Are you feeling the gas pinch?

I average only 14 gallons of gas per month.  At $3.70 a gallon, that is over $51 a month.  I walk my child to school.  I combine trips.  It isn't unusual for my car not to move only one day a week, and I still find it hard to accept the cost of adding gas to my car.  Forget about being in a relationship - it's too expensive!  My cost to telecommute to work is less than $40 a month for my internet service although costs for electricity are probably higher than someone working out of the home, but it makes me very grateful I am able to work from home.  My car is over 12 years old and every warning light that came as "standard" comes on every time I crank it, but I just can't justify buying a new or a "new" used car when I only average 5k miles a year.  I will probably be forced to deal with it within the next year.  I know I am not interested in working outside the home at this point because of car and gas expenses.

Is it just me?  Does anyone else begrudge the expense of owning cars?  Sometimes I think I want to live in a large city where public transportation is available, but I think it would be offset with a huge difference in the cost of living.

So how do you feel about you car and the expense of keeping it?  Do you go without car ownership?  Is the expense/aggravation factor comparable with public transportation?  Is your car your lifeline to independence?