To wonder how long I'll be able to afford to drive to work for?

[Octomingo]

I drive 40 miles a day, there and back. I do a childcare drop on the way. I don't always know what time I will finish. Public transport would take me 3 hours one way. No one to car share with. Can't move closer, as that would take dh even further away from his work and can't afford to move anyway.

Those of you with similar issues, what are you planning to do? I can't find any jobs the same level closer to home. The thought of spending so much money just on travelling to work is freaking me out.

It isn’t to do with where you live, it’s what you do. Travelling 100 miles once a week to a very high paid position is clearly different to a 200 mile weekly commute to earn say £23,000.

That aside, this is one of the more unpleasant threads I’ve been on for some time.

I never understand why people talk about how much they pay to fill their tank. A citigo tank at £38 is probably half the size of an Octavia tank. What matters is the MPG. It's all very well that it kay coat £70 to fill but if you're getting 60mpg that £70 will last a long time!

I used to live in the Midlands, in a village 20-25 miles from 3 cities. Loads of people had that distance to commute. It took about 45 mins to drive to work. On public transport it would have been a taxi, two trains or a very slow bus, than a further bus to the business park that ran hourly, easily 2.5 to 3 hours. I only did it once in 10 years.

Also, the car park at work was half full of tiny diesel cars as they were most economical.

@balalake

For many people a smaller car would be the option I would suggest.

How much smaller do you get than a golf? And golf vw are renowned for excellent fuel consumption

So which car would you swap to get better fuel consumption?

Op do you have a Costco nearby or on route to work?

If you join then their fuel is 5p a litre cheaper

Despite some of the replies on this thread I think a lot of people are going to be in similar situations as costs continue to rise ahead of pay.

Would it be worth having a bottom-up look at all your costs and seeing if savings could be made elsewhere? How far are you into childcare needs? Are those costs likely to drop anytime soon? If your husband changed jobs so his commute was the same direction as yours, could you share one car?

Also, 20 miles is a big commute in my eyes. My office commute is 3 miles and I find that to be enough tbh, sitting in a car is depressing especially sucking up all fuel fumes.

Sanctimonious yet creates traffic congestion commuting & complains about themselves doing so 🙈

[quote ivykaty44]@balalake

For many people a smaller car would be the option I would suggest.

How much smaller do you get than a golf? And golf vw are renowned for excellent fuel consumption

So which car would you swap to get better fuel consumption?[/quote]
VW Golf isn't in this top 10

www.whatcar.com/news/true-mpg-most-and-least-efficient-cars-revealed/n14356

If you have a well paid job, maybe you need to look at making cut backs elsewhere.

What % of your total income are you spending on petrol??

@EricScrantona

I never understand why people talk about how much they pay to fill their tank. A citigo tank at £38 is probably half the size of an Octavia tank. What matters is the MPG. It's all very well that it kay coat £70 to fill but if you're getting 60mpg that £70 will last a long time!

My point was more about the drastic increase in 4 years but I have no idea about the cost per litre back then. I mentioned the model because I'm aware most people are spending more than that every time they fill up. It's also a very efficient car that the OP could consider to save costs but there's no getting around the fact that even the cost of running a small car is getting more and more expensive these days.

I'm absolutely with you OP, my work travel costs are going up dreadfully too. I really don't know how people afford all this stuff (fuel, heating bills) if they are on a low income.

I'm on a very low income, I live rurally and there are literally no jobs here, I have to travel to work. I moved here a couple of years ago, just before lockdown. I had very little money so I took a lease car and budgeted for the lease amount every month, a very small car. At that point it took £28 to fill up the petrol tank completely!!

I used to do a 40 min drive to my job but changed jobs because I found something nearer home and I didn't want to be putting high mileage on a lease car. Thank goodness I did because it now costs me £35 - £38 to fill the car completely. It's really worrying.

