BBC1 tonight @7pm (16th March)

Magentasue

Yes, Alvin Hall is much better. That silly woman who claimed to be an expert in thrift was TOO silly. There weren't many ideas on how they could manage better and I didn't like the way that the wife was given total responsibility for managing the budget and the men got off with just eating what they were given

Curry_Queen

I nearly dropped through the floor when they said they'd spent over £45,000 in the previous year on personal spending!!!!!!! :eek:

That didn't even include household bills or food!!!!!

From the sounds of it most of their spending was on credit and they'd got into a lot of debt, hence selling the pub to pay it off. Someone said they should have sold the house and kept the pub but I think that's where most of their spending was going ... £50 a time in fruit machines, beers etc ... the eldest lad said he wouldn't go out drinking unless he had £100 in his back pocket :rolleyes:

It would be interesting to have followed them up a month later to see whether they carried on with the budget, as I got the feeling they were just gritting their teeth to get through the month rather than seeing it as a lifestyle change.

Lillibet_2

I'm fed up with all these half-measue only-in-it for-their-moment-of-fame TV programmes about supposedly living frugally blah blah blah with self styled experts who, quite frankly, couldn't manage to pay their gas bills without direct debits to do it for them. Can't Martin do a real programme based on real people (like us!) who want to make a real effort? Can we start a campaign, we could revolutionize the way of British life given half a chance! (Or at least make some people think twice). Oh, I'm getting carried away now but it seems to me there is a genuine interest in doing this sort of thing, otherwise the TV producers wouldn't get audiances for these programmes and there seems to be an increasing trend for them at the mo (instead of DIY programmes?). But generally through years of clever marketing & must-have gadgets the populace have lost the skills to seriously manage their money on their own and end up letting their money manage their lives.


Getting off soap box.....................

Curry_Queen

I'd much rather have seen you in it than that silly old bat they chose instead

!!!!!! ... :money: removed his post so it makes mine look silly now :rolleyes:

I won't repeat it for obvious reasons (and is also why i didn't originally quote it) so everyone who's confused by this just move along to the next message :rotfl:


[I know i'm crazy but he's made me look even more crazy than usual!!!]

shallowpockets

After reading your comments I'm so relieved that I wasn't the only person who thought that programme was crap. It wasn't even good entertainment value all she did was go for the obvious ways to save money and gave no new ideas/tips. I felt as though the family just played along for the cameras and would just revert back to their ways. Come on BBC bring Alvin back if you can't get Martin....

greenlogo

I was looking forward to it, but it was just nonsense, wasn't it - no explanation of anything and the so called "expert" didn't appear to give any advice other than to throw out food and that unneccessary purchases are allowed as long as they're from a charity shop... hopeless.

I agree that Alvin's much better - and :money: 's said he's looking for someone to be in a programme so I shall wait for that to come on

LilacLillie

I'm ashamed to say (although I'm not in any debt, other than small mortgage), my attitude to money has always been much the same as this family.
I just thought people "saved" money when they had to, either lost their income, or just didn't have enough coming in. Not from choice!
Thankfully in my adult life, these 2 things haven't happened to me.........................yet.
Since joining this site, I am being educated and loving every minute of it.
I have always cooked all my own meals and looked out for a bargain, but if I have money it isn't long in my pocket and if I don't use it, I'll give it to my kids.
I'm saving money already and am looking forward to joining in next month's budget challenge. I haven't a clue how I'm going to do it yet, but with all the good advice on here, it should become clear as I go along. I'm away for the next couple of weeks, so will have a think about it then.
Its me, hubby and grown up son at home and I spend about £600 on food a month, no convenience meals, no forward planning, and not including eating out in proper restuarants not McD's, or takeaways maybe once a week.
Told my hubby last night that I'm going to try to cut that food bill by half next month. He took it with a pinch of salt.
Trouble is then............................what do you spend all that money on that you save??????......................
LL

tiff

Did you really mean you spend £600 a month on food? You are going to be rolling in it girl when you start saving!

Austin_Allegro

Don't forget there HAVE been some good progs on money on tellie in the past.

Alvin Hall and Bank of Mum and Dad have both been mentioned. Both were excellent.

I especially liked the episode of Bank of Mum and Dad with the camp man in Manchester, whose ex-army father forced him to walk a mile to the pub instead of taking a taxi!

But most money programmes (like the one last night from what I've heard) aren't about money saving, they're just entertainment for middle England.

Lillibet_2

LilacLillie wrote:

Trouble is then............................what do you spend all that money on that you save??????......................
LL

erm.............I "save" it. It isn't saved if it's spent!
The point of saving is so that it's there for when the redundancy type disasters happen, 'cos you can't save for them after the event!
Of couse you might want to save for a specific purpose, a holiday, new car, dinner out, whatever. But this isn't saving, it's saving up with a future spend in mind. This money might not be there when you need it for the unplanned disaster.