At the Stratford Hills Ukrop's Super Market in Richmond yesterday, customers talked about how rising gasoline prices are changing their shopping habits.

From a traveling manufacturing representative who drove 2,000 miles a week, to the single woman who passed up a chance to hear Sen. Barack Obama in Pennsylvania because gas is too expensive, local residents are adjusting their lifestyles.

Louis Bonaparte said he and his wife have cut back on shopping trips to save on gas money.

"We try to get everything we need by making one trip a week to the grocery store now," he said. "And Williamsburg, instead of two times a month, we now go once every two months."

He and his wife also share a car to save on gas. "Gas prices are just too high, and they shouldn't be," he said.

Joe Dolfi, a factory representative for manufacturers, said gas prices not only have cut into his wallet but changed the way he does business.

The high price of fuel has forced him to cut his driving miles in half, to 1,000 a week, which means he talks to customers by phone and e-mail rather than face to face.

"You don't have that point of contact, that one-to-one you get from meeting in person, and that's not good. . . . But that's the way things are, and they are not going to change."

Norma Hyman said she is not worried about gas prices. "I shop like I've always shopped."

Hyman said she always looks for the best price when buying groceries, a habit that serves her well when times are tough.

"You can't plan around the economy. You just have to set a budget and live within it. You just have to be a little more careful, you don't have as much room."

Paula Cutts said she is beginning to notice the pinch.

"You don't realize it when you're shopping until you look at the gas receipt later and all of a sudden realize, 'Wow, I spent $60 on gas.'"

Cutts, who shops sporadically throughout the week, said she needs to pay more attention.

"A group of us was planning to go see Barack Obama in Pennsylvania. But then we started e-mailing each other, and talking about how much we were going to spend on gas, and decided it was too much."

Contact Louis Llovio at (804) 649-6348 or LLLovio@timesdispatch.com.