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.

I have a small commute and have to use my car it's not always possible to walk or cycle

Also to all those who say get electric we don't all have a driveway to put a charger and charge it , thats the issue with going all electric, many many people have on road parking at best

Not sure if it would help but have you tried putting the old E5 petrol in , my car drinks E10. The E5 costs extra but goes further in my case making it cheaper in the long run .

@WishIwasElsa exactly some may not be able to cycle due to health reasons and also there is the arriving to work wet if no changing areas And 3 miles for some is down dark country lanes so walking isn't an option and if you have to drop a child off as well by a set time
I love how others are judgy and just say do this , do that when they don't have the whole picture

@brainhurts my mum has said the same , i def notice higher consumption with e10 in both our cars

www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/volkswagen/golf-2013

Soupdragon

Just because the test you linked to didn’t test the golf, doesn’t mean some of thier models aren’t getting 55mpg

Lots of problems with electric cars
Having the capital to get one firstly
Facilities to charge it at home
Unsuitable for long distances
When batteries go they are very costly to replace.
Never mind the issue of how making and then disposing if said batteries impacting in the environment.

[quote worriedatthemoment]@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 [/quote]
It's a government tax break.
It's up to the employer how much they refund.
I can assure you that to just cover fuel and basic wear and tear it's not required to go all the way to 45p per mile. Many people on NMW get less than that per mile from their employer.

So in brief - state to the employer that your specific costs are higher and ask that that be taken into account.
The 45p per mile tax rule is neither here nor there really (though I appreciate there will be some tax implications to paying more but it's worth it if the employee is worth it...)

@worriedatthemoment

I know for some a problem is so easy they only think about how it would be for them in their bubble.

I have to drive as I have dcs to drop off and I set myself a very tight schedule to cram in hours at work. But as it happens I also do visits for work and therefore need my car for that.

@oblada im fully aware but i can assure you it doesn't cover it as Like I said we keep it all separate and I know many people who get the 45 p none that get less apart from a few who get a set amount car allowance a month and then a small mileage amount on top
The fact its not changed in 10 + years you think is ok

@oblada people with kids and a 3 miles commute probably will drive so they can get everyone where they need to be at the right time.

@BearOfEasttown, total normal public transport travel time for rural settings. That’s about how long it would take to get to the nearer city (bus to nearest station, 2 trains with a long wait at interchange, because one of them only goes once an hour); for my nearest town (which happens to be in a different county), I could only get there at all two days a week - archaically, the bus only goes on market days!

I live 20 miles from Leeds and about 45 to Manchester - could actually get to M quicker because of airport trains (actually, I don’t know if this is still the case).

I also do a 40 mile round trip commute in a Golf. Mine is a 19 plate DSG, which doesn’t seem to have been too dramatically affected by E10- I recently had a petrol Qashqai on hire for a few weeks as mine had been in an accident. It was so inefficient in comparison!!

It’s frightening how much it’s going up.
Usually prices go high then start to come down so it’s not usually that long.

However the prices just keep going up! I’ve been having this exact same thought @Octomingo about how can I afford to get to work.

I complained in Sainsburys petrol station and the man said people are willing to pay so he can’t see it changing soon!

Russia situation is going to cause increase - I bloody hope not!

I drive twice as far and my car gets 43.2mpg. Plus I have to pay for parking.

I drive with the mpg display on. I cheer when it says 99.9 mpg but obviously that’s not very long. I have changed my driving style and mpg is creeping up. Go into higher gears, keep revs around 2/3. I don’t have a 6th gear though.

I’ve started to cut back on food. I had a bag of fun size chocolates in my shipping trolley at Asda. Asked them to take it off when it scanned at £3 wtf- asda own brand. No shelf label.

@oblada how will going to the employer help they cannot give more and jobs are not easy to come about down here so its a case of having to lunp it and when we need a new car then yes we may have to reconsider as when your puting 15000 work miles on and another 5-8000 your car starts needing large anounts spent on it or replacing a lot sooner and at £6/7000 for a reliable car every 5 years that becomes difficult as you have a constant loan out . So yes considered giving up work and living on benefits at times as with a rented house etc , not needing to run a car and free dentist , prescription maybe we won't have that much less disposable income

Oblada

Not everyone can just ask for more money, I work in public sector so I could ask but it would never be a yes as that's not how it works. Reliant on goverment for that and we all know how they care about us

@BearOfEasttown

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

Because public transport here is crap. And I live and work in 2 different countries.

@Darbs76 Thank you for the info. I love my industry, job and team which is what makes this so damn difficult. We do have a p/t vacancy which used to be just 6 hours in the morning, I could’ve got the train which would have massively cut my costs. However, the hours are now changing to include lates, which is the right business decision but if I went for it, I’d be on half the salary and still having to drive.

To the pp who questioned the insurance thing: www.comparethemarket.com/car-insurance/content/automatic-cars/

My insurance on an 1100 engine is below £200 p.a.

While a moped may suit some, my commute is pretty much all motorway and I just don’t think it would be safe or practical, especially in poor weather.

Childcare for another 18 months. Dh is desperate for a job closer to home, as his commute is even further- in the opposite direction to mine! He's been job hunting for a couple of years, but is in his 50s and age not in his side. He'd love a job he could cycle to. He'd happily use a moped, although not sure how he'd handle kid pick ups.

I used to drive an ancient astra, so God knows how much that would be costing now.

And like a pp, I'm public sector with a pay freeze. But that's a whole other rant

[quote monkeysox]@oblada people with kids and a 3 miles commute probably will drive so they can get everyone where they need to be at the right time.[/quote]
I suppose it depends on the support at home. I take the (3) kids to school on my cycle and then head to work. But I know I'm lucky to have such a short commute so making the most of it.

While a moped may suit some, my commute is pretty much all motorway and I just don’t think it would be safe or practical, especially in poor weather.
You can't legally ride a moped on a motorway anyway - they are prohibited.

I complained in Sainsburys petrol station
You think the cashier sets the prices?

It's a government tax break.
It's not much of a "break" that you don't pay tax on amounts you receive for business travel is it? What if they started saying they'd only pay a proportion of rail fares or plane tickets?

RAC does a good summary of costs -

media.rac.co.uk/blog_posts/typical-vehicle-running-costs-for-petrol-engine-cars-42585

I left a higher paid job and was able to take a much lower paid, low stress job locally. I can cycle and wfh some days. But appreciate for many people, that’s simply not an option.

@WishIwasElsa yes if only we could just ask and it was given
This year we have been lucky as we have been given a small payrise but it doesn't even cover the rise in gas/ electric , let alone the 1% ni , c tax rise , rent rise and cost of food being through the roof, petrol prices high and credit cards that can just up the percentage willy nilly , government could cap these at least some charge 40% but didn't start at that price

This is going to be a tough year for many people
People literally will be choosing between eating and heating a lot more than ever even those on a ok salary