By By ERIN VER BERKMOES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - There is no doubt about it, the cost of everyday necessities is going up and this is a problem for many people.
One of the daily necessities which has gone up in price is the cost of energy. The price of natural gas and gas for vehicles has gone up significantly in the months leading up to winter.
Many area residents are doing all they can to conserve, so they aren't slammed with high heating bills and so they can afford to drive where they need to go.
Don's wife, Terrie, traded in her Ford Explorer for a 4-cylinder vehicle to cut back on gas prices.
The Winslows added it's a sad situation for many people as the cost of both natural gas and gas for vehicles is going up, but the wages they are paid aren't.
Lori Hein of Niles said she is dropping the temperature on her thermostat this winter in hopes of saving on her monthly gas bill.
When Ann Baldinger of Niles heard that natural gas prices were going up, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Baldinger recently had her gas furnace replaced.
Baldinger added she is also driving much less than before, when the gas prices were lower.
Duthry is putting in new installation, siding, as well as a new roof on her home. She is also wrapping her pipes, placing a blanket on her water heater, putting plastic on the windows and caulking any cracks she finds, in hopes of cutting back on heat escaping.
Mike Clayton, owner of Pro Muffler in Niles, is trying to conserve heat at both his home and business.
Clayton added in the recent weeks he has seen more people bringing in their older vehicles and having them fixed and that he is selling probably 10 times the amount of air filters and doing more tune ups than usual.
Clayton himself owns a large pickup truck, which gets just about 10 miles to the gallon. He typically just drives the truck to and from work in order to save gas. Any other time he and his wife travel, they use her car, which gets much better gas mileage.