Trying really hard to OS but the prices keep going up

Cazzdevil

tim_n wrote: »

There is a government scheme which can pay upto half I think of the cost if your employer contributes and they get a tax break based on the scheme.

I think you might be referring to the cycle to work scheme. You can purchase a bike & accessories up to the value of £1000 (anything over and above that value you have to pay for yourself). You get tax and NI relief on the £1k and pay it back via your wages over the course of 12 months, so at the end of the 12 months that £1k bike has in fact only cost you around £560.

Check http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/ for more details.

Charis

sb44 wrote: »

Bl**dy Hell!


Today they are predicting unleaded petrol may go up to £2.30 a litre in the near future, that equates to £10.35 (4.5 litres to the gallon) a gallon!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1025495/Dont-panic-buy-petrol-No-10-urges-calm-truckers-strike-looms-unleaded-predicted-soar-230p-litre.html

I thought about this yesterday and it occurred to me that the cost of oil is only a small part of the price of a gallon of petrol. The major cost is the tax and duty imposed by our uncaring government. So logically the cost of petrol will only double if they increase the taxes by the same percentage. Further on in the same article it says

However, suggestions that petrol could double to 230p a litre were 'wide of the mark, according to Ray Holloway of the Petrol Retailers' Association.

He said even if predictions of oil doubling to $250 a barrel within 18 months came true - which he doubted - the extra $100-plus per barrel would add about 35p to the cost of a litre of diesel, raising it to around £1.65 a litre. Petrol would be about £1.55 a litre.

Mr Holloway said speculators were talking up the market and that they would 'get their fingers burned' when the peak driving season ends in the autumn and prices relax.

'There is no shortage of supplies,' he added.

Although there is the need to be vigilant, it may not be as bad as the headlines make out. Well not yet anyway.

Charis

ceridwen

Charis wrote: »

I buy 4 litre containers of white vinegar from my greengrocer. For £1.85. :j Asian stores usually stock it too, I'm told (but we don't have any here).

:eek: It's okay...I've just gone into Envy Monster territory again. Not sure on price here..but have a feeling that I would pay about that much for 1 litre..(where's the crying face icon to put up when you need it? LOL)

dubgirl

Hi, well tonight we went to our local Morrisons to get the shopping, on the way out decided to put diesel in the car, currently £129.9 and perol £115.9, but the morrisons petrol station was shut, both I and OH immediately thought that it was due to everyone panic buying, has anyone else had problems? the car is now running on fumes, dont know what we are going to do if the garages are all running out!

sammy_kaye18

dubgirl

we have been having issues here in south wales too - the local garage to us is running low and not due a delivery soon and the queues this morning were jsut ridiculous - boyfriend said he traffic was unreal. My friend also works in a petrol stationa dn she has been rushed off her feet with panic buyers.

edited to say - didnt mean to cause an upset by the last written part that was in this post - am very sorry. : (

EssexHebridean

We're lucky around here - people mostly seem to be behaving fairly sensibly and not panic buying fuel. I filled up tonight as I was down to below quarter of a tank - I always fill up when I get to that level or if I see fuel really cheap I'll squeeze in whatever I can. I certainly wouldn't go out and "top up" because the press tell me I should be worrying though!

Dubgirl - most likely you'll have no problems getting fuel tomorrow morning, but if you're worried set your alarm for 6am and go out then!

Merlot

Asda in york had sold out at lunchtime and a huge queue at Tesco, they were warning people of shortages...its the flipping media again saying don't panic and what people doing? Panicking.

Izzy.

sammy_kaye18 wrote: »

dubgirl

we have been having issues here in south wales too - the local garage to us is running low and not due a delivery soon and the queues this morning were jsut ridiculous - boyfriend said he traffic was unreal. My friend also works in a petrol stationa dn she has been rushed off her feet with panic buyers.

he has been crafty though and carries a jerry can in his car where ever he goes - as he is a curtosy car driver. he fills he cars up befoe he delivers then adn before he returns them to the depot and he will put say £30 in a car and then put £2 -3 in the jerry can. He figures at the end of the day the petrol is only used in his car and 6 out of 7 days he is on his way to and from work - the car is barely used for anything else other than collecting his other son.

Thats not crafty its stealing from his employer. He's trying to justify it by saying he only uses the car on his way to and from work but unless the employer has agreed to pay for the employees petrol in his contract then he's not entitled to it. Its theft pure and simple.

Merlot

Izzy. wrote: »

Thats not crafty its stealing from his employer. He's trying to justify it by saying he only uses the car on his way to and from work but unless the employer has agreed to pay for the employees petrol in his contract then he's not entitled to it. Its theft pure and simple.

You are absolutely correct and the employer will find out one of these days by the mileage log.

It is an instant dismissal offence when hes caught, is it really worth it?

Sammykaye, you have an awful lot of info on your profile, you could be known to your BF employers by the amount of info on there, my advice to you is to edit that post.

EagerLearner

Izzy - now that SammyKaye has edited her post, maybe edit yours to remove the offending bit...

I am finding that as we have no car the petrol prices are not an issue, but the price increases are creeping in in other areas of course. It's very hard to keep to a £120 a month food budget that way, so I guess we'll just have to cut back other places. I ordered a a large shop with ASDA recently and bought deals on items that would last a few months, such as longlife milk and juices, half price butter etc. Also bought an offer on Cathedral cheddar cheese from Somerfield, as I know the cheese is good until September. Last week they had an offer on Finish dishwasher tablets too, which worked out far cheaper than the cheapest ones I could find from Tesco so I stocked up on those.

I heard recently on a podcast that the items we're all likely to find deals on right now are:
- Snacks
- Cleaning items
- Household items
- Alcohol

This is because as soon as we tighten the purse strings, those kinds of items are what we cut back on buying. We may start to eat less snacks, use normal detergent to clean/use vinegar, drink less etc... still, there are some deals to be had so get the price book out...