Is it worth driving X miles to save Yp/litre on fuel?

quentinsf

quentinsf

Joined
Nov 27, 2024
Posts
75
Likes collected
269
Funster No
108,313
MH
Westfalia Columbus
I like using PetrolPrices.com to get a rough idea of the cost of nearby fuel. But then the difficult question arises: Is it actually worth driving 10 miles further to save 4p/litre?

So this morning I threw together a little web page to do that calculation. Feedback and bug reports welcome!

Are you being a fuel fool? – Quentin Stafford-Fraser

quentinsf.com quentinsf.com
 
I think everyone gets a bit carried away with fuel prices and going out of their way to save a bit. What is harder to put a value on is the time you spend getting to the cheaper fuel and wear and tear on the vehicle
 
Not sure the calculator has any value, for me anyway as you instinctively get a feel about if it’s worth it. However, reading your About Quentin page is pretty interesting.
 
Ive just read the About Quentin page and with all that behind you its clear you have a very active mind because i dounbt you need to worry about the finances of saving a couple p per litre on fuel
 
The Wino said:
I think everyone gets a bit carried away with fuel prices and going out of their way to save a bit. What is harder to put a value on is the time you spend getting to the cheaper fuel and wear and tear on the vehicle
Click to expand...
not for me, my times more valuable than the pennies saved ...are they actually savings when you take your time into account.

Good click accumulator though Ill give you that... notice how I didnt use the word "Bait" :LOL:
be careful though, if too many click the link then leave right away. google doesnt like that and demotes rank

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Diesel at sainsbury Whitby (20mls away) is 10p ltr cheaper than sainsbury Scarborough.
I never put more than £30 in my car which is around 20ltrs.
So, around 40mls round trip to save £2 is false economy......filling the tank would save £6 but I'd use that much on the round trip.
but if I'm going to Whitby that's a definite stop.
 
Grummyb said:
Ive just read the About Quentin page and with all that behind you its clear you have a very active mind because i dounbt you need to worry about the finances of saving a couple p per litre on fuel
Click to expand...

Haha! You're kind... but I'm contemplating an early retirement, and spending a significant chunk of my life in small startup companies, or in academia, has been great fun, but not always very profitable!
 
quentinsf said:
Haha! You're kind... but I'm contemplating an early retirement, and spending a significant chunk of my life in small startup companies, or in academia, has been great fun, but not always very profitable!
Click to expand...
being a thicko like me doesnt seem to be very profitable either so no chance of early retirement for me unfortunately
 
I know what you mean. I think a lot of the saving pennies is the generation we grew up in. Even though Nick and I had good jobs in the early years we had to be careful as we had the mortgage and a big business loan to buy into the Practice. The days of 14% interest rates etc. Three children and those penny pinching ways were ingrained.

It was only really in retirement when I’d still find myself spending hours on the internet to save £5 on a £50 item that I suddenly thought “hang on this is madness, I’m time limited but not so much money limited”. I worked out what an hour of my time was worth when I was working vs my NHS pension. I thought even the NHS pension meant my time was valuable so that’s now how I think.

I won’t waste precious time to save pennies. I’m worth a lot more, I’d rather enjoy a nice walk, see a friend, read a book, learn stuff. I know I’m lucky that I have that choice though.
 
If that calculator isn't your thing, you can try my attempt to solve one of the other big vexed questions of our age...

If a mains device uses 1 watt, and I leave it switched on all the time, how much will it cost me per year?

Watt's the cost? – Quentin Stafford-Fraser

quentinsf.com quentinsf.com

:giggle:

I wrote that quite a few years ago... it gave me an excuse to sell my old PC server which used about 200W and get a much more efficient modern one. More recently, I also sold my Sonos speakers...

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Fill up when I need it, wherever I am! 😱

If parked and need fuel, I do occasionally look on Google Maps to check if there is cheaper fuel on my route. 😇
 
quentinsf said:
If that calculator isn't your thing, you can try my attempt to solve one of the other big vexed questions of our age...

If a mains device uses 1 watt, and I leave it switched on all the time, how much will it cost me per year?

Watt's the cost? – Quentin Stafford-Fraser

quentinsf.com quentinsf.com

:giggle:

I wrote that quite a few years ago... it gave me an excuse to sell my old PC server which used about 200W and get a much more efficient modern one. More recently, I also sold my Sonos speakers...
Click to expand...
So about £3 for me. Oh hang on £170 with the Standing Charge 😂
 
Guigsy said:
Why do people get annoyed by the standing charge? Would you prefer it if they made it like a mobile phone contract and you paid £250 and got 200 units included? 😅
Click to expand...
Mainly because it shot up originally to cover defaults after the gas prices increased after Vlad the Destroyer invaded Ukraine, but strangely never came down once the defaults had been covered 🤬
 
If a Costco fuel station is close to our route then we'll use that, but won't make a big diversion to seek them out.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
I use it more for planing long runs, such as from Cumberland to Cornwall. Do I top up close to the M5 in Birmingham, Bristol, Exeter or wait till I arrive in Kernow? This app certainly helps with that decision making.
 
carolyn said:
I know what you mean. I think a lot of the saving pennies is the generation we grew up in. Even though Nick and I had good jobs in the early years we had to be careful as we had the mortgage and a big business loan to buy into the Practice. The days of 14% interest rates etc. Three children and those penny pinching ways were ingrained.

