If things get tougher?

halloweenqueen_2

I wish I could do without the car but I live in the middle of nowhere. The school is even further out, its Ok cos theres a bus but if they are ill I can't get them home. My oldest works where no transport goes so we do need a car. The taxis are very limited and its not always possible to get one. We have to run two which is even worse.

tootles_2

We did look seriously at giving up the car but bus fares into town cost more than the parking, even with a half fare pass.

Family live away, and do not have transport, so if we want to see two of our grand children we have to either go over to see them or fetch them to us.

I have a hobby which involves carrying things like sewing machines, the group I attend is way over the other side of the city, plus if we go to a show I usually drive, with passenegrs contributing to fuel costs.Friends all live well away from us as well and in opposite directions, neither village has a decent transport system, I did once go on the bus to one of them ended up having about an hour in the house before I had to get the bus back!!!

We do walk to the shops and I also shop on line, but I do like to buy meat, veg etc personally, if I can find a code for free delivery I use that. We are also big readers, we take out 12 books at a time, impossible to carry. Our local Taxi fares are not cheap....my husband has an allotment which is away from where we live and needs transport at least twice a week plus his bowls, he takes a couple of chaps, again they contribute to the fuel cost.

As far as cycling is concerned with both of us suffering from arthritis cycling is not an option, the roads around where we live are not exactly safe either, we live on a busy computer route into the city........we do have cycle paths, I still do not fancy cycling along them. At 62 and 72 I think cycling would be foolish.

As long as we can we will keep our car, I realise the time will come when either we cannot afford it or I will be too old to continue driving, that is something I am not looking forward to.......It will severly restrict our activities and our ability to go on holiday

squeaky

I'm not saying to anybody "you must" or "you should" and certainly NOT "you are wrong"...

..all I'm saying is that if you haven't thought about this before (in the same way that so many people didn't think about other bills and expenditures) - that it can be quite a surprise.

Even if you honestly can't get rid of your car, no problem, really - but if you get a good look at where your money is going you might find a way to reduce it.

We don't always look, is what I'm saying. And if you've looked and can't see a reasonable or sensible way to change then fair enough because you've already got it right for your own personal circumstances.

MrsM_4

Depressing isn't it!!

I think one of the best bits of advice I've taken from myself just lately it to THINK b4 you spend, and not to give in to the kids quite so often :rolleyes:

Easy to just open the purse and pay rather than think round the situation either b4 you leave the house (and take sandwiches with you) or when you are out and buy a bottle of water from superdrug rather than sit down in a cafe or mcdonalds

I've just had the emergency gas people out today (transco, no they've just changed their name again, they're emergency grid or something now, guess they'll have to paint all the vans again - more cost..) they didn't charge for their services but I hate to think of how much gas went up into the atmosphere at my expense... :mad:

not quite sure my smilies are going to come out, they don't show up in preview.. lets see..

MrsM_4

ah - bingo! there they are - r they free? or will I be charged for the extravagent use of these at some later time in my life!!! :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

see if i care!!

MrsM_4

hey squeaky - you a mind reader - or is this just a strange case of our messages crossing!

When they say "THINK before you drink.." now we know what they mean.. it's an expensive hobby! (please.. no offense anyone x)

[Deleted User]

post 171 (squeeky) was an eye opener for me re the relative costs of car:taxi

For some people a car is a lifeline and this thread wasn`t meant for us all to be martyrs. We shouldn`t give up everything that gives us some pleasure, life is too short for that. The aim of the thread was initially to find ways of hauling in some costs so that we can still enjoy our lives. A good example is the freecycle site when we share what we would otherwise have to throw away or buy.

Personally, I have far too many impulsively bought, good quality, smellies from qvc from the days when I was addicted. I am going to make some organza bags and get some ribbon and I am going to package many of these up to give as presents. That will save me quite a bit of money in 2006

Another way is to use my new inventory of food and cleaning items. I am in the process of making it now and I can see for a fact that I can live for a couple of months on what I have already and I am talking about 4 stir in pasta sauces etc. The new me will be making those from scratch later. I feel as though I am on a personal mission

HOLsale

squeaky wrote:

I'm not saying to anybody "you must" or "you should" and certainly NOT "you are wrong"...

