It's time to check in for our weekly chat about the crazy expensive gas prices here in Bozeman and Montana, except this week, we've got ourselves a little bit of good news to talk about. According to AAA, as of yesterday morning, gas prices have stayed the same here in Montana.

Well almost.

Here in Bozeman, most places are sitting at 3.99 a gallon which is slightly under the state average of 4.014 a gallon as of yesterday morning. Last week, the state average was 4.012 a gallon, so while it's really not noticeable, technically there has been a little increase.

Even at 4 dollars a gallon, Montana gas prices are still 25 cents below the national average of 4.25 a gallon and one of the cheapest states in the western part of the country.  The cheapest states in the western region are Colorado, North Dakota, and South Dakota with prices under 4 bucks a gallon.

Photo by sippakorn yamkasikorn on Unsplash
Photo by sippakorn yamkasikorn on Unsplash
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According to AAA we are moving away from the "winter blend" and heading into the "summer blend" and that always brings an increase in prices, plus when you throw in the fact of the instability of the market right now, it doesn't look like we are going to see a significant break anytime soon.

So how are Montanans preparing for the increase in costs?

I mean, it's not just gas prices that will and are increasing.  It's food prices, airline tickets, utility prices, and a whole lot more. The last time gas prices got this high was back in 2008 and a whole lot of folks stayed close to home when it came to summer vacations. By the way, if you're thinking about some really cool day trips around the state of Montana, check these out.

Photo by Thomas Bush IV on Unsplash
Photo by Thomas Bush IV on Unsplash
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So does this cloud we find ourselves under have any sort of silver lining?  Well, it could be worse.  In California, they're paying 5.86 a gallon on average. Hopefully, no one tells them it's almost 2 bucks cheaper here.  Maybe we should just keep that our secret.

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.

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