Upsetting comments on another board - but are they right

[Deleted User]

Sky is a luxury. You don't need it. £5K over 10 years is too much to spend on such a thing.

I've been beyond skint in the past - and what we did for a social life was invite people round for tea and biscuits which cost us pennies and was offset by the fact that body heat meant we could turn the heating down a tiny bit :rotfl:

Then about once a month we invited people round for a bring-a-dish meal in which we provided beer and wine (Lidl/Aldi) and we had the best evenings. We made the best of friends by spending time together and actually listening and sharing with each other. There was no time for Sky.

I would just add that we did this all from moving counties, to an area where we knew no one, so we started inviting people from work and it grew from there. Friends for life and when the debt journey gets tough - as it will - then you've the support of true friends, instead of watching an endless repeat of "Friends".

Nottoobadyet

I cant imagine spending that much on TV, even if I was a millionaire. I'd rather spend it going out, on dance lessons, on theater tickets, on books, on music, on cooking a posh meal for mates, a magazine subscription or round the pub with mates. For that price you could even have a posh-ish gym membership, and you can always watch TV there while running!

But of course, I dont know you and have absolutely no right to judge whether its a good use of your limited entertainment budget. Its your money, do what you want with it if you can afford it.

ceejaydee23

For me personally the biggest thing has been using CASH on a weekly budget. I have agreed terms with my credit card companies myself thankfully with no real hassle. We had only JUST increased our virgin package (as at the time we thought we could afford it) when things went tits up, thankfully virgin agreed to reduce the package costs for me, although not to the extent you got your sky lowered. If on the other hand Me n the other half were gonna be on a DMP for that long, Id want to seriously cut back everywhere possible. The people on here were great (although i did get some really harsh words thrown at me on another thread as i was at desperation point at the time) I had thought that a DMP was gonna be our only option to get "extra" just so we could get by. But from Using cash seems I have found i was throwing money away. much needed money!

Trollfever

Reality check?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/37067866#Comment_37067866

Mrs_Arcanum

If you were allowed £12 per week for entertaining the whole family I doubt anyone would comment. From now on I would suggest you use this term. After all Child Benefit is frozen and many companies are freezing pay so where are we supposed to get the money to cover the higher cost of Utilities, council tax & food. At least this gives you an area to look at if further cut backs are needed.

We do not have workhouses or debtors prisons yet there does seem to be a "holier than thou" attitude where you are supposed to wander round in sackcloth and ashes because your personal circumstances have changed for the worse. This I find incredibly unhelpful and negative at a time when people most need positivity and support.

sfry

Trollfever wrote: »

Reality check?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/37067866#Comment_37067866

Very interesting :eek:

Foolish_spendthrift

I'd say well done for reducing the Sky bill, but have a long hard think about those extra channels you're paying for. It sounds like you're in it for the long haul, but with spring just around the corner, have a serious think about whether you're going to watch as much TV as you have over the long winter.

Why not consider some alternatives? Reduce the package even more for the next quarter and see how much it really affects your viewing habits, or consider scrapping it altogether - you can always sign up again if it becomes unbearable.

Re the Freeview question: If you're out of contract with Sky, i.e. usually over 12 months with them so the equipment is effectively yours to keep, cancel it and you can go straight on to their Freesat service, with far more channels than Freeview (OK, some of them are pretty rubbish, but isn't much of it anyway!) and this will cost you NOTHING. I have just spoken to them about doing this, and they've said if I cancel my Sky subscription (only £22.50, but that still adds up when you factor in TV licence too), my card will automatically become a Freesat viewing card and the only cost I may incur in the future is if they upgrade the cards and I'd need a new one, which costs £25. They've just upgraded cards, so the person I spoke to said I'd probably be 'safe' for a few years. I have Sky+ and I was told that if I wanted to retain the recording function, this would cost £10 per month (plus I'd lose anything currently recorded).

The £72/£46 sounds to me like you have lots of premium channels like sport or movies...can you or OH be persuaded to give them up for a bit? If you really miss them, then go back later, but it may be when you see the inroads in your debt, you're happy to be without them.

[Deleted User]

Trollfever wrote: »

Reality check?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/37067866#Comment_37067866

We all have our own journeys - some people have to be brought to their knees before they change habits.

I hope the OP draws inspiration from some of the others on this thread who have come through very difficult times yet still had fun - it doesn't have to cost money to have a laugh - just a bit of imagination

There are several suggestions on this thread, but this is the OP's journey. If her choice is to take something really simple (her debt situation) and make it complicated (by squeezing her budget further) - she is entitled to do so.

Even though her decisions may not match ours, we need to remember that we don't all get it right first time

bellsbells

Reality check?

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...=#post37067866




Be fair! That was back in October last year. Looks like the OP has had their LBM since then.

d123

Nottoobadyet wrote: »

I'd rather spend it going out, on dance lessons, on theater tickets, on books, on music, on cooking a posh meal for mates, a magazine subscription or round the pub with mates.

if you can do all that on less than £50 a month can you also feed 5000 people on 2 fish?

One night out with a taxi home won't leave much change from £50 these days, and theatre tickets? Really?