2012 Frugal Living Challenge (Part 1)

Happy_Hermit

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

Hi all,

this thread does move fast....i could keep up with the 2011 thread..( well in the end...lol...)

I was wondering if anyone knew the legal standing on this one...

hubby and i were talking about the price of tv licenses and sky etc.. and were wondering what if we got rid of the tv ( saving the license and sky tv fee) and just having a phone and broadband package... and then watching any programes on iplayer etc..

what sparked the conversation is that 9 times out of 10 its only hubby and i in the living room watching tv...the boys are up in their rooms on their game consoles or on their puters.... when eldest watches tv programmes on his puter.. it only asks if we have a tv license if he wants to watch a tv programme that is currently being shown on tv..but desnt ask if he watches anything on iplayer etc..

I expect the bbc/governemt has 'sussed' this one, and there is some flipping clause...

If we could do this, yes it would be really strange not having the tv on, as even if you dont wathc it, its the noise in the back ground... but over a matter of time i should imagine you could get used to it...( or not...lol...)

It would be hard to convince the family... but i am sure i could win out in the end, if it was feasible;)

You can keep the TV and still use it for DVDs, games, watching i-player (NOT LIVE BROADCAST) etc. The TV licence is only needed for watching TV as it is broadcast - if you don't watch live TV then no need for a licence.

We stopped paying for the licence years ago (almost 6 years now) - kids moaned about it to begin with but after a week or so got used to it They always mention when they catch the TV at their friends houses and say how rubbish most of it is and how overwhelming constantly being bombarded with adverts is.

EDIT there is currently a MSE discussion about it HERE

quintwins

my kids wouldn't be impressed if we had no t.v but i have decided to ditch sky, they tend to be into free channels now and anything else can be watched online

if anyone gets a paper log maker (shop around we paid £15 for our inlaws one) get in touch with a local printer they will be more than happy to help as they have to pay to get paper taken away, sadly we don't have a fire, paper logs take ages to dry tho so you need to be prepared, a cheapo green house or garage is fab to dry them, you can make your own fire lighters with tumble dryer fluff and toilet roll inners aswell

not much going on here moneywise as we're avoiding spending

adit- ok scrape my last statement just had a nosey of the grabbits and found 2 pairs of jammies for £7 i bought sil some for xmas (thats all her pressies got already) i very nearly bought myself some but i took them out of my basket as i'd just be buying for teh sake of it i don't acually need jammies

stitching_witch

I thought you still needed a TV licence if you had equipment that was capable of receiving a TV signal (even if only used for gaming) or watch programmes via the internet.

If I'm wrong, our TV will definately be going......

stitching_witch

Just checked their website it says:

Watching TV on the internet You need to be covered by a licence if you watch TV online at the same time as it's being broadcast on conventional TV in the UK or the Channel Islands.

I might be able to get rid of mine after all!

maz1964

hiya all

happy new year and i would really love to join your gang pls

have a fun day laters maz:D

Emmala

Morning everyone!

I thought I'd try and post once or twice a week, though I do read through and catch up each morning! So far, so good this month I'm glad to say. This is a quick list of what the Rae household have achieved towards our new frugal year.....

1. DH and I have had proper grown up discussions about money!! :j
2. I have gone through the DDs and done the following......cancelled the pet insurance (I love our pets dearly, but would never put them through any prolonged treatment, and mum and dad could lend us money if we really needed it.....with an £80 excess anyway a bog standard injection/consultation is worth claiming for anyway, and also no cattery needed as we won't be going on any long holidyas anytime soon!!!)......agreed lower DDs fo gas and electric for the next year as we have accrued so much credit......got British Gas to cut the cost of our homcare agreement (£15 from £22).......and DH has cancelled SKY!!!!!! We only have a basic package, but have decided to get a freesat box instead which works out cheaper in the long run, and TBH we don't watch many more than the bog standard channels anyway. All this in total will have saved us just over £1000 this coming year!!