..all I'm saying is that if you haven't thought about this before (in the same way that so many people didn't think about other bills and expenditures) - that it can be quite a surprise.

Even if you honestly can't get rid of your car, no problem, really - but if you get a good look at where your money is going you might find a way to reduce it.

We don't always look, is what I'm saying. And if you've looked and can't see a reasonable or sensible way to change then fair enough because you've already got it right for your own personal circumstances.

i know what you mean squeaky... it's a similar thing with working out if its worth it to have both parents working or one staying home with the children in my situation i would prefer to have daughter back in nursery for at least a few half days a week but because i now can't get the childcare element of working tax it really IS more expensive for me to work outside the home! (i do work full time at home on ebay and amazon, i just don't get full time wages)

i think there are many things that people automatically assume will be necessities or less expensive and never realise until they are FORCED to look at the issue that maybe there is an alternative

i don't drive either squeaky... we lived on skye for 18 months without a car, that was miserable so i do understand what it's like for some people. however we eventually got one (it was the only way we could actually move to a house that was properly liveable and it was nowhere near bus routes) and we had it the last year we were on skye and what a difference it made in our lives

BUT when we moved to glasgow i realised that i would never spend anywhere near the amount i was spending on maintaining a car (especially since insurance would go UP) then i would spend on public transport.

i do use taxi's sometimes, mostly use my chic shopper (granny bag/trolly) and that actually resolves most issues. but i live in edinburgh now and both edinburgh and glasgow are well served by public transport

the thing is... if things get really bad i believe that many people will not have the choice to run their cars... so perhaps better now to make some sort of provision even just in one's mind just in case...

i know that we are looking for flats closer to the university right now. there is one flat that we are seriously wanting even though it may force us to take on a roomate. the only reason i'm considering it though is that it has 2 fireplaces and it's own small but workable area of garden.

this would solve two problems for us if things got really bad... food and heat

i have one of those paper brick making things i got off someone on freecycle. we've no fireplace here but we've always intended to move somewhere with one. so, i could recycle all our paper and neighbours paper into bricks to fuel the fires. i could grow food in the garden while we wait on our own allotment... it's also got a massive pulley fully big enough to take on two loads of laundry in a kitchen with high ceilings AND it's got all it's original working shutters... all these things would help so much in dealing with hardships if the fuel/petrol crisis thing really gets bad... perhaps worth a roomate afterall

one problem we have here is electric heat, no pulley and not allowed to put up a line outside in the shared gardens (the garden at the other flat has trees so we could string up a line there too) no garden space to use for food at all...

if things got really bad this place could really do us well. plus it's much closer to the uni and all the small shops that i use so i wouldn't even be tempted to buy a bus pass and dh wouldn't need one either on bad days (he normally takes his bike but only on nice days)... a roomate is something i would normally never have heard of, i'm 35 with a family for heavens sake BUT given the way the world is going now and the fact that we simply couldnt' afford a flat like this (and this kind of thing is nigh on impossible finding) i am seriously considering it... it may make all the difference in the world if it gets really bad

it's all about preparing for the worst and hoping for the best really

halloweenqueen_2

I didn't mean to sound like I was arguing, I wish I could do without it. I bugs me to think how my money is going on taxes etc and running costs when half the time it sits there doing nothing.

moggins

I couldn't do without a car either HQ, although we have now dropped from two cars to one since DH changed his job. I was using his car more and more and it made more sense to keep the better car and get rid of mine. This definitely proved itself an investment as we only had to pay £10 to get DH's through the MOT whereas it's cost around £300 every year to get mine through.

There are a lot of cheaper shops, bootsales and markets that I just couldn't get to without a car. I don't mind walking but with my arthritis it's not worth the pain I suffer afterwards to walk for any considerable distance.