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.

I have topped up with less than £10 before because I was nearly out of diesel and didn't have enough money to buy more than that until pay day. Maybe these people were in the same situation. But yeah let's continue to screw over the people on low incomes yet again

@Footprintsonthemoon1

My Dh needs to fill Jerry cans for his agricultural machines, hes really hoping it all dies down over the next few days cos he'll need to fill his cans at some point this week and hes worried about the backlash

Exactly. Like it or not farmers and contractors need diesel and petrol to function. On Friday we did a 60 mile journey to our biggest sale of the year. The lorry also had to make that journey. You're damn right I filled up my jeep the other day. And I'll be filling up a jerry can for the quad bike.

Haven't RTFT so probably echoing what plenty of other posters have said. YABU. It must be great to have a lose £60 rattling about in your pocket to fill your car. Not everyone is that privileged. I honestly would have thought this was a joke or a troll post if you hadn't repeatedly come back to reinforce and defend your ridiculous views.

You defend your right to own a 'mum bus' - nobody else's business and all that jazz. Yet you surreptitiously check how much petrol other people are buying on the forecourt. Seriously, you need to mind YOUR own business.

Ridiculous!

They should stop people filling up jerry cans to start with

You know some of us work right?

Jerry cans terrify me, it's all well and good if there's somewhere safe to store them but people aren't always aware, remember the woman who died the last time there was a hint of a shortage. She was transferring petrol from one can into another in her kitchen and the vapour combusted and set her on fire.

@Peanutsandchilli

I think you should have to show your fuel guage on entry. Anything above half full and they don't let you in.

Why should the staff on minimum wage have to police that kind of bollocks?

Peanutsandchilli

What a load of rubbish. I had to make a long journey on Friday for the weekend with two dcs. It's somewhere rural. Normally I would go on my quarter tank and get petrol on the way down there before coming back. However, I didn't want to risk not being able to find petrol once down there as there are only two petrol stations, first one 15 minutes drive away. I didn't want risk breaking down with no petrol and two dcs on my own in the middle of nowhere. So I filled up to make sure I could get there and back ok and to take dcs to school next week. Should I not have taken that journey? Not everyone is using their car to tootle around town.

Exactly this. Imagine how much abuse they would get. Probably get a few angry drivers trying to run them over and all sorts!

Jerry cans could be for petrol powered tools like lawnmowers and chainsaws which are used by people like gardeners. They should be able to fill Jerry cans for work purposes.

People who are filling £10 worth probably can't afford to put more in. They might be paid weekly so fill their car up weekly. It makes no difference if 10 cars fill their car with £10 of fuel or one car fills with £100. People need different amounts of fuel for different reasons

£50 would be discriminating against small cars which might not even take £50 of fuel.

The wankers who were filling up their jet skis at our local garage should have their jet skis blown up. Selfish fuckers.

Ok nothing to do with the thread but just needed to get that out.

I haven’t bought any fuel at all during the ‘panic’ but I’m getting low now. Anyone got any ideas of when they think people will be able to buy as normal again?

The OP is one of the most ignorant things I've ever read on this website.

God help you OP if at any point you never have less than '£60-£70' lying around. You wouldn't know what day it was.

@toomuchlaundry

They should stop people filling up jerry cans to start with

The problem with this is the harder it gets for people to find fuel the more likely they will get so empty then can't get to a petrol station and need to fill a Jerry can to get moving again.

This sounds like a idea at a Tory party meeting, except there isn’t anyone to say ‘actually some people can only afford £10’. So the plan goes through and they all congratulate themselves on a job well done.

Some people selfish are AND stupid. (USA)

Not on a wind up. Just trying to propose an idea which might address the panic-buying which is affecting everyone.

Right. But given that dozens of people have now pointed out the huge flaws in your proposal, along with your privilege, entitlement and hypocrisy, you can't really do the doe-eyed, faux-naivety thing anymore. You keep doubling down on this idea and defending your stance either because you are winding people up or because you aren't capable of understanding the very simple points that people are making. You're saying you are a genuine poster, so do we assume that this discussion is genuinely beyond your wit?

How fucking Middle class. I can only afford to put £10 in at a time.

Selfish Op.

That’s natural selection just waiting to happen TwoLeftSocks

How is stopping people filling Jerry cans going to help anyone. My son works 30 miles from home in the Peak District and hasn't been able to purchase diesel for a couple of days. He got to work today but is running on fumes and would not be able to get home this evening or get back to work tomorrow. My husband has just managed to fill a 10L jerry can to ferry over to him. There is no public transport convenient for him either. If this continues he will be unable to get to work.

We only top up £15 a time because we don't have £60 to fill the tank. So each time it will be around a quarter full. Its not that the car only needed £15 of petrol. I cant believe the op hasn't thought of that possibility. A minimum spend is a fucking stupid idea.

Yes but OP’s teenagers need to be ferried around in comfort Mumek, get your priorities right!

I used to be in the position of only being able to afford £15 of fuel. I never saw my tank reach the half full mark.

How about, we stop voting for a shit Govt. who wanted to “stand alone” and now, cannot cope with standing alone?

MN has become so toxic in the last 18 months/over the pandemic era that some threads are actually unbearable to read. The privilege, entitlement and down right blinkered attitude of people sitting pretty and looking down on those of us on lower incomes living week to week is abhorrent.

www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/asda-eg-group-ps30-limit-petrol-b957216.html?amp

Some petrol stations are setting a limit of £30

Arguments on both sides for min/max spends, plus banning Jerry cans. The only workable solution is for people to stop being selfish.

If people changed their attitudes, it would be fine.

I normally fill my tank every 4-6 weeks (53 litres, diesel). Because I’m not selfish, when I needed to refill on Wednesday I put £15 in (approx 11 litres). With the small amount I had in the tank, and by cutting out any non-essential trips, I should have enough for 2 weeks, based on the work I have coming up.