Vocal Voices

The price of petrol is rumoured to be going up by 4p a litre within days! Will that be enough or will the psychological £1.50p per litre do it?

The whole energy price issue has gone mad. Not only will the price increase personal travel it will also impact on the cost of everything and we cannot do a thing about it.

The only people to benefit are: the crude oil investors, or speculators as they should be correctly titled, and it is they who set the price anyway; and their mates the refineries and wholesalers who act like lightning to pass any price increase on and use any excuse to avoid passing a price drop on.

Are you a mind-reader WM? That is the very question I asked myself this morning when I heard the expected price made even worse by it being converted into price per gallon in Old Money-over £7.00 a gallon!

We use taxis when we go out in the evenings as we eat out and drink. Weekends away could be sorted with hiring a car for a couple of days. Always take taxis to airports- cheaper than fuel costs, an airport hotel and parking. Four new tyres and something to do with discs on the brakes cost over £900.00 a few weeks ago. Home delivery shopping charges costs less than fuel and parking charges in town. Can't park in town during the summer months of the year here because of the holiday visitors. Any local beauty spots charge a fortune for parking - taxi would be cheaper. With road fund and insurance all totted up along with fuel I reckon it would be cheaper to get rid of it.

We need a car for convenience, but we only use it when really necessary these days. The twice-weekly mass food shopping expedition is only about a mile there and a mile back.

I understand the argument about "fixed costs" but arranging taxis is far too much hassle and fares are extortionate. Just to do the shopping, you'd be looking at a charge of £8. Whenever I can, I use public transport with my OAP pass when it's valid, and walk when it's not.

We don't do that much leisure mileage, but again if we do, we'll use the car. Rail fares are now so expensive that for two of us, driving is far cheaper. For example, fuel costs to Taunton, 300 mile round trip @ £1.50 litre = £51, rail fares for 2, return off-peak = £141

We don't drive a huge number of miles a year, so a pence increase in fuel isn't going to hurt us.

as iv said before i use taxi all the time
i dont have an option
its on average £5/6 each way to the supermarket
same to town
i can use the same taxi firm all the time
never have a problem
i can do a home delivery and i do in bad weather which is cheaper
but i would never go out if i did that
the bus stop is quiet a walk plus i cant carry shopping
it is alot of money but i dont worry about it
even to the drs id £5.00 each way
one of the penaltys in living in a lovely small sea side town
which i love

When will I give up my car?


Never.

When my eye sight starts failing. I still feel confident to drive and mrs.e would not come with me if she didn't feel safe. Our only long journeys are when we go to Southampton for a cruise. Mrs.e says I can stop any time. Never drive more than two hours without a stop.
When we go to town we use our bus pass. We can even get to Manchester on the train after 9.30 a.m for free.

Rodo wrote:When will I give up my car?


Never.

Now I feel like a Wimp

Rodo wrote:When will I give up my car?


Never.

I always said that, but when my knees were really bad and I was on crutches I changed my mind. I could not see the point of an MOT, tax and insurance for something that was only going to sit at the side of the road. If I could use it for the odd trip now and then fuel would have added to the costs.

TBH living in a city I have not missed it that much. Buses are plentiful and clean, private hire is quite cheap - return to the local supermarket is £6 total - even cheaper if you chum up, and some of them are doing deals for multi pick-ups.

We don't have much choice - we need two cars.

Mick does quite a lot of travelling so needs his van all the time. It costs him an absolute fortune in diesel.

I can walk to work and the girls can both walk to school but any clubs they go to are not within walking distance. So I have to go into town twice a week to take S to cadets. And I can't do online food shopping as they can't get their delivery vans through The Squeeze to get to us. When S moves up to Year 9 she will need to catch the bus to school as it is far too far to walk. I am hoping that it is over 3 miles so she will get free bus travel but we think it is just under - 2.9 miles. That means her bus fare will be £1.80 a day which I think is extortionate.

I do try and combine journeys. On a Monday when S goes to cadets I go for a swim so at least I'm not driving backwards and forwards. On a Thursday I pick them both up from school and drop them at my mums. Then I come home to do some bits and pieces and have to go back to my mums at about 6.30pm to pick up S to take her to cadets (it is too far from my mums for her to walk there on her own and my mum and dad don't drive). Then I usually go food shopping and back to my mums to pick up L before picking up S from cadets.

L had Guides on a Wednesday in another village which is too far to walk to. Fortunately a friends mum takes them and I fetch them back so that's only one trip.

On a Saturday we go through town to go to their riding lesson and we usually call in and see my mum and dad on the way back and also nip to the library and any of the small shops that aren't open on a Thursday evening.

I do tend to make more journeys in the summer though - I go riding a couple of times a week (although again, I try and coincide it with trips into town) and we usually go to the allotment, which is in town, two or three times a week.

The bus service around us is pretty good but we have 1 mile walk home from the nearest bus stop, up a very steep hill so it isn't really do-able if you are carrying very much.

So we don't have much choice - no matter how much the petrol costs we still need the car.

Unimaginable not to have ones own wheels though giving it a rest lately as I do not wish to get it salted. Found however a mobility scooter is fine for the weeks shopping with some hanging on the back. Cheap too though I dont know what it costs to charge the batteries.