Gasoline prices have been rising again and the spike in the past month is tightening the squeeze on budgets.

The average price of a gallon of unleaded gas in Omaha on February 22 was $2.37. That's 35-cents higher than a month earlier.

That adds up quickly. For a family with two vehicles, a sedan with a 13 gallon tank and an SUV with a 22 gallon tank, filling up once a week will cost an extra $636 a year.

Lisa Cameron, with Credit Advisors says, "Over 80 percent of the workers in America now are living paycheck-to-paycheck. So it's taking everything they bring home to make ends meet."

For those families, it will take just a week or two before they feel the financial pinch.

Cameron says, "They're not going to make that quick trip to the grocery store. They're going to have to start plotting and planning their travels. They're not going to go out to eat as often. They're going to have to take those dollars they spent at the movies and put it in the grocery budget, possibly into the gas tank."

Motorist Megan Westwood says, "We've given up actually going out and doing things."

Paul Jackson is thinking about trading cars.

"We've talked about getting a hybrid car or something that gets 30-miles-to-a-gallon," he said.

UNO student Brian Tipton says, "I usually fill up all the way but now it's like three quarters of a tank at a time 'cause that's food money right there."

Credit Advisers also suggests adjusting the thermostat and cutting back on entertainment and phone bills to make up for higher gas prices.

Analysts say crude oil prices have jumped $10 a barrel in the past month. Fires have shut down refineries in Texas and California and President Bush's decision to increase oil reserves have all put pressure on prices. The experts say you should not look for a break on any near horizon.