Rather than a maximum spend for petrol, we need a minimum

[KingsleyShacklebolt]

Lots of talk of rationing petrol to deal with the people who are panic buying.

I would suggest an alternative approach - a minimum spend. I filled my car yesterday, it's a big mum bus MPV thing so takes £60 - £70 of diesel to fill up. And before anyone asks yes I did need to fill it, it was well into the red.

But the woman in front of me and the man adjacent spent less than £10 each. So their car was clearly not empty.

So why not have a minimum spend? Say £20 or £30? It would stop people topping up every couple of days "just in case". Would stop people filling jerry cans. People aren't going to keep filling up jerry cans or topping up every day if they know that their couple of litres is going to cost £30.

@toocold54

There are also NO buses or trains anywhere near me like a lot of people.

Yep, I used to live in a small market town, the buses didn’t run until after the school run as they were used as school buses. We had no train station, so you couldn’t get a train to work or university.

The buses then stopped running around 5:30pm, so unless someone lived in walking or cycling distance to work etc they wouldn’t be able to get to/from work. Plus lots of people wouldn’t feel safe walking/cycling late at night.

i do see your point but some people only have a tenner at a time and its just before payday

they should stop the containers and cans first

And your mum was happy to let you head off at 6.30 am to spend 90 minutes on a bus, when she had the option of driving you in a much shorter time? presumably yes. It encourages independence. But fair enough you want to take your daughter to work that's nice of you. I don't see why that means your massive car and filling it up to the top is more essential than someone who can only afford £10 to get them through the week.

People should mind their own business. Imagine being that nosey and petty that you feel the need to watch what the people in front of you are doing at the petrol station and judge them . The idea that we now need even more rules (because that worked out so well for lockdown and facemasks didn't it)? is ridiculous. People who want to will always find a way to game the system.

@ineedsun I know. It’s mad.

I’m a high earner now (not bragging honestly) and I wouldn’t be if I hadn’t gone to uni. I now pay more in tax every month than I used to earn from wages and tax credits.

But god forbid I did that and got ideas above my station hey?

It was the best thing I’ve ever done. And the thing that makes me the proudest (apart from my kids). I’ve almost my whole student loan paid back and everything. It’ll finish in about 6 months.

But fuck that fuck me over for daring to go to uni in a CAR.

How could you police a minimum spend?

One someone's topped up with a tenner then can hardly be told to put the petrol back as they haven't put the minimum amount in.

@Rhubarbsoup

I do think those students on placements absolutely should be walking to and from placements, especially after a 12 hour night shift. Universities might well deem a 2 hour drive reasonable for a placement, but won't do them no harm to change buses several time or walk for hours upon hours.

😂😂 you really have no idea, healthcare and education placements are like hens teeth. You simply cannot get sufficient placements for a cohort of students within walking or public travel distance.

1 1/2 hours is about average but up to 2 is possible. Without these, you won’t have enough healthcare professionals or teachers in the future, it’s already dicey and is predicted to get worse. If we just stick to the local area each university would be able to place a few hundred students a year (across loads of professions) rather than the thousands they need to train just to keep services running.

[quote Suitcaseseverywhere]@ineedsun I know. It’s mad.

I’m a high earner now (not bragging honestly) and I wouldn’t be if I hadn’t gone to uni. I now pay more in tax every month than I used to earn from wages and tax credits.

But god forbid I did that and got ideas above my station hey?

It was the best thing I’ve ever done. And the thing that makes me the proudest (apart from my kids). I’ve almost my whole student loan paid back and everything. It’ll finish in about 6 months.

But fuck that fuck me over for daring to go to uni in a CAR.[/quote]
😂😂

😂😂😂

@KingsleyShacklebolt

Everyone piling on to say I'm unreasonable for assuming many people are topping up with small amounts to keep their cars full and that they are doing it because they are too poor to afford a larger amount.

You are all making assumptions too. Some people might be spending a small amount because they can't afford more. Some people might be spending a small amount because they have bought into the panic and are topping up. The split between those two groups is undetermined. I would imagine that the split would be different in different areas of the country.

So if you're all saying i'm wrong for assuming everyone's car is full and they're topping up, you're equally wrong for assuming everyone's on the breadline and can't afford more. Surely.

