

Our gas was $3.49 Thursday night at 8 pm. At 10 pm it was $3.55… Saturday morning $3.99. Wow. The best part? Oil traded UNDER $100 a barrel on Thursday.

So, what’s going on with milk?

Well, it looks like oil prices have a serious effect on everything. However, oil prices should effect every aspect of grocery store prices and not just milk alone. Milk’s price has inflated higher than many other grocery store items. The only items I can compare are eggs and other diary products.

Another culprit is the growing demand from China. China is becoming more modernized and they are beginning to take advantage of the same luxuries Americans have. Also, they, and other countries, are buying our commodities. Our dollar is also at a low and other countries can get our products cheaper than in the past.

He wants to put up wind turbines in the Midwest to replace the 22 percent of power produced from natural gas. Then that natural gas can be used for transportation.

He was in Washington D.C. today to get Congress to act on his plan. He referred to how Eisenhower declared an emergency to build the interstate system in the 50′s and 60′s. He told them they should follow his lead and suggested an energy emergency. He said that oil could raise to $300 a barrel in the next 10 years because of depleting supplies.

On his website, PickensPlan.com he says that Natural Gas is less than $1 a gallon. Cars like the Honda Civic Gx natural gas vehicle can run on natural gas. What he doesn’t say is that natural gas stations are rare. You can get a special machine that will compress natural gas to put in your car for your home, but it takes 16 hours to fill up your tank. Consumer Reports also reports that the car only gets about 180 miles to the tank. Another downside for me is Chris and I hate our gas company, they charge for maintenance for a building that doesn’t exist. They also charge for the gas, then, on the bill, charge a fee for it. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but the bill doesn’t make a lot of sense to us either. We would really hate for it to get higher than it already is.

However, these are clean running cars. The emissions are far less than current combustion engines and would be better for the environment.

I’m torn. I would really have to see it work before i bought into the idea at all.