[Sheel]

1) Car pool
2) Public/company transport
3) Ride instead of drive
4) Try to pick on non congested hours for your commutes.

Ask for a raise

[hellmet]

Whoa, such response! Feels slightly better to know there are more like me among you in a similar situation. No, I've no plans to upgrade to a diesel, I should have bought when I was looking for a car in the first place.

Called Chevy about LPG conversion, but it seems they are not installing the kit, yet. They offered a exchange with BEAT diesel when it launches. I may/ or not take it depending on the pricing.

Car pooling is not an option since I start at 7.15AM which is very early for most. I chose this time to avoid traffic and have been pretty comfortable with it. However, returning at 5/5.30 is pretty busy, although not as bad as at 6.30.

Thanks to your suggestions, I will be keeping this car and not sell it. Doesn't make sense to take the depreciation hit without having used the car much either (Just 6.5K).

I'm enquiring with my colleagues in case there is a AC coach bus available at the times I go and come back from office. Couldn't get any information on the Internet.

I tried the stupid MMTS service several times sporadically and each time it failed me. The trains seldom arrive on time and the wait, connectivity, and the number of modes of transport I had to change just to get to office doesn't make sense. Bike from house to station, train to hitec city station (4 kms away from actual "Hitec City"), bus/auto from station to office. It takes me twice the amount of time (2hrs +) by MMTS as it does by car (1 hr+).

Aah.. let me see what I can do. Thanks so much so far, all!

Originally Posted by mayankk

ah, a post to relate to.

Also, be married...

Pre this, i was spending about 8.5 k in petrol a month, now its 7.5k a month.
something's working, innit?

Haha.. not yet man. 8.5K

Originally Posted by rm_arjuna

Hellmet, the heat is killing and dont take chance with your health for the next 3 months, my suggestion is juggle between car / a/c bus ( Volvo service from ECIL to Madhapur 10H/17H)& MMTS depending on your schedule .

Dont sell your car , you loss will be high .

Would you any chance know the timings for that bus? I heard about this bus but no one knew the timings.

Originally Posted by SILVERWOOD

Few options which you could try. 1,Move closer to your work place (rent in, rent out) 2,Change your office timings (if you can) 3,Option of MMTS. I have recently moved my house from Bowenpally to Raj Bhavan.(i work at Banjara Hills.)

Moving closer not an option as of. My parents can't stay in a rented place at their age. For them it just doesn't feel 'owned' and the trouble of buying and settling in another property is too much. I will move out when I marry but no choice now.

I just wish I could reply to each one of you who responded to this thread. It feels good to be heard. Thank you!

[anujmishra]

Two years back I moved 11 KM closer to office. Then my daily commute was 42 KMs both side.

Now, it is 10 KM one side. Also, I sold my Maruti 800 and bought Tata Safari . Per KM cost wise it was same as of Maruti 800 before price hike. Now, driving Tata Safari is cheaper than Maruti 800 in Bangalore after recent hike in petrol.

One more good news is now my office shifting 4 - 5 Kms closer to my home early next year. So, for me it will be 6KM one side and 12 KM both side.

I can save those moolah for monthly long drive.

[rm_arjuna]

I'm enquiring with my colleagues in case there is a AC coach bus available at the times I go and come back from office. Couldn't get any information on the Internet.

10H / 17H - First service at 7am from ECIL last service from Madhapur 9pm , frequency every 25mts

[ExtremeTorque]

Hellmet, I would suggest move to an area closer to the office where the rent will be equivalent to that in Tarnaka and start using the bike for your daily office commute. Area's like Kukatpally, Erragadda, Miyapur etc would be the best suitable, meaning closer to the office and equal or 5% more rent than what you will get on your apartment in Tarnaka. Rentals in Madhapur/Hi-Tech city are more than 30% higher than in Tarnaka and sorrounding area's.

Another option, move to a paying guest/hostel near Madhapur or hook up with colleagues in their bachelor pads. Go to Tarnaka in the weekends. That way, you are just a call away if your parents need you but close to the office at the same time. My 2 paise.

[black12rr]

Originally Posted by amitoj

So, what i do is that 2 or 3 days of the week, i work from home. Not only do i end up saving on petrol, but also save my sanity from the Bangalore madness.

