My fourth Emergency Service is a Local Independent Garage
Our Editor Stuart asked me this week if I had any tips on how to be smart with our finances, he said “I’m not talking about shopping in charity shops, and I know you’re not Martin Lewis just other bright ideas you might have?”
What I didn’t realise was events in my life would take over and this week’s column would be easier to write than I’d previously thought.
I consider myself a competent driver, I’m a city girl and since first hitting London in a blue mini back in 1983 I’ve taken on board the rules. You grow eyes in the back of your head and don’t dither, sometimes at junctions, you just have to barge in otherwise you’ll be stationary forever. Then there’s parking, which comes with its own set of problems, generally speaking you have seconds to swoop in and manoeuvre your precious metal box into the hallowed space. Parallel parking has become my superpower, I have good spatial awareness and pride myself with swift entry into seemingly small gaps
So, when I expertly parked my car in an underground carpark with concrete pillars but on leaving forgot the pillars were there and scraped the side of my car door across one of them you can imagine how stupid I felt, let alone realising this was going to be costly and a complete hassle – I wanted to cry (I think I did)
My fourth Emergency service is a local independent garage, I advise all my single female friend to find themselves one, as they are worth their weight in gold. As I appeared turning onto the forecourt Gareth, the owner, started to laugh but quickly rearranged his face as he could see I was mortified also, he knows I love my car. After close inspection, “I’m afraid it’s a new door” he said and if we have to order one from the factory it’s going to cost a fortune because they don’t make this car anymore, but let’s look on eBay. You can buy a car door on eBay? Why would I have ever looked? Well now I’m an expert and it’s a bigger wider market than I’d ever imagined. With Gareth’s assistance for the princely sum of £440.00 I now have an exact good condition driver’s side door being sprayed to match my car. The reason I’m telling you this is because I’ve learnt a valuable lesson in cutting what could have been a colossal cost by shopping around. Also selling on eBay unwanted items is good business and you might have things yourself that would be better turned into cash to bolster domestic finances because everyone is feeling it.
Before I go, I still can’t resist a tip when it comes to charity shops, seek out ones in posh areas and this is the month to swoop in and bag a few barging.