In a story for CNN Money on March 24, reporter Steve Hargreaves described the plight of residents in Camden, Alabama, the small American town where consumers spend more of their income for gasoline than in any other community in the United States.

Corey Carter, 30, a resident of Camden, which is 80 miles southwest of Montgomery, reported using one-fourth of his earnings for gasoline, or approximately $65 a week on fuel. Saying he no longer goes out to movies or to eat, Carter characterized his situation as "working for gas."

Carter and others like him in small towns across the United States are faced with sharply curtailing other expenditures in order to afford gasoline, a strategy many economic pundits fear will throw the country's already tenuous economy into a full-blown recession.

In Camden, a poor, rural Southern community where the average household income is $26,000, residents now find themselves directing 13% of every paycheck to gasoline, usually to make long commutes to low-paying jobs. In more metropolitan areas where people can walk or use public transportation to reach their jobs, the figure is about 2%.

Small businessmen in Camden report sales drops of 10 to 15% over the past few months as consumers have been forced to cut back in other areas of their lives to meet the rising cost of transportation.

Jim Pugh, the owners of Coast to Coast Tru Value in Camden was quoted in the CNN Money article. "It's the overall economy, but gas prices are having a big effect on it. I just don't know where it's headed."