ANDERSON — Gas hit $4.19 a gallon through the area Thursday, and commuters are facing some tough decisons.

Jamie Castor loves her job in Daleville and her Cadillac, but gas prices are hitting her, as most Americans, pretty hard.

“It costs me $84 to fill up my car every week,” she said. “And I just come straight to work and home. I can’t afford to go other places.”

The southside resident said she had considered getting a more cost-efficient and gas-efficient car, but it would only add more expenses, she said.

“That would just have me buying an additional car,” she said. “It’s a classic, and it was my father’s.”

Her job at Two Men and a Truck as a customer service representative also is irreplaceable, she said.

“I really like my job, and jobs are hard to come by,” she said, noting it might not be worth it to get a job she didn’t like closer to home.

Commuters are facing a hardship during a time when the economy is down and personal expenses are high. Jerry Bridges, executive director for the Madison County Council of Governments, said thousands of people commute into and out of the county each day. Most people in the county who commute go to Marion County, he said, citing 2006 tax records from Stats Indiana. More than 7,100 people commute to Marion County from Madison County for work. Delaware County residents bring in the most commuters to Madison County with 1,963 people, according to the 2006 tax records.

Anderson resident Sheri Hayden said she also feels the pinch when gas prices go up.

“I bought another truck, and it’s been broke down more than I’ve driven it,” she said. “But if it were working, I couldn’t afford to fill it up anyway.”

The housekeeper at the Flagship Enterprise Center said she had not seen her horses, which are located on a property on the Henry County line, in almost a month.

“I can’t afford to drive out there,” she said. “I have two horses, and I wish I could put them in my backyard and ride them to work every day.”

Hayden has even tried using a taxi to get to work.

“It’s $13 to ride to here by taxi,” she said. “I can’t afford that five days a week, twice a day.”

Jamison Landey, 21, is a student at Anderson University and works for a company in the Flagship. His Mustang GT gets decent mileage, but the $4.19 at the pump hinders his trips to places other than work.