I was trying to be frugal but I ended up spending more money….
I had a long weekend down south (Ashford in Kent) to visit a friend. Last time I saw said friend was at her wedding two years ago and since then, she’d given birth to a little boy so it was a long overdue visit.
Public gym equipment in a park in Ashford – a first for me!
My return train ticket from Manchester to Ashford Int’l cost over £80 so I was looking to save some money elsewhere.
A taxi direct from my house to the train station costs £12 but I figured that if I got a taxi to the nearest tram stop and then got the tram to the train station, it would only cost me £6.60 in total, a saving of over £5.
I’ve done this before but what I didn’t do this time was check beforehand that the tram service was running as normal…
So, I’m standing waiting at the tram stop and there are various passenger announcements over the tannoy but I’m not concerned as they were all for trams going in the other direction.
Tram after tram went by in the direction I wanted to go and I started to get worried as none were going to the train station! I had a quick look around the station for any signs or posters about changes in services, there was nothing and of course, there was no one about to ask.
After waiting over half an hour, I ended up running out of the tram stop and getting a taxi to the train station after all, which cost £12.50.
And I ended up missing my train.
Fortunately, I was able to transfer to a later train but despite rushing all sweaty and frustrated on the London Underground, I ended up missing my connecting train to Ashford. As I was dashing through, I ran over a guy’s feet with my small suitcase – it would have been ok if he’d been wearing shoes but he was wearing sandals…oops! I did shout “Sorry” as I flew past!
Finally got to my friend’s house much later than planned.
At some point in the evening, I logged onto the tram website to find that all tram services have been disrupted due to the extension of the lines and new tram stations being built. If I’d checked before my journey, I would have seen that there were no trams going direct to the train station, so there goes my opportunity to get a refund for the ticket as it was my fault (although that’s not going to stop me from trying to get a refund…)
Fortunately, the bad start to the weekend didn’t continue and I had a lovely time catching up, relaxing and enjoying the nice weather before it poured down! I’m still a little miffed that instead of saving £5, I ended up spending an extra £7 in travelling costs though – Grrrr!
Lesson learnt here – check and plan journeys properly!
Dodgy Folk
Speaking of lessons learnt, in my experience, there are ‘dodgy folk’ who travel on public transport.
Another word for ‘dodgy folk’ is ‘THIEVES‘ and I have to say that I’ve been a victim a couple of times of said dodgy folk in the past.
On my return journey home, my seat was quite a bit away from the luggage rack where I’d placed my suitcase (and facing the other way), so the case was pretty much out of sight throughout the journey.
Sure enough, when I went to pick up my case, the zipper was open and I distinctly remember closing it properly (didn’t want any underwear falling out!).
Fortunately, I was carrying all items of value on my person, ie mobile phone, purse, tablet and ereader.
So, it could have been a weekend that started wrong and ended up horribly but all’s well that ends well.
Note to self however – buy a small padlock for case!
Oh man, it seems like everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I'm glad you at least made it to your friends place and had a good time.
I hate it when you try to do something to save a little but it ends up taking more time and money in the end than if you had taken the easy route!
Hi Zee, thanks for stopping by. Yes, it would have worked out if I'd planned it properly! Let's hope I remember for next time!
Ahhh what a horrible experience! I can think of dozens of times that I've tried to do the frugal thing but ended up having to jump in a taxi or similar due to external factors. It sucks and really annoys me but what else can you do?
Lucky that you had all your valuables on you on that train as well!
Hi ERG, yep it's really annoying but at least on the occasions when things don't go wrong, you end up saving money!
With regards to the valuables, I've really learnt my lesson there – lost a brand new iPod Touch once to thieves and was devastated. Hopefully, never again.
Thanks for stopping by!