The point is you have no idea of people's reasons, and for some people it's genuinely all they can afford. So your suggestion is unreasonable because you are excluding those people from being able to get the petrol they need. It smacks of massive privilege tbh.

Allow a Jerry can per person. Very, very few people need to fill a car boot full of containers as some are doing.

Agree some people are taking the piss, but people need petrol for other things apart from cars.

@toomuchlaundry

They should stop people filling up jerry cans to start with

How do you suggest dh mows the grass?

Petrol and diesel.

i put £12 a few weeks ago, all i could afford until pay day

Op 90% of the time when someone is putting a tenner in their car it's because they're skint and their light is on.
The fact you don't realise this says a lot about your privilege. You'd leave those people without fuel to get to work/school run etc?

@Etulosba

Allow a Jerry can per person. Very, very few people need to fill a car boot full of containers as some are doing.

Agree some people are taking the piss, but people need petrol for other things apart from cars.

Yes, they do, but I’ll hazard a guess the vast majority of those filling up containers at present aren’t landscapers etc.

@Mummyoflittledragon
In fairness, presumably no ones going to die if the grass doesn’t get mowed this week?

If it came to rationing, then I would not be considering spend, but who really needs a car. NHS workers, teachers, lorries, delivery drivers for example. Assuming this government was competent enough to run a rationing scheme.

Chelsea Tractors going half a mile to and from school instead of walking and men with small penises in BMWs would be bottom of my list.

Isn't it hilarious when rich people forget that people can be poor 😒

I drive the same car I had when I got divorced. I could afford a newer one but it works, it goes, and I love it anyway.

My mate mechanics for me for cost of parts and I (now) pay him but I have to force him to take it and have been known to leave the money through the letterbox in an envelope.

I think my tiny car that’s ancient is more environmentally friendly than the op’s big mum bus (🤮) that she bought because she had big teenagers.

I’m astounded at the privilege being shown on this thread tbh.

Who the fuck even notices how much other people at the petrol station are putting into their cars?! I've been driving for 18 years and I don't think I've ever noticed what other people's pumps said on them.

Both your ideas are just absolutely stupid.

When I was a newly single mum of 2, I was seriously struggling. Their dad walked off and we didnt see him for 5 years. I didnt know where he has gone and his family wouldn't give me an address. It took a year for CMS to track him down. When he left, our youngest was 4 weeks old. I was self employed so wasnt working but had plenty saved to get through maternity, with his salary too. Without him, I was in the shit.

I lived rurally. Nothing for miles, not even a shop. No buses. I needed my car. Sometimes I could only afford to top up £10/15. Enough to get home from doing the shopping and to do another shop the next week.

If you had put a minimum spend on, we would have been in serious trouble. In order to get to the shop, I'd need to spend my food money to meet your minimum petrol requirement.

Thankfully in the 10 years since that was my life, things are completely different. I now have land of my hand, so I have a petrol lawn power. I need to fill a jerry can to run that. Obviously, I'm not bothering with that right now. Nothing bad is going to happen if the grass needs to wait for a cut. But people do need to fill jerry cans because they actually use petrol at home.

Your ideas are totally shit. I'm hoping you're not involved in any government policy in your professional life.

You didnt need to fill your massive, petrol guzzling SUV. You could have stuck in £30 and that would do you until the petrol light came on again. By limiting it to £30, it isnt excluding you or preventing you from driving. By sticking a £20/30 minimum on the pumps, then you're excluding those already really struggling and leaving them without easy access transport. What an idiotic idea.

YABU.

YABU

Sorry @KingsleyShacklebolt but this idea is a TERRIBLE one!

For a start, people have different sized cars/engines.

Mine is a small car that fills up on around £42-43. If I was forced to have to wait until I spend £25-30 (before I was allowed to fill up,) I would be three quarters (75%) empty before I was 'allowed' to purchase my petrol. A much bigger car/engine would probably only be a third (33%) empty before it could put £25-£30 of petrol in.

So YABU. It would be a very unfair system.

Also, as a few posters have said, some people may only have a tenner to spare that day, and may desperately need the petrol. As a number of posters have said, not everyone sits in a place of privilege.

People filling up more than one twatting petrol cans needs to be stopped though! (Obviously need to allow one, as people need to fill up lawnmowers.) Although, as a pp said, the earth won't stop spinning on its axis if the lawn doesn't get mowed for a week or two!