I have said a few times now that going further afield is better value. It occurred to me that I had never actually checked, and that saying a thing repeatedly is not the same as it being true. So I kept every receipt for six trips.
The van does about thirty-four to the gallon if I drive it sensibly, which nobody has ever accused me of. At what diesel costs at the moment that works out around nineteen pence a mile. Rachel and I split it down the middle. Here is the whole lot.
| Trip | Miles (return) | Diesel, my half | Spent in shops |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stockport | 18 | £1.75 | £9.00 |
| Todmorden | 54 | £5.25 | £17.50 |
| Hebden Bridge | 62 | £6.00 | £31.00 |
| Leeds | 88 | £8.55 | £12.00 |
| Whitby | 230 | £22.30 | £0.00 |
| Buxton | 52 | £5.05 | £24.00 |
Six days out, five hundred miles, and my share of the fuel comes to just under forty-nine pounds. Which sounds like a lot until you divide it: about eight pounds a day out. The return train fare to Leeds on its own is more than that, and the train does not let you stop in Todmorden on the way back.
Whitby is the one that looks like a disaster. Two hundred and thirty miles, twenty-two pounds of diesel out of my pocket, and I came home with nothing at all. Nearly half the year's fuel on one trip, for no clothes.
I would still go again. The alternative that Saturday was Wilbraham Road and a jumper I did not need, and I would have called that one a success.
Is it actually cheaper
Not per item, no. I spend more on a van day than I would on a normal Saturday in Chorlton, because I have driven an hour and there is a pull to justify it.
What is different is what I come home with. Over those six days I bought eleven things. I have worn nine of them. Compare that with the six months of receipts I did back in 2024, where I bought forty-odd things and there is a decent fraction I could not now describe to you.
That is the honest answer. The van has not made my clothes cheaper. It has made them better, and it has cut the number of things I buy out of boredom to almost nothing, because you cannot pop into a charity shop in Todmorden on a whim. You have to mean it.
The diesel is the cheapest part of the whole hobby. The expensive part was always the habit.