USA Today has a story today called Record fuel prices blow budgets with several examples of how gas prices are affecting people’s pocketbooks across the country.

So I did some number crunching on the calculator. Almost half of Monroe County’s employed workforce commutes to a job site in another county.

Let’s assume a worker is driving a reasonably easy commute from Monroe to Toledo, on a route of roughly 20 miles. And a work-related commute averages to 20 round trips a month, taking away weekends and days off.

That’s 800 miles back and forth to Toledo.

For a vehicle that averages 25 miles per gallon, here’s the numbers:

• At $2 a gallon, the monthly fuel expense is $64.
• At $3 a gallon, the monthly fuel expense is $96.
• At $4 a gallon, the monthly fuel expense is $128.

For every $1 increase in gas prices, that would be $32 more a month that this commuter has to spend on gas just to get to work.

Now, let’s assume this worker instead has a job in Ann Arbor or Livonia, which are both about 40 miles from Monroe and would be considered within a reasonable commuting distance. That’s 1,600 miles for work-related commute during a typical month.

• At $2 a gallon, the monthly fuel expense is $128.
• At $3 a gallon, the monthly fuel expense is $192.
• At $4 a gallon, the monthly fuel expense is $256.

For every $1 increase in gas prices, that’s $64 more a month spent just on gas money. Notice that I’m not counting all the car maintenance and insurance, because, well, we’re talking about gas money.

Now, how many of you started working at those out-of-town jobs when gas was $2 or $2.50 an hour? Of course, you’re going to notice a big difference on your gas card statement.

You can cancel recreational trips, consolidate your shopping trips, the kids can carpool with friends or take Lake Erie Transit across Monroe, but … you’ve got to get to work.

And it’s going to take up more of your money just to get there.