Petro Patrol

When we first started our patrol on April 27, the price for regular gas was $4.09. By the next day, already the price for regular fuel had increased 6 cents, kicking the price up to $4.15.

On Monday, May 2, less than a week later, the price of petroleum once again jumped 4 cents, bringing the cost to $4.19.

As of Sunday, May 8, the price of gas showed to have increased another 4 cents, bringing the total cost to $4.23 a gallon for regular gas. That's three increases in eleven days, 14 cents total.

In less than two weeks, a 14-cent increase in gas per gallon for a car that requires 15 gallons to fill once a week means $2.10 more you are paying at the pump to fill your tank than you were just eleven days ago.

Let's do the math to see what these sort of increases translate to for your weekly expenditures.

$2.10/week = one dozen of eggs

$4.20/two weeks = one box of cereal

$8.40/month = three loads of laundry or two more gallons of gas

And what do patrons at the pump have to say?

Donna Johnson says she doesn't think about the price anymore, as long as she doesn't have to ride the bus.

"Overall, I see people at the bus stop, so I pay whatever it is and I keep going," said Johnson. "I'm just appreciative that I can put gas in my car and go."