Elderly parents and taxis

moneyistooshorttomention

beedeedee wrote: »

A neighbour has a "quiet" arrangement with a local taxi firm, where he pays them about £20 per month and then his Mum can call them anytime (on speed dial on her phone) and they will come and pick her up and deliver her wherever she needs to be, at a cost to her of just £1 a throw. Obviously if his monthly amount gets exceeded, they just let him know and he'll pay over the phone - but his Mum is happy, thinking she's paying. She only goes to the shops and back, but it's peace of mind for them both.

That sounds a good idea if that can be afforded. I was rather thinking along the lines of a friendly/regular taxi firm in these circumstances.

I regard taxis as a luxury (middle-aged age group myself) but then remind myself that its not a luxury to get out and about as much as I did in my home area (recently moved from). So, even if somewhere is walking distance away, but the worse weather is making me disinclined to go out because its howling a gale (again!) then I will get a taxi, rather than change my lifestyle because I've moved.

That's the sort of psychology I do on myself (the "I wont change because I've had to move") and add in that I've got a regular taxi firm that operate on a fixed price basis and that tends to work for me.

That's certainly one of the reasons why I personally am wary of getting taxis and regard them as a luxury, ie that you worry that a taxi-driver will take you the "long way round" in order to earn more money than they are due for to take you A - B. But if they have something like a fixed fare scheme then you don't care if they take you on the scenic route or occasionally ask if you'll share a taxi if they are a bit pushed.

So maybe there is a taxi firm nearby that does something like a fixed fare scheme? The one I use has obviously worked out that that is a good way for them to have a high share of the "oldies" market round here and they all tootle off happily with them when they want to from what I can make out. Almost wonder whether I'm entitled to use that firm too - as a middle-aged person - considering all the grey/white-haired passengers I see them carrying around:rotfl:

Errata

Hes got an idea in his head that taxi are "not for people like him" and that people who catch taxis are "not right if they're going to waste money like that".

When he says 'people like him' he means misers like him. Nowt you can do about that except let him get on with his skewed view of how life should e lived.

moneyistooshorttomention

I don't think its miserly not to want to pay a taxi fare. By "people like him" he may just mean = people who are careful (as opposed to miserly) with their money.

Or maybe he means "people from my background"??? I don't know on that...because I think "people from my background Have A Life/have a social life as such/etc" but maybe he doesn't think that way...

I think its worth clarifying exactly what he means by "people like him" and you are then better able to counter that comment.

I'm guessing what he means is "People from my background think that life involves hardship" and therefore he doesn't work out whether any form of hardship is actually avoidable iyswim. If you don't expect hardship as The Norm then you won't put up with it if there is a way available to avoid it iyswim. (I'm probably not explaining myself very well here...but hope you get the gist of what I mean).

christineperseus

My mother can also be added to the 'taxis are an extravagance club'.
She too is barely mobile - won't have anyone in to adapt the house (I've always paid my own way!) or to assess her in her own home (I know what I should and shouldn't do!) The house is a millstone around her neck but won't move - has no downstairs toilet - needs LOADS of work doing to it....but thinks she can do it all herself as she watches all the 'doing up homes' programmes on the TV. The stairs are a great challenge for her so she doesn't drink as much as she should so she doesn't have to go upstairs for the toilet! I could go on and on...............
But she expects me to drive 45 miles each way to her if she needs taking to an appointment - I'm never allowed in to any of these meetings or doctors appointments as it is her body that is failing not her mind! Again she thinks my petrol comes free!!!!
I wouldn't mind so much if I was asked - but it is assumed I will do it.

browneyedbazzi

My nan had similar feelings about taxis - she was always very concerned about money and frugal despite being well off. I don't think she ever properly transitioned from the earning/saving mentality to the retirement /spending mentality. I think getting used to spending when you've spent a lifetime focused on saving can be very difficult.

In the end we got her prepaid vouchers for a taxi company... That way the money was already spent so it would be wasteful not to use the vouchers and she hated waste!

amistupid

The only time my dad will pay for being transported by car is at his funeral.

securityguy

christineperseus wrote: »

My mother can also be added to the 'taxis are an extravagance club'.

But she expects me to drive 45 miles each way to her if she needs taking to an appointment .

So why don't you just say no?

As in the OP's willingness to drive 60 miles to "save" a twenty quid taxi fare, if old people want to refuse to use taxis they can well afford, the consequences of that refusal are theirs, not yours. So long as you carry on enabling them, they'll carry on needing to be enabled.

BigAunty

Is there a Dial-a-Ride scheme in your local area? Local council or similar organisations have cheap door to door bookings for people with mobility issues. Various membership criteria to be entitled to use the service.

theoretica

I like the gift voucher idea!

Primrose

It's a generational thing I once had to drive a round trip of 200 miles to take my 85 year old mum to the hairdressers for a perm because she didn,t have the confidence to order a £5 taxi fare to take her there.