It was only really in retirement when I’d still find myself spending hours on the internet to save £5 on a £50 item that I suddenly thought “hang on this is madness, I’m time limited but not so much money limited”. I worked out what an hour of my time was worth when I was working vs my NHS pension. I thought even the NHS pension meant my time was valuable so that’s now how I think.

I won’t waste precious time to save pennies. I’m worth a lot more, I’d rather enjoy a nice walk, see a friend, read a book, learn stuff. I know I’m lucky that I have that choice though.
Click to expand...
am exactly the same Carolyn. I always thing how much of my time is involved and what is that value based on my hourly rate at work.

until I retire that is. ... which isn't long now :Grin::Grin:
 
Really you need to consider the overall cost per mile not just how much the fuel will be. I look at prices where I am but would not consider driving out of my way, adding unnecessary miles.
 
Same applies when buying gas to refill your cylinders. You might be able to save 20p per litre. But if it costs you an hour and a gallon of diesel longer than that local place... it's not worth it.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Milk in the village shop is £1:20 for 1 litre.
Milk in Tesco is £1:45 for 2 litre.
BUT Tesco is 4 miles away so what should I do if I run out of milk? 🙄

POSSIBLE ANSWERS
A: walk/cycle/ use bus pass to get to Tesco
B: phone son and ask him to bring me milk
C: buy from local shop and help keep it viable
D: buy UHT milk from Tesco in future
E: pour water on my cornflakes
 
Rapido666F said:
Milk in the village shop is £1:20 for 1 litre.
Milk in Tesco is £1:45 for 2 litre.
BUT Tesco is 4 miles away so what should I do if I run out of milk? 🙄

POSSIBLE ANSWERS
A: walk/cycle/ use bus pass to get to Tesco
B: phone son and ask him to bring me milk
C: buy from local shop and help keep it viable
D: buy UHT milk from Tesco in future
E: pour water on my cornflakes
Click to expand...
Try porridge with Baillies 😂
 
MichaelT said:
The price of diesel doesn't bother me as I only put £50 in at a time🤣🤣🤣
Click to expand...
😂

I actually heard a guy a few years back, when there was a big price jump, say that it wouldn't affect him because he always puts in £20 of diesel.

Sad, really. Such 'life stuff' should be specifically be taught in school especially so kids of parents who don't know, will know.

There was a class in my school and at my cousins' school, which taught it. Their's was Home Economics whereas mine was a trial class, the name of which escapes me.

That's when I learned W = V x A and other stuff that's been useful.
 
Locally to me there are garages selling diesel for around £1.40 a litre. Tesco is a little further away at 1.369 so I go there as I use the store too.

On Friday I had about half a tank in the van and knew there's a cheaper Esso to the south of Ipswich on the A12. Rather than fill up locally I called in there to avail myself of the £1.319 diesel. I was going to upper Suffolk in any case...

In France I use an app to tell me where the cheapest diesel is to be sourced but I don't go miles out of my way to go there. i also irritate my wife by spotting a "cheap" station and ensuring I have a full tank.... even if I filled up cheaply 150 to 200 miles before on the same day....

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Last edited:
quentinsf said:
I like using PetrolPrices.com to get a rough idea of the cost of nearby fuel. But then the difficult question arises: Is it actually worth driving 10 miles further to save 4p/litre?

So this morning I threw together a little web page to do that calculation. Feedback and bug reports welcome!

Are you being a fuel fool? – Quentin Stafford-Fraser

quentinsf.com quentinsf.com
Click to expand...
Love it.

You just need to make it into an app!

As a FYI - I've no idea what my 'MPG' is.
But I know exactly what my Litres are per 100 Km.
As it's displayed on the dashboard every time I drive.

So perhaps a drop down for MPG or Litres/100km conversion figure is required, as everything else in in decimals and metric
why have one Imperial measurement ?
Likewise an option for € and £ and miles and KM

I had to look up what 10L/100km is in Imperial (=28.25MPG)
FYI - The default on the search engines is American gallons,
so you have to refine the search to get old Imperial gallons, as they are a virtually obsolete measurement
 
Refuelling is part of my route planning. I am currently factoring in the exchange rate plus the price of a top-up of fuel at Tesco Lewes prior to the ferry, a detour of an additional half a mile or so and the price of a proper fill-up at Intermarche at Lens, again a detour of half a mile, which is about as far as my current fuel will permit. Scrooge has nothing on me.
 
Rapido666F said:
Milk in the village shop is £1:20 for 1 litre.
Milk in Tesco is £1:45 for 2 litre.
BUT Tesco is 4 miles away so what should I do if I run out of milk? 🙄

POSSIBLE ANSWERS
A: walk/cycle/ use bus pass to get to Tesco
B: phone son and ask him to bring me milk
C: buy from local shop and help keep it viable
D: buy UHT milk from Tesco in future
E: pour water on my cornflakes
Click to expand...
E: pour water on the cornflakes, mix and throw in the bin. Fry some eggs and bacon and enjoy life while you still can. Nobody deserves to suffer like that. 😀
 

Join us or log in to post a reply.

To join in you must be a member of MotorhomeFun

Join MotorhomeFun

Join us, it quick and easy!

Join us

Log in

Already a member? Log in here.

Latest journal entries

Back
Top