AIBU to weep at the cost of driving lessons?

[pinkstinks]

forty seven pounds for two hours This is the average price around here. I got a groupon deal for four hours at a reduced rate, so had my first lot but then get told the next two hours at the reduced rate will be the two hours before my test? This was defintaly not made clear in the small print, I read that stuff like a hawk.
I have put off learning to drive, and should hae done it earlier but we always live in the city centre. I feel that it is a useful skill to have, but weekly lessons will be costing me two hundred pounds a month and this is scary.
AIBU to worry about the cost this much or should I just suck it up. Please tell me its worth it, even though I wont be able to afford to buy a car after let alone insure it.
Also I have no-one to take me out for private tuition to help, so can only rely on my lessons.

YANBU.

Its the main reason I haven't learnt.

Driving lessons are the cheap part. Just wait until you have to pay for the running and upkeep of a car.

I am learning right now, £20 per hours lesson. I have so far had 16 lessons, should only need a few more thank god. Then comes the cost of the tests/possible repeat tests/actual car/running costs of car.

I hope it's worth it.

YANBU, it's pricey.

Private tuition would likely work out more expensive (unless you learned very, very slowly), because insuring a learner is expensive. I'm just trying to work out how to insure DH on my car and it's clear paying for lessons will work out cheaper.

DS pays £33 for 1 1/2 hour. That's enough to learn loads and not too expensive, relatively. Can you ask for a.shorter lesson?

Can you afford to book in bulk? DP is (finally) learning and we book in blocks of 10 as it works out about £5 per hour cheaper.

And yes, it is worth it. I managed without a car for about a month when I moved back to the Uk from France. I hated every minute. For me driving is freedom!

How much!!!

I'm so glad I had lessons back in the 90's.....£11 an hour then

Sorry no helpful advice at all, but as bp300 says the upkeep & running is pretty costly as well, I've been overdrawn for the past 3 months because I try and buy my car insurance in one go to keep costs down (and not pay an monthly APR inflated charge!)

Flipping 'eck!! I am so glad I learnt 11 years ago when I thought £18 for 2 hours was bad.

I had one of the most expensive instructors at the time, £13.50 an hr. in 1993 but I passed first time, had about 20 lessons I think. But I think the test is harder now.

Could you do an intensive course? Wondering if it might work out a smidge cheaper and possibly reduce the need for extra practise, however I didn't go out in any other car (just had my driving lessons) and passed first time.

I would however, suggest getting out lots once you've passed to get a load of hours in to increase your experience.

When we save enough to get my provisional and add me to the insurance then dh is going to teach me how to drive until I know enough to get a few lessons to teach me how I should be driving .

There will be no guarantees on how long he will stay my "d"h during this process though .

We started DS off in late March at £20 per lesson, but sometimes he had 2 lessons a week. He passed his test in mid-June.

The lessons were his 21st birthday present.

There is no way I can afford to get him a car and all the expenses that go with that. He will have to wait till he earns enough to buy one himself and fund it.

At least he has his licence, that's the main thing.

yes thats what I'm thinking, i just want the license at the moment, owning/running a car will have to wait I think as I just cant afford it, but thats making me think what is the point of learning. I just dont want to keep putting it off and putting it off, I have an aunt who cannot drive and is getting older and just has to rely on people a lotwhich must be rubbish for her, and also my mum who ends up ferrying her around.

Fucking hell 8 years ago it was £13 a lesson. I doubt I would afford to do it now < falls on the floor>

Having a license is good because you'd be able to rent a car for a few days, I agree it's worth it.

YANBU to want to weep at the cost of driving lessons but save some tears for when you find out how much the insurance costs once you pass.

Ditto the suggestion for an intensive course. I took one and passed, after previous fails. Worked out a lot cheaper than if I had gone back to my previous instructor for lessons.

U spent about £20 a week for near enough 2 years... I wasn't a natural and had no chance for practises between weekly lessons.

I think I'm a great driver now and am so so glad I drive.

Trying to decide if can manage without car during mat leave (can return lease car). Would save £200 a month but not sure I can face it.

Ps so YANBU but it's worth it!

We have 2 DS currently learning - the price is indeed enough to make you weep - £25hr, small discount if you book blocks of ten hrs.

DS1 failed his last year, resits again in about 6 weeks, he is doing an intensive course (20 hrs, £440 over a week), this time.

DS2 is almost ready for a first attempt, he's having weekly lessons atm.

Both are also now insured on my car (provisional marmalade), to get more driving experience, this is a further £90 month each!

And that's a lot of money - before we even think of insurance/buying a car when they pass! Country area, rural, so it is an important thing to have a licence for jobs and we just feel we want to get them through it asap.

The test is MUCH harder than even a couple of years ago, much lower pass rate, and massively harder than when I learned 20years ago.

I passed a couple of weeks ago after about 18 months of lessons - my instructor was charging £180 for blocks of 10 hour long lessons. I feel like I've had a pay rise now I've passed!
When I was practising in DP's car and still learning it was only an extra £20 to add me onto the insurance (he was with Admiral )

So expensive. When I learnt it was £10 an hour. I am old.

DH charges £20 per hour, £18 for students. £180 or £160 for 10. £320 for 20. But we're in NW.

When we save enough to get my provisional and add me to the insurance then dh is going to teach me how to drive until I know enough to get a few lessons to teach me how I should be driving.

It's now really quite expensive to add a learner driver to your insurance .

It might mean you can pass on fewer lessons if you save like billy-oh until you can afford to have 2 lessons a week. (No more expensive over the months, just putting what you would be paying for lessons now into a savings account until you have about 15 lessons worth say, then start using it for a 2nd lesson each week). Thinking being if you go a whole week between lessons, it can take you a good 20mins or so to get back to where you were at the end of the previous lesson, so a kind of 3 steps forward 1 step back approach. If you don't have to wait a week, you get rid of all the "1 step back" bits.