with gas prices quickly approaching the 4-dollar mark -- many new mexicans are being forced to make some tough choices-- drive less - or spend less on other things - or a little of both - as stuart dyson reports -- it's bad for the economy any way you cut it. " we blew through the three fifty barrier last week - now it's in the rearview mirror as prices head toward three seventy five - and four-buck gas looks like a sure bet by summertime." four buck gas really blows a hole in a paycheck - especially in new mexico where thousands of workers make ten or twelve bucks an hour. " my car - it's about 50 dollars every minute thumbnail 06:00 pm time i fill up - at least - with the prices going up it just keeps getting higher and higher - more of an impact every time." u-n-m economists say working families take a beating. " filling up your tank once a week - that's 50 dollars a week - couple hundred dollars a month - for a lot of families earning 12 - 15 thousand dollars a year they may bring home no more than 12 hundred dollars - so that's a bug hunk of their dollars." retired people - fixed incomes - far-flung rural new mexico . " i live way up in the mountains and i have business for my wife - things to take care of in town quite a bit - so you know - you gotta make the trip - it's 2-3 miles - 6 miles to my mailbox!" smith's supermarkets now offering up to a buck a gallon discount for customers using the store's rewards card - depends on how much you buy in the store of course. " the philosophy is just help our customers out in a tough situation out there
