Changing Journey Habits

Whilst my husband was alive one of his few joys was to be taken for a drive. This was fine, but it did use a lot of petrol. We also got into the habit of ducking out to the shops for things we had forgotten. Our petrol was costing us as much as $80 per week, even though I used shopping vouchers, and bought petrol on the cheaper days.

Our shopping had already been cut back with us using up stocked items which literally took over several cupboards and two freezers – I was brought up when we had to count every penny and had gotten into the habit of making sure I had plenty of food! Ducking out to the shops was costing us petrol money that we did NOT need to use.

We now make a list and if it is not on the list, tough luck, we substitute. Separate trips are no longer on our list either. We plan our trips so as to do as many things in the one trip as possible – e.g. today we went over to my daughter’s house to help my son-in-law move their clothes dryer. On the way back we called to pick up a book on order at the library, and picked up some dinner which my son paid for, as we had stormy weather and were expecting that we might have a blackout. We still take an occasional recreational drive, but now our petrol is lasting for two weeks instead of one!