‘A dollar or two increase is devastating’: US readers on toll of rising gas prices

Guardian readers describe how their lives have been upended by cost hikes stemming from Trump’s Iran war With the US and Israel’s war on Iran now in its seventh week, with a fragile ceasefire in place since earlier this month, Americans are continuing to feel the effects at the pump as global fuel prices rise . For several readers who spoke to the Guardian, the impact has forced difficult trade-offs – from accessing essential medicines and groceries to facing the brink of homelessness amid an already rising cost of living . Continue reading…

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Guardian readers describe how their lives have been upended by cost hikes stemming from Trump’s Iran war With the US and Israel’s war on Iran now in its seventh week, with a fragile ceasefire in place since earlier this month, Americans are continuing to feel the effects at the pump as global fuel prices rise . For several readers who spoke to the Guardian, the impact has forced difficult trade-offs – from accessing essential medicines and groceries to facing the brink of homelessness amid an already rising cost of living . Continue reading…

Guardian readers describe how their lives have been upended by cost hikes stemming from Trump’s Iran war

With the US and Israel’s war on Iran now in its seventh week, with a fragile ceasefire in place since earlier this month, Americans are continuing to feel the effects at the pump as global fuel prices rise.

For several readers who spoke to the Guardian, the impact has forced difficult trade-offs – from accessing essential medicines and groceries to facing the brink of homelessness amid an already rising cost of living.

For Mandy, a 42-year-old mother in central Utah, higher gas prices have made it harder to visit one of her children, who has disabilities and lives hours away.

“Before [Donald] Trump and [Israeli prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu started their war, gas in my town was $2.70 a gallon. Now it’s $4.19 and I’m terrified it’s going to go closer to $5 before all is said and done. One of our children is disabled and lives in a group home two and a half hours away,” she said.

“It was already expensive to go see her but now it’s all but out of our budget, which is absolute anguish for her and me. We live in a rural area. There is no public transportation.”

Even as she described the strain on her own family, Mandy pointed to the broader human toll of the conflict, referencing US and Israeli attacks in Iran and Lebanon, including a February airstrike that killed at least 175 people at an Iranian elementary school.

“I’ve just been feeling like this war will cause a recession. Even worse is what I imagine the civilians of Iran and Lebanon are enduring … I’m furious about the bombing of that school, the horrible, criminal rhetoric coming from our secretary of defense and president. All of this is being done in the name of every American and it’s disgusting,” she said.

Lisa, a 56-year-old living with disabilities on a tribal reservation in Oregon, said rising gas prices have disrupted her ability to access necessary medication.

“My caregiver and I have had to cut back our trips to pick up my prescriptions, even though they are necessary. Because I live in rural Oregon, the basic necessities are 40 minutes away, so if a doctor calls in an additional prescription after I’ve already been in town for the week, that prescription has to wait for the following week for me to pick it up,” she said.

“Medical transportation is now doubled up with many rides being a ‘ride-share’. So what used to be a four-hour trip is now easily five to six hours with th