By the way, shouldn't this thread be in the Indian Car Scene or something like that?

Sir not everyone is blessed with WFH . Even I travel 20 kms one way , but in Bangalore ,bike is the way to move .

But what if the OP is alone and don't have any one to carpool?

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by hellmet

I will move out when I marry but no choice now.

May be you should get married. It will solve a lot of your existing problems, but may open up a few new ones

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

May be you should get married. It will solve a lot of your existing problems, but may open up a few new ones

but then you may require a new thread, nay, a new forum altogether to discuss that.


BTW,although a pool doesnt exactly suit you, but for those whom it does, i know a few guys who started doing it, and are ending up with a quarter of their office-commute expenses, and cant stop praising the method(once they agreed on the radio station, of course).

[Spinnerr]

What if you move to one of the places closer to office (where the rents are on the lower side) as suggested by ExtremeTorque and rent out your current place. Would that work?

May be the rent collected is equal to the rent paid, so it kind of evens things out.

[tsk1979]

You should have bought a diesel. But whats done is done.
Right now you can try the following options
1. Move closer to office if feasible. So many kms a day of driving is not good for stress, esp with the kind of traffic we have
2. Try car pooling
3. change your office timings if you have flexi time, then you can start early, and come back early, beating some traffic.
4. Look at public transport options

[Spitfire]

Change your job or start looking for one with more salary.

It isn't paying you enough to maintain a small car anyways....

[ph03n!x]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

car pool. It would be foolish to assume that the government would keep diesel prices depressed forever - it has freed petrol prices and with so much diesel consumption in the metros over and above the transportation sector, its only a matter of time before diesel prices become intolerable for the government to manage.

Hold out for a season and then see. Don't rush into a diesel.

I don't think so - freeing diesel prices will lead to a hike in almost every commodity and travel. Maintaining two different Diesel will lead to rampant corruption. Solution - probably this.

I stand by what I said - Diesel prices will go up, but not as much as Petrol will. And private Diesel vehicles may get taxed more to compensate for subsidiary - any other options seems remote right now.

And by the time the options become not-so-remote, I would have earned back the loss on selling the car, the depreciation of the new car and then some more - looking at rate petrol prices are going. Don't believe me? Wait till the assembly elections get over.

[mmxylorider]

If you have colleagues who drive to work but stay some distance away, ride your bike to their place and use the car from there on. Of course lot of things to discuss in this approach.

See if you can strike a deal with some cab on regular use in shared mode.

[amit_purohit20]

1)Whenever the weather and your health conditions are not good go by car.
2)Go by your motorbike,wear safety equipments.
3)Try to search for other sources of income,whatever small.
4)Change your job if you get any,near to your house and which will pay you higher.

All the best.Learning-Never buy a car on loan. Buy a car only when you can afford it really. I too face the same problem to a small extent but luckily my office is nearby.

[musicmanaman]

Originally Posted by Spitfire

Change your job or start looking for one with more salary.

It isn't paying you enough to maintain a small car anyways....

This is THE best suggesstion on the thread .

Anyways, I was travelling 40km a day 2 months ago in a Petrol Amby, and I'm sure all can guess my fuel bill, when the average monthly running is 1k kms a month and the FE is 7.5 to 8 kmpl on average. The good part is I don't have an EMI, which in most cases is the real killer, because you got to pay it weather you drive or not.

I now live 4 kms from office and 8 Kms is the round trip, this bought my fuel bills down, but in about 2 weeks my kid starts going to school, which by luck is right in between my office and Home, but there may be some to and fro driving involved during the day, lets see how things go.

I'm very keen on buying a Ritz Diesel, but when I do the maths, if I drive 1k kms a month, my cost of driving and owning an Amby and New Ritz Diesel is somewhat similar or may be marginally higher on the Ritz due to EMI, however if I drive anything less than 1k kms a month the Ritz becomes more expensive as the EMI then kills.

Buttom line is, you are not alone my friend, there are millions of mortals like me and you who are in the same fix, hence the above suggesstion by Spitfire really caught by attention, and the bottom line is, he is right.