OS solutions to rising fuel prices

miecherox

I'm sure this has been talked about before but in the fresh wake of rising oil prices does anyone else feel priced out of driving their car?

I know I am almost certainly finding it increasingly difficult to put fuel in the car and am now starting to think of ways around it. I am currently spending approx £85 a week on fuel and OH probably about £50.

It is now at the point where I'm having to choose to put fuel in the car or feed us and It's really beginning to annoy me that the car gets fed better than us!:mad:

The alternative is to walk a mile to the bus stop and get the bus - I don' have a massive problem with this - reason I haven't done it lately is I have crohns and if I need facilities I need facilities (IYSWIM!!!!)

Neverthless i'm willing to give it a go - A weekly bus pass is £12 I just need to motivate myself to walk a 3 and 4 year old and the 6 and 9 year old step kids in the morning AND find something to do to kill time between finishing work. NOT SHOPPING that would defeat the object:rotfl:

Is anyone else struggling with this and what has been your solutions?

Penelope_Penguin

miecherox wrote: »

Is anyone else struggling with this and what has been your solutions?

For the last few years I've been cycling the 16 mile round trip to work :T I originally did it to increase my fitness, but I'm now certainly seeing the savings

I'll move this to the motoring Board later.

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com"]forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

squeakysue

How about driving the mile to the bus stop, you still wouldn't be using as much petrol as driving all the way and your car would be waiting for you when you get off the bus
Is there any way you can carpool with somebody?

babyshoes

Can I assume you have done all you can to improve the car's efficiency? Simple things like pumping up tyres to correct pressures regularly, removing excess rubbish from the car, removing things like roofracks, accelerating gently, slowing down by removing foot from accelerator as much as safe before applying brakes etc.

Bicycles can often be found on freecycle, or cheaply on ebay. With little legs to transport, there are suitable trailers you can get for a bicycle, and could probably be fabricated easily enough by someone with some welding experience.

In my case, having the car has ended up saving us money, as when I was using the buses for my short daily journey I would often end up popping into the shops after work, since I was in the town centre anyway! On top of that, buses in this area aren't cheap, so with a small capacity, fuel efficient car, I think on balance I have saved money in the 10 months or so that I have had it. The new insurance prices may change that this year though!

BitterAndTwisted

I've never been able to afford to run a car so I chose to not move out to the suburbs where public transport is so sh!te.

bluebag

I have a sneaky feeling that bus/rail fares will be following petrol and going up.

My Oh has been talking abour getting a scooter for work ( at least on fair weather days) Hoping he doesn't want to take me for a spin on the back of that, my Lambretta days are well over!

miecherox

All really valid ideas - I try and drive as efficiently as possible unfortunately to meet our families needs we need an eight seater and it has a 2.8 engine....not funny especially for short trips.

I did used to cycle to work a couple of years back which was a 26 mile round trip but there is no way I could pul the kids now particularly cos i'm also 18 weeks pregnant.

I think the old two legs and bus solution is the only way.

It's just every time i get in the car and see loads of other cars on the road I wonder are they thinking the same things as me? Like how the hell am I going to fuel this thing again this month!!!

Bitsy_Beans

miecherox wrote: »

All really valid ideas - I try and drive as efficiently as possible unfortunately to meet our families needs we need an eight seater and it has a 2.8 engine....not funny especially for short trips.

I did used to cycle to work a couple of years back which was a 26 mile round trip but there is no way I could pul the kids now particularly cos i'm also 18 weeks pregnant.

I think the old two legs and bus solution is the only way.

It's just every time i get in the car and see loads of other cars on the road I wonder are they thinking the same things as me? Like how the hell am I going to fuel this thing again this month!!!

According to this BBC article they are probably thinking the same as you. Although the tip of not revving your engine at traffic lights - really apart from boy racers and wanna be Lewis Hamilton's who actually does this?!!

sparrer

Was horrified at what it cost to fill my car last weekend, £48, whereas it was £35 not so long ago. I'm more fortunate than many as I don't need to use the car daily, but my disability won't allow me to walk to the bus stop 1/2 mile away. I also have to drive an auto, so a bit heavier on fuel than a manual gear box. To get round the costs I'm planning all my shopping etc on the two days a week I have an outside commitment, difficult as one is a weekday evening and the other a Sunday lunchtime, but like everyone else I'll just have to adjust.

Inconvenience, having to adjust, impractical, awkward, juggle, struggle, scrimp, ...these are all words only we, the serfs know. Meanwhile the lords sit in their castles without a care in the world :mad:

Rant over, feel better now

quintwins

sparrer wrote: »

Was horrified at what it cost to fill my car last weekend, £48, whereas it was £35 not so long ago. I'm more fortunate than many as I don't need to use the car daily, but my disability won't allow me to walk to the bus stop 1/2 mile away. I also have to drive an auto, so a bit heavier on fuel than a manual gear box. To get round the costs I'm planning all my shopping etc on the two days a week I have an outside commitment, difficult as one is a weekday evening and the other a Sunday lunchtime, but like everyone else I'll just have to adjust.

Inconvenience, having to adjust, impractical, awkward, juggle, struggle, scrimp, ...these are all words only we, the serfs know. Meanwhile the lords sit in their castles without a care in the world :mad:

Rant over, feel better now

lucky u £30 didn't even half fill our car on monday and it's already at 1/4 now

i said to hubby i might need to start taking the boys to school on the bus, but even thats expensive and hard going with 3 kids and we would have to cross a busy main road just to get to the bus stop, which is a good 20mins walk away as it is so not great in the rain i suppose, then if i walk my 4 year olds to the bus stop and then they go to nursery for 4hrs then i expect them to walk to the bus stop at nursery then home there gonna be wrecked and very cross he said we'd find the money to run our car which means we'll miss out on something elsewhere

happierdaystocome

I dont drive and bus walk most place but OH is considering either biking to work or driving to work but using his bike to attend all meeting etc that he does during his working day as employer has reduces the travel allowance per mile.

EDT One of the major ways to save money has been to stop himbeing dads taxi for the kids and have them walk to activities/friends house.