Re: ahhh stuck with the BMW :(

Tim Kemp in >50 mpg shocker! :-)

Yup. Using it less is a great way to save money. I still put more miles onto the car than I do my shoe leather or push bike, but the ratio is slowly coming down.

For movies, something like EasyMovie may be cheaper: the last time we looked at Sky, for the movie package we wanted, you also have to get the sport stuff, which is of no benefit or use to us whatsoever. Freeview plus EasyMovies works for us: if you're having a tough month you can stay in more and watch more DVDs, or if it's really tough, you don't have to return the movies (and be charged) until you're ready.

Also look at some of these no line rental deals, such as Virgin. Virgin are very cheap unless you want data, in which case, they're really, really expensive.

Yes. That may well have paid for your insurance over a year.

It's worth shopping around.

How far is your work out of interest?

Some things sharpen the mind.

bout 12-14 miles there so about 24-28miles there and back depending which way i go

So just the wrong distance then! :)

Bit too far to cycle, bit too close for everything to be properly warmed up such that you get the better efficiencies (transmission, engine oil, tyres, that sort of thing)...

I always thought it was the dirty big hill in the way at Payne Towers that caused it. We weren't for going all Pol Pot, so gave in and got a dish.

It was fine, till the repeater broke for the last time a few years ago.

Everyone in my street now has a dish, but I suspect that only a few of them pay uncle Rupert a subscription. The rest of us don't, as far as I know, get Dave.

Twyford-Down-where-they-cut-a-big-old-hill-with-an-ancient-monument-on-top-in-half-to-put-in-a-motorway

Twyford, Berks, but I bet you've worked that out from my other post somewhere about cheap LPG up at Cressex Asda :-)

Mike P

Maybe, but Knowl Hill garage isn't exactly cheap, so if they sold LPG it'd probably be 60.9 or 61.9 (based on current prices). ASDA would be able to do it a lot cheaper. Best bet at the moment looks to be the BP in Three Mile Cross - it's not much far off my daily route and they seem to be doing a virtually indefinite "4p/litre off your next LPG purchase when you spend £20 or more" offer, making their current 58.9p/litre price actually

54.9p/litre (though it's a bit misrepresentative of petrolprices.com posting that as their standard price).

But if ASDA in Lower Earley started selling the stuff at 51.9 then I'd go there :-)

Get a decentish road bike. It'll take about 45 minutes to peddle that sort of distance each way[1], it'll save you about £30/week in petrol, and getting exercise as part of your daily routine is by far the best way to do it.

[1] after the first two weeks, at least.

Dave is on Freeview. What you have isn't Freeview.

bollocks! and the maniacs round here would see a cyclist off in seconds!

You might be surprised - cycling sensibly works very well. 'course you'd probably get shunned by your workmates as a weirdo - just pretend you lost your licence or something...

Pussy. Get some decent tunes on your mp3 player, keep a change of clothes at work and enjoy streaking past the rows of jammed cars at traffic lights. Just don't bother with a helmet[1] or lycra.

[1] despite the hype, they don't really help, and they do mark you out as a target [2]. [2] but not as much as lycra...

He should get a scooter.

Agreed all the way round.

I've started cycling the 5 miles to work if the weather looks OK (I know, what a wuss). It's not too hot and sweaty in the morning as the air is cool and it's 200m down overall, so a waft of deodorant and a new shirt is fine when I arrive. On the way back it's more uphill and usually warmer so it's straight in the shower when I get back.

It is satisfying though. It also takes me a whole 5 minutes more to get home at night, and has even been quicker than the car in the mornings. That includes stopping for red lights, too!

To be fair to vamp, 5 miles each way is a piece of piss to do daily, whereas

12-14 miles is actually starting to get into real cycling.

cheers, clive

Yeah I know, but it is a very long time since I did any serious cycling...

My problem is that I don't seem to know how to take it slow and steady, I just have to go full belt everywhere and enjoy myself. Lucky nobody else here is like that, eh?

Hehe, no, no we are all much too sensible for that :-) For anything under about 30 miles you can go at it like the clappers, but after that you just run out of energy (well, I do). I only bother pacing myself for longer stuff, which I don't do that often these days.

12 miles each way is definitely doable - you'd need to build up to it; a couple of days a week, then three, etc.. but after a few weeks you don't even notice a 12 mile ride unless it takes you across the pennines or something.

Plus you get the fun of trying to beat your own time, and no worries about losing your license whilst trying it...

No, I run out of energy at about 6 miles. Or I did until I'd been at it a few weeks, anyway. It comes back surprisingly quickly.

It's still a very long time since I commuted 18 miles each way all week then did a 150 mile ride in a day *for fun* at the weekend..

Funny, I remember swearing then that I'd never let myself get unfit like all the fat blokes I saw driving past...

Just the 'furious riding' to worry about then ;-)