I'm much older so I don't have children at home these days, it must be so difficult if you do. I shall retire in a few years and won't be able to afford a car at all on the state pension, so I will be giving it up entirely. I'm just hoping the 'bus pass scheme is still operating when I get to that age, and I shall just have to accept that shopping in the nearest market town for food each week is going to take the best part of a day due to travel....

@Octomingo

I drive 40 miles a day, there and back. I do a childcare drop on the way. I don't always know what time I will finish. Public transport would take me 3 hours one way. No one to car share with. Can't move closer, as that would take dh even further away from his work and can't afford to move anyway.

Those of you with similar issues, what are you planning to do? I can't find any jobs the same level closer to home. The thought of spending so much money just on travelling to work is freaking me out.

I think you are making up an issue that you don’t really have. Your commute is very ordinary, your salary should easily cover it. Stop being so dramatic.

Lease a small electric car, such as a VW around £200 per month, there are loads of free places to charge too. That’s what I do- saved a fortune

@BearOfEasttown

THREE HOURS to go 40 miles on public transport? WHY? HOW?

I'm the same. I work 26 miles away. No public transport would get me there on time. Almost 2.5 hours. I'm not rural.

Electric cars are ridiculously expensive, they’re also more expensive to insure (as are most automatics

not sure where you get that idea from - my hybrid Yaris costs £200 a year to insure! And it was half the price of a new electric car when I bought it. I use about 1/3 less petrol than I did.

Just realised it only costs you £150 per month in fuel. That really isn’t a lot. Surely if working doesn’t cover it, it would make sense not to work! Going to uni use to cost me around £25 per day sometimes more depending on where placements were! Was 35 miles and took 2hrs. I couldn’t move closer and had DS.

My office commute is 3 miles and I find that to be enough tbh, sitting in a car is depressing especially sucking up all fuel fumes

you could walk or cycle that!

Have you tried liftshare.com/uk
It matches people up so you aren't dependent on only people at the same company as you.
If your childcare is close enough to walk you could start the lift from there.

I

@garlictwist my commute is 52 miles round trip, I think that's reasonable.
You only have to read this thread to see how far some people travel.

Not really any suggestions here, but just want to agree how shit it is. OH is putting himself on my insurance now as his fuel bill is high and I'm at home a lot, his commute is not a long commute, but lots of stop starting as we have awful traffic in our town (I have 1.2L and him a 2L). Might not make much difference, but worth a try.

We were going to swap his car out for a decent sized family car as we have a holiday coming up and need boot space, but not worth getting a petrol guzzling car for that. Will just hire one now.

Public transport is likely to be expensive and unreliable in rural places too. People are now choosing between heating, eating or going to work so they can pay to not really afford to heat their homes or eat. Really shit times.

20 miles commute is pretty standard.
I hope the poster with 3miles commute doesn't actually use the car for it - i have a 3miles commute, I'm very very grateful for it and i certainly don't drive it (cycle).

Op - what is the mpg of your car? Seems a bit rubbish based on the current petrol cost you are referring to so maybe worth looking into.

With electricity rising it's not clear you'd be better off working from home even if you could really.

To the pp complaining of the 45p per mile her husband gets in expenses - that is definitely still very good, it's the max tax break not the required expense reimbursement. It definitely costs standard use and wear and tear. It could be much close to 20p per mile and still be fine so be thankful for that.

You can still buy e5 fuel at a lot of places but it is a worry. Have u got a linked in I know its a bit wanky but I'm thinking of getting one as seriously considering a new job for different reasons.

@oblada no im not thankful the giverment haven't put it up in 10 years , we use a separate credit card for the fuel and the 45 p barely covers it as its a lot of stop /start miles and then if you take on the wear and tear than 10,0000 miles does to your car it really isn't wort it
You could get 45 p a mile 10 years ago , petrol was cheaper , car tyres etc were even cheaper
When your putting 10-15000 business miles on your car it depreciates the value and brings around repairs much quicker