3. I have stuck to the menu plan for the week, just needed more eggs, but no other shopping since the weekend. I now shop on a Sat/Sun (without the kids) so that I have everything I need for luche boxes, then usually make do if things run out towards the end of the week. I find I don't need to pop to the supermarket for one or two things, only to spend £20!!

4. I have made breadcrumbs with the end of two loaves of bread instead of chucking them out!! Only a little thing, but it all counts!!!


Right.....I hope you all have a good day!!!

Rae

starnac

stitching_witch wrote: »

Just checked their website it says:

Watching TV on the internet You need to be covered by a licence if you watch TV online at the same time as it's being broadcast on conventional TV in the UK or the Channel Islands.

I might be able to get rid of mine after all!

Ooh mine may be going too. We cancelled sky months ago "for a month as a trial" and we don't miss it. DD and DH watch DVD's and I just don't bother as am not really interested. I joked to DH about sending our TV licence back and he laughed saying we couldn't. I may show him this. Thanks stitchy

jovie

Hi everyone!

I'd have a read through a lot of the thread and would like to join in!

We don't currently have any debt and are doing ok at saving for a house deposit but after that we have zero money to play with. Would really like to save some money to go on our first holiday together and also would be nice to be able to go out occasionally instead of sitting at home every night!

So far we have got ourselves a Costco card so we can go and buy certain things in bulk. We've also switched from buying meat, fruit & veg at the supermarket and now go to the local market (perhaps we can start looking at growing some of our own!) My OH regularly plans our meals and batch cooks and I bake so no need to be buying biscuits etc.

Am looking forward to reading all your posts and getting some new ideas of how to cut back further. Unfortunately we are tied into an 18month contract with Virgin Media so can't see us being able to get rid of that any time soon! Although we did get £100 cashback when we joined which paid for the Costco card and kick started our holiday fund so every cloud has a silver lining

Jovie

silvasava

Hi All - I'm not having a very good January (or December)- only 2 NSD's so far. We had our caraven stolen at the beginning of December - luckily we had a tracker on it & it was recovered by the polise. No damage to the 'van - just to the wheel clamp, wheel chain, hitchlock Found out from the security (!!) cameras on the storage site that it was a highly organised gang - just lucky no one was hurt in the process.
I rent out my mothers house through the local council. Tenant was there for 5 years and then just did a 'moonlight' a few weeks later leaving the house in a state so DH & I have been cleaning, sanding & redecorating since beginning of December. We've had to spend quite a lot to get it up to scratch again & the 'williams' this month have been more than usual. I applied for a 0% interest CC to spread the cost a bit but it hasn't arrived yet so we've had to raid savings . Wouldn't you know - January is when the car needs taxing, house insurance due & DH has a medical to keep his Class 1 DL which costs £100.00! Did manage to get the house insurance at last years price but the DVLC won't budge!
As I'm trying to be even more frugal as no tenant means no money does anyone know if you can put cabbage in soup? I seem to remember it can ferment although I would be using other veg with it & freezing it. Also we don't eat much fresh fish (neither of us likes salmon) but I wondered if I could egg & breadcrumb white fish fillets & do them in the oven? If any one has any recipe's or tips I'd be very grateful.
Sorry for long post - I feel like hibernating at the moment 'till its all over.

miss_empty_piggy

Would really appreciate some advice about my chickens. I bought them as chicks about 2 years ago. They grew into 4 lovely birds and were great at laying. About 3 months ago, poor Eggwina was found at the bottom of their 2 storey mansion, stiff as a board and with her tongue hanging out. No-one came forward as the culprit as we think she was pushed as she was the favourite.The other 3 have remained tight lipped ever since. However, since then I have not had one egg. I know this may sound harsh, but if they're not going to lay eggs then I begrudge paying out the money for feed etc. OH has offered to "neck" them, but not sure exactly how I would feel about this. I am now wondering whether it was just poor Eggwina who was laying and she died from sheer exhaustion. I would take them to a good home, but don't know if anyone would want them if they're not laying. Or, as times are hard, should we just eat them. Any good advice would be welcome. Thanks guys.