A birthday beach trip. Weekend jaunts with the kids. Even a bedtime beer.
As gas prices remain high, people around the globe are stretching their paychecks, giving up small comforts as everyday costs bloat and they try to keep up with their biggest bills.
鈥淔or now, we鈥檙e still managing to hold on,鈥� said Luis Catalano, a taxi driver waiting to fuel up at a gas station in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 know for how long.鈥�
Even as in the war in Iran emerged, the conflict persisted for a 24th day on Monday and the remained at a virtual standstill.
Across continents, the costs were hitting home.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 make it to the end of the month,鈥� said German Toledo, a 38-year-old road safety worker who was fueling up at the YPF station where Catalano idled. Like others, Toledo said surging gas prices have piled on to other rising costs and stagnant wages, making the pain more acute. His salary hasn鈥檛 budged in five years.
One job, Toledo said, is no longer enough to make ends meet.
U.S. President Donald Trump injected a bit of optimism Monday that relief might arrive at the pump, saying talks were ongoing with Iranian leaders and that they were eager to make a deal to end the war. Those claims , with the price for a barrel of Brent crude falling 9.7% to $101.26, down from .
Iran denied any talks had been held, and its parliament speaker called Trump鈥檚 claims a ploy to manipulate markets. Either way, the news had no immediate impact on consumer prices.
Oil follows snaking journeys that can take weeks to go from drill sites to gas pumps. It must pass through refineries, where it is turned to fuel, before it is shipped off via pipelines and tankers to terminals, and then on to gas stations. Pump prices similarly lag global markets, sometimes taking weeks to respond.
So, motorists continue to bear the cost.
鈥淚鈥檓 just barely getting by,鈥� said Catalano.
As with any economic disruption, people with the least have been hurt the most, leaving them to scour already bare-bones budgets for new places to cut back.
Kevin Plucken, a 35-year-old janitor in Cologne, Germany, can only afford to put 20 euros of gas into his car at a time. On the hunt to cut his 鈥渂urdensome鈥� costs, he鈥檚 had to change how he spends his weekends. Instead of driving his two children for an activity somewhere, he looks for things to do close to home.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just too expensive,鈥� he said.
At sites dotted around the globe, it seemed many could agree that the spike in gas was just the latest blow for average people who鈥檝e grown accustomed to relentless high costs.
鈥淓verything is going up,鈥� said Felicia Iwasa, of Lagos, Nigeria. 鈥淭he economy is not easy for us.鈥�
In the Philippine capital of Manila, drivers of the colorfully adorned street icons known as 鈥渏eepneys鈥� have likewise struggled, with costs for the diesel they rely on rising even higher than gasoline. The vehicles morphed out of jeeps left behind by American troops during World War II. They were modified, reproduced, and outfitted in showy d茅cor, becoming a key way of getting around for working-class Filipinos.
Johnny Pagnado, a 55-year-old driver, said he鈥檚 cutting whatever costs he can, down to his nightly bedtime bottle of beer. But he worries about longer-term impacts, like how he鈥檒l afford to send four children to college.
Another driver, 34-year-old Sandy Ro帽o, said a beach trip to celebrate his birthday next month is likely off. He couldn鈥檛 even afford his rent last month and wasn鈥檛 able to make the payment on his jeepney.
If prices stay so high, Ro帽o said, he鈥檒l be forced to find new work.
鈥淚鈥檒l stop driving and look for another job,鈥� he said.
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Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Jim Gomez and Joeal Calupitan in Manila, Philippines; Daniel Niemann in Cologne, Germany; Victor Caivano in Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Dan Ikpoyi in Lagos, Nigeria.
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