“We can tell our values by looking at our checkbook stubs.”

— Gloria Steinem

At the end of May 2012, the average gas price in Oregon reached $4.25. Today, it hovers around $3.27.  That’s nearly $1 per gallon less and, assuming a 15-gallon fill-up, …

… an extra $15 in your pocket every week.

It’s not much, but it’s something. That money could be used to get a few groceries, pay down the credit card bill a little, be saved for when gas prices inevitably rise, buy some liquor to help get through a visit from the in-laws, or even get an extra present to put under the Christmas tree.

However, $15 could also,

• Buy 10 free Sunday meals for those in need at Potluck in the Park.
• Provide hot, delivered meals to a senior citizen for almost 4 days through Loaves and Fishes.
• Give 3 McDonald’s lunches to the gas station attendant.
• Buy a fleece blanket throw for a homeless woman.
• Bring a $15 Target gift card to a family whose mom or dad has been laid off.
• Put a dollar in a Salvation Army red bucket 15 times.
• Send a family a flock of chicks through Heifer, International by tossing in an extra $5.
• Pay for the coffee, or several coffees, for the lady behind you in the Starbucks drive-up.

It’s easy to ignore price changes or complain vehemently when prices rise. But when prices go down, a small window opens opens up.

The window of opportunity to change someone’s day.

Yesterday’s gift of time … Gave a McDonald’s gift card to my gas station attendant, thanks to the lower prices at the gas pump.