I did the sums and realised driving my Landrover Discovery is still cheaper than the bus/train! And it will have to cost vastly more to make it worth spending 90 minutes getting to work instead of 15-20.
What annoys me is the cost is entirely created by the government. Diesel costs about 30p a litre. The rest is tax.
I have friends who were going to take their caravan to Cornwall this year from Glasgow, but the cost of fuel and the high prices of the campsites in the school holidays, have meant a rethink, they are now going to stay in Scotland and go up North instead.
------------- Had to give up the camping due to the rubbish Weather and Wind, so got myself a campervan!
The price of petrol at the moment makes me sick. It is such a rip off in this county. My husband and I currently spend at least £500 a month on petrol. That is mostly jusy going backwards and forwards to work (two cars), shopping, etc. We were thinking about going down to Cornwall for a weekend but the extra cost in petrol has put us off at the moment :( This weekend away has cost me approx £70 in petrol, the site was only about 1.5 hours away and we stayed relatively local to it while away. I do have a Land Rover Freelander at the moment but am now considering looking for something cheaper to run :(
also i have to say that buying a trailer was divine 2 years back. Since when it is attached I rarely drive over 50 miles an hour so have a massive saving on when I drive around at a much faster rate!
When we went to barmouth recently managed there and back on a tank of fuel. I am sure that if I had gone without the trailer I would have needed a refill at some point!
I wonder how worrying this is for site owners, particularly in the seriously popular tourist areas?
For my part, one of the trips I'd decided to forego I now can't as I've just been told I'm controlling two stages and need the signatures on the licence! The plus bit is that my camping costs and a bit extra will be paid - that equals half a tank of petrol!!
We're lucky in that my husband has a work car for which he doesn't have to pay for fuel, technically it's a 'pool car' so he doesn't get taxed for the privilege either. I don't drive (I get the train to work for the princely sum of £2.20 return per day!) so we only use our family car for short trips round town, shopping, visiting family etc, we fill up approximately once a month and that does us unless we have any longish trips.
So no, we don't really factor the cost of fuel into our decisions on where to go on holiday - I detest flying so I'm very grateful that we still get the chance to go abroad on holiday using the car.
And I still think it's much cheaper than a package holiday abroad especially when you've got kids.
------------- Bev :o)
2013
March - Pooley Bridge (Pod booked!)
May - Spiers House, Pickering
June - La Garangeoire, Vendee, France
Aug - The Cotswolds?
Quote: Originally posted by LewLincs3 on 03/5/2011
We're lucky in that my husband has a work car for which he doesn't have to pay for fuel, technically it's a 'pool car' so he doesn't get taxed for the privilege either.
It can't be a pool car if it's used for private purposes, other than incidental to work mileage - see extract from HMRC below-
A car only qualifies as a pool car if all the following conditions are satisfied:
(a) it is available to, and actually used by, more than one employee
(b) it is made available, in the case of each of those employees, by reason of their employment
(c) it is not ordinarily used by one of them to the exclusion of the others
(d) any private use by an employee is merely incidental to their business use of it, and
(e) it is not normally kept overnight on or near the residence of any of the employees unless it
is kept on premises occupied by the provider of the car.
Employers need to be able to demonstrate that the conditions for the car or van to be a pool
vehicle have been met, for instance by keeping mileage records to show when the car was
used, by whom and for what journeys.
Both your husband and his employer could receive large bills, if those rules are not met.
As our longest trip is our main holiday (to France) we don't tend to let it dictate too much.
On a daily basis tho we do tend to cut down on journey's a bit and walk further distance than we used to but as we've moved to a new area this isn't a bad thing as there's new places to discover!! And the health benefits are pretty good too
Quote: Originally posted by Francophile1947 on 03/5/2011
Quote: Originally posted by LewLincs3 on 03/5/2011We're lucky in that my husband has a work car for which he doesn't have to pay for fuel, technically it's a 'pool car' so he doesn't get taxed for the privilege either.
It can't be a pool car if it's used for private purposes, other than incidental to work mileage - see extract from HMRC below-A car only qualifies as a pool car if all the following conditions are satisfied:
(a) it is available to, and actually used by, more than one employee
(b) it is made available, in the case of each of those employees, by reason of their employment
(c) it is not ordinarily used by one of them to the exclusion of the others
(d) any private use by an employee is merely incidental to their business use of it, and
(e) it is not normally kept overnight on or near the residence of any of the employees unless it
is kept on premises occupied by the provider of the car.
Employers need to be able to demonstrate that the conditions for the car or van to be a pool
vehicle have been met, for instance by keeping mileage records to show when the car was
used, by whom and for what journeys.
Both your husband and his employer could receive large bills, if those rules are not met.
It's not used for private use, we use our car for that, but as he doesn't do many private miles during the week our car is mainly sat o. The drive hence the low mileage.
He's usually not office based which is why he has a works car, when he is in the office (or on leave) it's available to anyone else who needs it.
Post last edited on 03/05/2011 22:59:24
Post last edited on 04/05/2011 08:17:33
------------- Bev :o)
2013
March - Pooley Bridge (Pod booked!)
May - Spiers House, Pickering
June - La Garangeoire, Vendee, France
Aug - The Cotswolds?
Quote: Originally posted by Francophile1947 on 04/5/2011
Ah - thought you meant you used it for your camping/holiday trips
there probably are people who do use company cars, but who are we to judge, I am sure most people if they had access to work vehocles would use them. And to be honest I am sure the company would have the liability not the individual as they are supposed to declare it on the p11d.
But in reality I doubt the inland revenue could push it without someone placing it under there nose. They are really far too stretched with company taxes these days to be efficient on personal taxes.
Quote: Originally posted by Francophile1947 on 04/5/2011Ah - thought you meant you used it for your camping/holiday trips
Crikey no, he'd be shot! He has to fill in mileage sheets every day without fail, any discrepancies are picked up straight away! The work car is used for work and work alone - people have been sacked for less
Reading back through my post I can see where the confusion arose - what I was trying to say was that we're lucky in that he doesn't have to pay for work mileage, so we only have to put diesel in our family car, which is barely used during the week as I don't drive, so we're fortunate in that we only spend £75 ish in an average month on fuel.
------------- Bev :o)
2013
March - Pooley Bridge (Pod booked!)
May - Spiers House, Pickering
June - La Garangeoire, Vendee, France
Aug - The Cotswolds?
Bit like the above, I have a firms car (gallery) so only have to pay for my private fuel usage, and as our main camping is in the South of France, and the Diesel is cheaper than here, it's cheaper for us to holiday in France, than here in the UK. so happy days still.
We were away for almost 3 weeks last July and did 2514 miles, which cost us £279.13 and that's with towing a half ton trailer, so it would have to go up a lot more to put us of.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: has fuel changed your camping choices
