I can`t get any! Arrrghh!
Unreal how we live and expect sometimes. We are busy ringing around to see who filled their car actually up!

Balancing finances in a travelling job on lower and lower budgets has hit quicker and harder than I thought it would ,although it was inevitable.

It`s a horrid thought that you may have to leave a weeks wages in your car if you live in a slightly outlying area.

Nice one on Tesco as well. All the local independent garages shut one by one due to the growing monopoly they take in rural areas, leaving one choice only in certain regions.
A friend of mine asked recently "where does one buy fuel these days?"
I replied "motorways."
No good if you can`t get there though due to escalating bills and managing a budget though is it?

I am not the hardest hit by any means, just inconvenienced for now, but, my word some people must be really finding it hard and I wish all readers the best of luck with this situation too.

Ok, this now reminds me of my misspent youth.
I had to get a can off petrol somebody to go to the garage and I stink of it after seemingly self filling my hands.
There was no diesel at the station, which did not bother my little car, but the disgruntled line of cars and vans did.
It has become a major expedition, in fact, just like years ago.

The fuel costs are disgraceful - and the inflation it is leading to is equally harsh for anyone on less than 30K a year.

But spare a thought for those in poor countries. The cost of fuel on FOOD in those countries means that every 2 dollar rise in a barrel of oil puts many more thousands into starvation or near starvation around the World.

Our "speculators" are betting on oil thus raising the price - but the effect is killing thousands.

What a lovely system the leaders of the G8 have set up. No wonder some of the poor nations hate the USA so much and by default the UK. They see us here in a land of plenty betting on the fuel leading to them not being able to feed their children - they must see us as "devils".......try seeing it from their point of view......not sure what the answer is but the whole situation is very wrong.

I agree with you 100% here, BR. I have no political objection to people accruing great wealth, as long as they are making some sort of contribution to humanity, however dubious, but these parasitic self-serving speculators are contributing nothing.

I too have no answers, but something has to be done to change the world order in this respect.

I completely agree with you BR and I`m glad you picked up on my , kind of ironic view point as a UK citizen, mildly irritating of course, but in the grand scheme of things , worth little.
Now , I may be wrong here, but does our part of the world still pay the most for fuel?(I recall Eire was worse)
Politically and financially, does this not make us a pawn in these "Oil Wars", in the UK and not the world leaders that this little collection of Island units believes it is?

BR wrote:
The fuel costs are disgraceful - and the inflation it is leading to is equally harsh for anyone on less than 30K a year.

I heard an interesting discussion on this subject recently (particularly in regard to those who claim that fuel is cheaper elsewhere).

You have to take into account the WHOLE package - not just parts of it - so people who say that fuel duty is much cheaper on the Continent should also remember to factor-in Income Tax too.

In Holland basic tax rate is 45% (double what it is here) although fuel duty is lower.

So - do you want the government to take more of your money at source - or be left with more for YOU to decide how it is spent ?

Good point ITK.
I pay little tax due to business expenses, however, the fees are not going up.

Actually, I`m re-thinking on your thoughts there ITK.


Do you know what?
What a wonderful life it would be if the government did take all at source, pay all people what they are worth in respect of their jobs and , of course do all our paperwork saving it from coming into our houses, so that everyone can just get on with their work.

Jeez! Is that Marxist??

Mart wrote:

Jeez! Is that Marxist??

YES !