My pension

[sandy]

O dear WTD I am sorry to hear that. Friend of mine up hear had to give up driving because of eye problems a little while back. If I lost my driving licence I would feel lost up here. I cant imagine using public transtort because I cant walk far these days. Have to go at least 20 miles for any propper shopping. even.

[Walkingthedog]

Thanks Sandy, if it happens it happens. Kids will have to take us out for a change. Public transport here is excellent. Can get bus to station to get trains to London or Oxford. Good shops within 2 minutes walk. It’s getting to garden centres, model railway shows etc., which will be difficult.

[bulleidboy]

My mileage is down to about 3000 a year. We are still running two cars, although one spends most of the time in the garage, and it (Volvo V40) did 500 miles last year - that was a lot higher than the previous years 309 miles
I/we tend to shop-around for most things nowadays - and if any item we require is particularly cheap we take advantage of the price. Energy cost (monthly direct debit) has more than doubled (we are with Octopus), but we are careful, so currently well in credit. Just generally being careful in what we do, and so far not experiencing any problems.

[brian1951]

Filling my tank now costs me £190, RFL is now £615, but my Saga insurance is only £230 fixed for the next 3 yrs. Its only money, remember there are no pockets in shrouds.

[Bandit Mick]

We rarely use our car - gone have the days of going out for a drive. Our direct debit for energy has doubled. My wife spoke to the supplier and said we were entering the cheapest part of the year and were monitoring our usage carefully so why were they making the assumption that we would use more energy when we know it is going to be more expensive. The answer was that’s just how it is. Now we write on our calendar how much we use per day and after two months time we’ll demand our overpayment back. So far our usage is nowhere near what we are paying. They wanted us to have a smart meter so now we’ll use it to our advantage. When the heavy quarter is upon us, then we’ll pay the higher direct debit. We are drying clothes on the line, avoiding standby on TV etc, only boiling the amount of water in a kettle that we need, putting hot water on 1 hour only, only using lights in the house at dusk. It’s 2022 and all a bit sh** really. If it wasn’t post covid or the war in Ukraine it would be another reason. Sounds like profiteering to me. Rant over!

[yelrow]

We have a 198 Peugeot 205 Auto. With A/C, very low mileage in garage. Does about 200 miles a year. Purely there I n case Heather needs to go out, if I am not at home or vice versa. Rural location, needs a second car. Insurance. 35 pounds per month, no tax, mot, every 2 years. We feel it’s a back stop, and justifiable.

[Walkingthedog]

Most of the people I know had their energy increase by 50% but one who was with Shell had it doubled. Contacted Shell and they dropped the increase by half. They were just taking the p*&s.

[sandy]

Have worked out that on average our car does 200 milers for £32 worth of petrol. Doubt you can do 200 miles on public transport for that much money. Dont include pre booked tickets and special offers.

[IanS]

Have worked out that on average our car does 200 milers for £32 worth of petrol. Doubt you can do 200 miles on public transport for that much money. Dont include pre booked tickets and special offers.

With the pensioners bus pass you probably can. However, in the car 200 miles would take around 4h (including rest breaks) where the journey on busses would likely be more than doubled.

Rail journeys do include pre-booked and special offers so should be allowed in the comparison. Even air to foreign lands can be accessed for £32 on special offers (one way, the return costs an arm and a leg!)

[Walkingthedog]

We use the bus passes quite a lot.