Earning Money From My Ride.

My wonderful 5-seater, Dacia Lodgy Mark2 MCV diesel 1.5 Eco2 estate car

I was up early again today, two days running, both around 8. There was a good reason though and that was first delivering my car for rental at the railway station and then, today, going to collect it. My client lives 3 stops down the line at La Guepie (the village outside of which the last governor of Hong Kong has his holiday home, or one of them at least). He has an electronic problem with his car which is taking time to fix. So he rented my car to go and do a big shop at one of the big supermarkets out of town, then go to a meeting in Montauban, a quite big place, well 4 times bigger than here at least. Then home for the evening and returning the car to me before taking the next train back. It cost him 42 euros for the rental through Drivy.com and I get 28 euros (the rest covers the insurance and the web site's small cut.
Then on Sunday evening another man is picking up my car leaving the next morning to drive up to Bourg en Bresse, about 500 kms north of here. He's returning the next day and will return my car just before going to work at 16h. He's a chef in a brasserie about 150 metres from here and has a beaten up wreck of a car which he didn't want to risk on such a long drive. I'll be earning 85 euros from this one.

This system is great for both parties. Having this source of extra cash relieves a lot of the concerns of living on a small pension (830 euros every four weeks). This is week four coming up which is where any shortfalls really hit. If I hadn't got this extra I'd have been eating out the cupboard (and freezer) where there are always things specially for stand-by - fish fingers and french fries in the freezer, Chinese noodles, baked beans, tinned cassoulet and paella and packeted soup. Reduced tobacco consumption (good thing?), reduced driving, no GnT, etc. and of course, absolutely no going out.
And for these clients of mine, having people like me around allows them to rent a car at a cheapish rate (if you are happy with old Peugeot 205's you will only pay 10 euros a day) and with no big deposit to leave (no deposit at all, you simply pay for what you've ordered in advance and pay any extra like excess kilometres, at the end of the rental).

Living in a rural area, even in a small town, everybody considers a car to be essential. And it is, for getting to work, if your job isn't near your home, sometimes for taking children to school, for emergencies, to visit family. Outside of big towns and cities, public transport can be sparse at best. We are lucky here that we are on a continuing train station from where you can get to anywhere in Europe probably, if you have the time and the money. And many students and workers use it to get into town.

Car-sharing is well advertised around here which can help solve the getting to work problem. And the one sort of bus service that really exists here is the school bus. Anybody wanting to continue their education after 15 and who lives within 30 miles of here pretty much has to come here: and for most children from 11 upwards have to be bused to the 'college' which will be in one of several neighbouring villages.
Otherwise, lots of people have cars who only have to use them one or two times a week or less, like me generally. So, why have one? Why not just rent one when you need one? After all, after the house, the car is usually the second highest regular expense for any household. When I moved into the centre of Bristol I got rid of my car and lived car less until I moved to Devon in September 2010. I could walk most places I needed to go to in the centre, including work, and if I was going out of town I rented, about once a fortnight. The money I saved!! And all that extra walking was good for my health.

Well done Drivy.com (and a couple of other similar websites) for making it easy for renters and people who want to rent. Everybody gains and nobody is ripped off and everybody is happy. And isn't that how all commercial transactions should be.

PS All the photos today were taken today and show my car, my house and the first scorching day of this year.....it hit 30C this afternoon and was already above 27C at 10. You'll see the Globe terrace where I have my proper coffee most mornings, the river Aveyron, the Salle des Fetes, the cathedral, what remains of the old town walls and our two bridges, one for vehicles, one for pedestrians only.