bus fares

nina I'm in Spain at the moment marvelling at the public transport system very efficient and how cheap it is compared to London - 20 min journey on the bus into town from where I am, 1.50 Euro, and train from the airport half hour journey, 2.60 Euro. What a pleasure.

The train is cheaper than the bus if you are going in to Birmingham from where I am.

Frank

I think bus fares are appalling - just glad I have my bus pass! Mind you petrol has gone up again and that is extortionate too.

Gracesmum

Get yourself an Asda Credit Card.
They sell the cheapest petrol where I live and you get a 1 percent discount.
Just pay the bill before interest is charged.

Frank

I'm lucky when filling up my little car DS1 takes it to work once a fortnight and fills up at his Company forecourt and I reap the rewards of cheapest petrol in area + 10% company discount,and if they have a sale on the clothing dept I can go with him and get up to 40% discount,he is a gem that boy of mine.

Do you rent him out glamma?

Is he paying into a pension scheme?.
My daughters can not get discounts but I think the main thing is they should have reasonable occupational pensions.

Frank

Pension scheme? Bus fares?

I don't know what bus fares are around here, but if I want to go to the nearest town, about 7 or 8 miles away, there is only ONE bus a week!

hunterf yes my boy pays into a pension scheme though how that makes a differance to me having a discount I wouldn't know ? he will also have a top rate Army Pension when he is 40 as his pension started when he was 18 so he is OK,I think he likes to take my car every so often as he drives a big 4 x 4 thing and he likes to pose in my sports car.
phoenix I bet that bus is full when it runs,it must be awful if you miss it at any time.

glamma It runs on Wednesday (market day) and I don't actually use it. I once looked into getting a bus to work (when I still had a job) as an alternative to running 2 cars.

Somehow I didn't think my boss would have been too keen on having an employee who turned up once a week at about 10.30 then left at around 2pm to get the only bus home!

phoenix I am so surprised that you have not been snapped up by a Company with the experience that you have so so sorry.On the lighter side have you ever considered a bike or do you have one ?

A BIKE ! With these legs hills?!

On a slightly more serious note, I really don't think that I'm likely to find a job in our nearest town, but have been looking further afield. I had an interview last Thursday (had to be in Bristol for 9am, left home at 6am)

Lovely people, lovely firm, lovely sounding job. I made it through the rather rigorous selection process (bit like a cross between the X Factor and The Apprentice) but was pipped at the post.

phoenix might have been worth a try!

bus fares in many other countries are run by the state so they are not chasing big profits which our privatised systems are. Also in many other places the green agenda is taken more seriously so subsidy by government helps to keep fares down & reduce car use ... but when it is 'cheaper' to go by car rather than bus or train people will choose car!

Shame about the job, phoenix - I was wondering how the interview went!

phoenix sorry to hear that such a shame when you have put so much into it during the interview process.after 6pm x

I could have put you up for the night!

Hi phoenix

Sorry about the job.
I got made redundant in my early 50's and got an immediate pension at that time and came to Birmingham to join my father / daughters.
I managed to get a low grade job in Birmingham which meant that my pension plus salary combined was about as much as I was getting in London.
I got made redundant again after just over 5 years and got paid a small pension from the second job but at that point I was nearing my late 50's.
I did try for a couple more jobs but did not get any of them.
On the good side I am ok financially but I do think it was a waste that I put out to grass after working for just over 36 years.

Frank

Thank you all for the good wishes etc. The biggest hurdle I seem to face is my location. For the job I didn't get last week, my location was actually perfect!

Oh well, onward and upward, as they say.

Now, back to buses!

I do think that there is a bit of a problem in rural areas. My limited access to public transport means that a car is an essential if you want to or need to work, yet we are all being "encouraged" to use our cars less and public transport more.

I have also noticed that as we have a limited number of petrol stations in the locality, their costs for fuel seem to be higher than in towns and cities.

hunterf your term "I managed to get a low grade job" I find very self opinionated as I am a firm believer that every job is noble even though I have been fortunate to never had to be without a job working outside of the home every position I have held has been worthwhile and provided extra income enabling us to enjoy the standard of living we now enjoy.

A servant with this clause, makes drudgery divine'

Hi glammanana

I agree the job I got in Birmingham was useful to the community.
What I did find annoying was my second manager persistantly complained that I was almost the lowest grade employee and had the best car and house.
At the time the house was jointly owned by my father and myself but I could have easily purchased it outright with my own money.
My first manager just accepted I was getting a pension as well as my salary.
I advised him of this as I was obviously living well above my means if I was just relying on my salary at that place of work.
As it happened I knew my combined pension and salary was more than what the top manager was getting in the office.

Frank

hunterfWhere does having a nice car and where you live come into things,you do tend to put everything down to £s and most people are just not interested,I am certainly not interested in what type of car people drive or where they live just as long as they are nice people,I would certainly object to someone telling me I should not drive my little Audi TT as it is not their business.Off to DDs and if the sun was shining I would put the roof down and let the long hair blow in the breeze.

Brrrrrr!too cold!