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.

Tomorrow my job involves me visiting 7 petrol stations and putting £5 of fuel in my car at each one. I'm going to have to queue for ages at each one and have people like you looking down their noses at me. If I had my own way I wouldn't be going anywhere near petrol stations for the next week or two, never mind 7 of them in a day but sadly needs must as my work dictates that I do it.

@Parker231, @icedcoffees has given an extra list of the sorts of people, who should get priority for filling up.

What about disabled people, should they not be able to get fuel?
And people working in the food industry?
Sewage? Waste disposal?
Vets and animal welfare? Safari parks and zoos?

The list is endless.

OP why don't you just say "when I wrote my OP I hadn't considered the fact that some people are too poor to put in more than a tenner at a time and I now see my suggestion wouldn't work". You made an honest mistake born out of privilege, it's okay to admit that and move on with a little bit more compassion and understanding than you had to begin with.

@KingsleyShacklebolt

Serious question. Would be much appreciated if you could give your view.

Yes, there are people just spending £10 to top pdf their tank. It is very annoying. If you got your rule of a minimum spend then it would stop them. Great. But it also stops all the people who only have £10 to spend. Those people are not all living in the government defined level of "poverty." If you get your rule, then you cut off access to fuel for millions of people... just to stop the few idiots running in to top off their tank after every use.

Is that worth it to you? Would you say "yes, let's cut all those struggling people off from fuel access to stop the people who are causing the problem."

Is that a fair sacrifice, honestly? What do you think?

A horrible idea. As a poor student, I used to put my final tenner in my car to be able to afford to drive to uni and work. A minimum spend would have meant no uni or work for me quite often.

I'm hoping the fuel panic will make some people who are able to, re-evaluate their lives and reliance on their vehicle.

DH and I have never worked anywhere we couldn't get to on public transport, bike or on foot. Same with DDs and school. We do have a car but it still has half a tank of fuel and that will probably last another couple of weeks, or more if we needed it to. We can walk to the shops. I don't live in London but somewhere semi rural in the south east. Loads of people drive to work in the town four miles away and lots of those people could cycle there.

@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.

No, it’s not the same thing. Your suggestion actively disadvantages those who can only afford to put £10 or so of petrol, whereas a maximum spend of £20 or £30 does not disadvantage those people. You can see that? Surely.

I’ve just done everything you hate OP. I just put £8 in a Jerry can and £15 in the car.

Jerry can is to rescue stranded DH, who’s in my car. He rather optimistically thought that given he had to drive past 3 large petrol stations on his 10 mile journey today he’d be ok in my car, which was in its warning light, while I took his car for the longer journey.

The smallish amount I put in his car was to make sure we had enough for a couple of days, it’s not full but there’s no need to be greedy.

And yes someone did yell at me re the Jerry can. Thanks everyone who’s whipping up the Jerry-can-hatred as well as the panic buyers.

*Doesn't fit the lefty rhetoric of MN though, that everyone is using foodbanks and everyone is on the breadline because of the nasty torrid’

Most people are not living paycheck to paycheck. Even the Uber-lefty Big Issue says 23% of people are living in poverty. Therefore, 77% of people are not. And you could probably argue that people who are very poor are less likely to have a car anyway.

Your true colours are showing now, OP…

@Orangejuicemarathoner

And no, I couldn't get the actual bus for many of the journeys I need to do. DD needs to be at her part-time job this morning at 11am. 20 minutes in the car. By bus it would take 1 hour and 25 minutes and would mean getting one bus into the city centre, changing, and another bus out again.

but yes, she could be doing this by bus, and should be, and if you didn't have a car, she would be

Exactly. The way OP trots this out as a "gotcha" is pathetic.

85m travel by 11am is not the unmanageable feat she thinks it is. I grew up rurally, and we were all expected to sort ourselves out for getting to work, rather than be hauled around in "mum busses" (vom).

How OP became Minister for Magic I don't know.

They do have a version of this at my local petrol stations (2 owned by the same guy) this morning. Since the carnage yesterday they have said you need a minimum spend of £30 (but includes non-petrol stuff too). It seems to have reduced the queues substantially.

@Pinkrollercoaster

Tomorrow my job involves me visiting 7 petrol stations and putting £5 of fuel in my car at each one. I'm going to have to queue for ages at each one and have people like you looking down their noses at me. If I had my own way I wouldn't be going anywhere near petrol stations for the next week or two, never mind 7 of them in a day but sadly needs must as my work dictates that I do it.

Why ?

Poverty doesn’t equal living pay check to pay check…it’s much worse than that.

I live pay check to pay check, as do most people I know. I am not in poverty.

In the country we need jerry cans for our mowers but I shall not be filling ours until this is over.

YABU purely because some people can't afford to fill their tanks and just add what they can afford that week. Also motorbikes have pretty small tanks even from empty

Most people will be getting paid next week. They might only have £10 but need to run their car before getting paid.

I had to get a Jerry can for dh car… and fill mine as had 30 miles left in it (used for driving round finding a bloody petrol station with fuel) . I won’t stockpile and that’s all that is needed… but apparently not going to happen!

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 rely on a diesel powered space heater to heat my shop during the very cold months (no gas supply). Electric heaters are ineffective at heating such a large space when the outside temperature falls into single figures degrees celsius. As a responsible employer, I wouldn't expect my colleagues to work in below legal temperatures. Very limited world view you have there if you can't imagine reasons beyond transport that people may rely on buying petrol and diesel in everyday life.

@KurtWilde

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.

Agree 100%

Still waiting for someone in the "ban Jerry cans" camp to tell me how my daughter is meant to get her car to a fuel station when it has run out completely without the aid of one.

However @KurtWilde if you DARE to make any negative comments about how the well off and privileged look down on people on here, you get accused of being jealous and bitter of their 'wealth' that they claim to have!

@Pinkrollercoaster

Tomorrow my job involves me visiting 7 petrol stations and putting £5 of fuel in my car at each one. I'm going to have to queue for ages at each one and have people like you looking down their noses at me. If I had my own way I wouldn't be going anywhere near petrol stations for the next week or two, never mind 7 of them in a day but sadly needs must as my work dictates that I do it.

@Pinkrollercoaster

I echo a pp above - why are you having to do this?

@Wroxie

What I'm confused about is all the people in this thread who don't understand how money works- putting £50 in your car every five weeks is the same as £10 every week and saves you four miserable trips to the petrol station! Plus people who could afford to fill up but think they're better off on half a tank at all times. So weird.

Yes, I understand lots of people live week to week, I've been there, but I still managed to budget my ten pounds per week to save for the next fill-up instead of stopping every week.

Another ignorant, 'coming from a privileged place' comment

Some people on here live on a different planet and cannot comprehend for a MINUTE that some people have £17 to last a week, for food and petrol. And they can only afford £8 or £9 for petrol - or even less...

Such ignorance and a lack of compassion. Seeing more and more of this on mumsnet sadly.

Plus it's so close to pay day that people might be putting a little bit in so they don't go overdrawn.

@Pinkrollercoaster

Tomorrow my job involves me visiting 7 petrol stations and putting £5 of fuel in my car at each one. I'm going to have to queue for ages at each one and have people like you looking down their noses at me. If I had my own way I wouldn't be going anywhere near petrol stations for the next week or two, never mind 7 of them in a day but sadly needs must as my work dictates that I do it.

Errr....why? @Pinkrollercoaster