Petrol Goes Up

[joillian]

Hey All,

With petrol set to go up on Friday, I thought we could brainstorm some ways to keep travel costs lower. Here is what I have so far.

Changing Transport Options

At the pricey end, we have switching to an EV (high upfront cost but then much cheaper to run).

If not an EV, a moped is much cheaper to buy and much cheaper to run. If its just you and a laptop commuting to work, maybe consider something other than a 5 seater.

At the low end we have biking, scootering or walking to the places we need to get to.

We also have car shares to work. Is there a colleague or a friend who works at the same place/near you?

Other Possibilities

I realized that Grocery delivery looks expensive. But if we sold a car or no longer filled it with petrol each week, ie the one I mainly use for things like grocery trips etc, we would actually save a lot of money, even if we now paid for grocery delivery.

Public transport...always on the cards but often unattractive for some reason.

Quit your job and all your hobbies. No where to go means no petrol needed! Joking aside...can you find a closer pool/book club/play center/pub etc that you can walk to or drive less distance?

I am speaking to my manager about one WFH day a week which saves two trips. It's not much but it adds up.

What else can we come up with?

 

[snlmommy]

@joillian WFH is such a lifesaver both from a financial and mental well-being sense. I strongly urge individuals who have the ability to work from home to lobby their manager for at least 1 day a week.

Also if you have the financial ability, use Sharetank to lock in the pricing before the increase on Saturday. If the price is lower at the pumps after, pay at the pump. If its lower in the app, use your app balance.

 

[sincerelyyours]

@snlmommy What’s sharetank?

 

[snlmommy]

@sincerelyyours Z has a feature where you can purchase litres in advance at current prices - up to 1000 - so you can lock in current pricing.

 

[thewonderer]

@joillian 10k on the mortgage vs buying a leaf and the leaf saves more money over 3 years.
I'd look into a case for a leaf.

The than that don't do anything.

 

[tork1369]

@thewonderer make sure to do your research on the battery health and i would have it looked over by a mechanic, they can be up to 10k to replace in hybrids (unsure about EVs) and used EVs are always a risk.

 

[seventhtrumpetnow]

@thewonderer This. Obviously EVs involve a lot of upfront and some more research to get the range you need at the price you want. Since switching to a bike for weekly commuting and EV on weekend, I'm spending about 70% less on transport/yr and broke even on the EV in a year (despite it being 2x the cost of my old car).

 

[john_paul2]

@joillian Fewer trips and do without the car