As gas consumption in countries as far away as China and India increases, Rose Garden residents pay more to fill their tanks because oil-producing countries have to provide more barrels of crude oil to meet rising demand for gas. One barrel of crude oil yields about 42 gallons of gas, according to the Department of Energy.

Last week San Jose residents paid as much as $2.71 a gallon at local gas stations.

There's no point in complaining to the gas station owners. Every morning they get an email from parent companies such as Shell and Chevron that dictate the price per gallon that day. Lately the price has jumped three to four cents with every email.

"All of my customers complain," said the manager at a Shell gas station. "But there's nothing I can do. It raises our own cost." He declined to give his name because of company policy.

Although the amount of crude oil needed for gas is one of the main factors behind higher prices at the pump, most of the consumer's money goes for taxes.

According to the Department of Energy, California customers who buy 10 gallons of gas at $2.71 a gallon pump $11.82 into taxes. Twelve dollars pays for the barrel of crude oil that generated the gas. The station owner must pay for the gas delivery and other expenses from the remaining $3.38.

It's not just customers who are feeling the hit to their wallets, either. Business owners are, too.

Elegant Events Catering on The Alameda, which strives for "affordable excellence," is trying to increase the number of orders to compensate for higher fuel expenses. The catering service also had to raise its delivery charge by 3 percent. "Our vendors started charging us a fuel surcharge and a power surcharge," co-owner Brian Lowenthal said.

The company also has added two diesel vans to its delivery fleet. The vans get better gas mileage, even though diesel fuel costs more at the pump.

Another business owner has focused on coaching his drivers on gas consumption. "They used to go out and start their cars a half-hour before [leaving]," said Ed Salah of Grillmaster Catering, also on The Alameda. He's also stopped using the less fuel-efficient trucks for deliveries.

"I can't raise prices, because my prices are set. I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place," Salah said. "My vendors add $5, $2, $7 for fuel surcharges and I've got to pay it. What can we do?"

Gas prices affect everyone across the board--and across the world. World traveler Tom Smith pointed out that as bad as prices are here, they're worse overseas. "When I was in Paris I had a conversation with a person who took people to the airport in his 4-cylinder Volvo at 22 miles to the gallon--his monthly bill was about $500," he said, adding that gas cost about $6 per gallon in London.

Smith said he's not driving less despite higher prices, but he does plan to cut back on niceties like movies and restaurants.

Unlike consumers, city workers, such as police officers, can't stop driving. Tom Manheim, the spokesman for the San Jose city manager's office, said the city has to attempt to see the future when setting budgets. "Last year we could see the trend [in prices]. So we projected in the budget. General services has reserves for this kind of thing," he said.

San Jose set aside $3.87 million for gas this year, according to Manheim, and so far the city's using about $200,000 less than estimated. Since the city buys in bulk, the price per gallon works out to $1.90 per gallon.

On the other hand, the San Jose Unified School District is contemplating stopping school bus service to select neighborhoods. That could save the district between $210,000 and $840,000. Students would either have walk to school or catch city buses.