Provident I just Can't Afford To Pay

seven-day-weekend

To get back to the OP, just put up your Statement of Affairs on the Debt-Free Wannabee board (there is a sticky at the top that shows you how to do it); they will be able to come up with loads of money-saving ideas for you.

Why don't you join a credit union - much better deal than Provident.

aaroncaz

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I've been in the position where I couldn't afford them, so we did what we could with what we'd got. I have explained to my son in the past that we just had not got enough money but that we'd all have a good christmas anyway. He was fine with that.

I think this year, will be tight!! Spent over £350 on my sons birthday and xmas, birthday 4 days over xmas, but!! some of the stuff i brought, he's not even played with!! such a waste of money!! This year i will be more select, and am saving my points, tesco and boots, and pigsback!!

seven-day-weekend

aaroncaz wrote: »

I think this year, will be tight!! Spent over £350 on my sons birthday and xmas, birthday 4 days over xmas, but!! some of the stuff i brought, he's not even played with!! such a waste of money!! This year i will be more select, and am saving my points, tesco and boots, and pigsback!!

Yes, good for you, this is the sort of thing I mean.

No-one needs to spend a huge amount at Christmas - a fiver a month saved (not given to Provident) will be £60 - more than enough to have a decent Christmas.

We gave our son an IOU once as the thing he wanted would be much cheaper in the sales - he still had small presents to open, plus bigger ones from Grandparents. We explained what we'd done and he actually thought it was great fun to 'claim' his IOU in the January sales!

seven-day-weekend

margaretclare wrote: »

I agree with you, 7DWE, but apparently presents at Christmas are a 'must have' for children, even if parents spend all year up to next Christmas paying for them! Modern children will not tolerate home-made presents, second-hand items or - spare us! - go without! They won't!
I have seen this kind of comment before following the collapse of the Park Hampers scheme. The way those parents were talking, Christmas might as well have been cancelled because they were unable to 'give the kids a good Christmas' which means lots of food and lots of toys.

Being at the bottom....I have been there, more than once in my lifetime. 'The bottom' was where I actually started, you could say, as a newborn baby, and there have been crises and disasters since then. I am the last person to 'look down' on anybody and I have had expensive loans at different times before I knew better. I agree with 7DWE though. I'd never take out any kind of a loan just to buy Christmas presents. That's not what Christmas is all about, in my book anyway.

Margaret

Actually Margaret, I think they WOULD accept second-hand or home-made, if the parents went about explaining the right way. Our son never minded.

How do you know something is second-hand anyway?

It's parents who think their children can't learn to 'go without, I feel.

shoperholicnot

I am not slating people who use provi - you do what you have to do to get by and thats it - and I am not slating the agents. I used to get the vouchers for spending in shops off them (interest not too bad) my agent was a great guy and told me in no uncertain terms to NEVER take money loans off them!
the truth is that the APR for the money IS extortionate. if you can, by any possible means, steer clear.

margaretclare

carolwat wrote: »

I dare say that Margaret probably hasn't ever been in the position of telling her kids there isn't a present for them.

Don't comment on what you can't possibly know about. My 'kids' (children actually) grew up in the 1960s/70s and it was commonplace to have home-made presents and second-hand presents. They would have new outfits, jumpers lovingly hand-knitted by auntie and grannie, we always went to church on Christmas morning and they would be wearing new things.

A few years ago an elderly friend and I used to run a hand-knits stall at the church Christmas bazaar. We used to hand-knit jumpers, all kinds of children's things and we'd try to sell them at ridiculously cheap prices - we weren't even covering the cost of materials. My friend had been doing it for many years and she said she'd noticed that gradually people did not want these beautifully-made little clothes any more. They all wanted denim and sweat-shirts with logos. One woman asked me why I hadn't made jumpers with the Lion King on them. Those women were obviously poor, and they did buy second-hand toys, but not hand-made clothes. The final year we did it, we ended up taking it all back home and we sent it to a children's charity in Sarajevo or somewhere like that.

I have heard parents saying 'you've got to..., they expect it...' My children never went without the necessities of life and neither did I when growing up, but we didn't pay all year into a hamper scheme to do it.

Margaret

carolwat

margaretclare wrote: »

Don't comment on what you can't possibly know about. My 'kids' (children actually) grew up in the 1960s/70s and it was commonplace to have home-made presents and second-hand presents. They would have new outfits, jumpers lovingly hand-knitted by auntie and grannie, we always went to church on Christmas morning and they would be wearing new things.

A few years ago an elderly friend and I used to run a hand-knits stall at the church Christmas bazaar. We used to hand-knit jumpers, all kinds of children's things and we'd try to sell them at ridiculously cheap prices - we weren't even covering the cost of materials. My friend had been doing it for many years and she said she'd noticed that gradually people did not want these beautifully-made little clothes any more. They all wanted denim and sweat-shirts with logos. One woman asked me why I hadn't made jumpers with the Lion King on them. Those women were obviously poor, and they did buy second-hand toys, but not hand-made clothes. The final year we did it, we ended up taking it all back home and we sent it to a children's charity in Sarajevo or somewhere like that.

I have heard parents saying 'you've got to..., they expect it...' My children never went without the necessities of life and neither did I when growing up, but we didn't pay all year into a hamper scheme to do it.

Margaret

Things have changed a lot since your 'children' were younger, thay have changed a lot since I was too. I remember getting the satsuma and other little things in my Christmas stocking. Can you imagine doing that now. Im not saying its changed for the best because it hasnt. My little one is only nearly 3 so I dont have the pressures yet of him wanting all sorts of expensive things but I do know when he does I will do what I can for him but I wont be taking loans to do that buts thats my personal choice. I certainly dont condemn others for chosing to do just that. Kids are not like what they used to be, all their friends get all this great stuff and they want the same. Kids are bullied for not getting the things their mates have, again this is not right but its the way it is today. If people chose to take loans from wherever to buy their kids stuff then thats their decision and they have to make sure they can afford to make the weekly payment. Most probably dont even consider what the interest is and what the total amount payable is, they are only interested in what it will cost them each week.

I also remember my nana knitting me jumpers years ago but if she were to do that now for her younger grandkids they wouldnt be so pleased to wear them. Things change and we have to change with them otherwise we end up with our heads in the clouds.

I would like to think that all kids could be grateful with what their parents can realistically afford but sadly they cant and some parents dont like to disappoint and only want to give their kids more than they had. Is that really so wrong?

Carol

margaretclare

carolwat wrote: »

I would like to think that all kids could be grateful with what their parents can realistically afford but sadly they cant and some parents dont like to disappoint and only want to give their kids more than they had. Is that really so wrong?

Yes, it is, if it leads to a life in debt being seen as the only way to live, and the children growing up with unrealistic expectations. It's not just a few toys, is it? That's how it starts, but gradually it escalates into more and more expensive consumer goods being expected without a thought of where they came from (well, I know that 99% of them came from China, but what I mean is, how they're supposed to be paid for).

Sooner or late some brave parents have got to start saying 'no' to the media-fuelled plastic tat which is the 'must-have' for this year. When people are struggling in debt the watchword has got to be: 'Can you afford it, do you need it?' And borrowing just to buy cheap tacky plastic tat because it's linked to the latest film, is, I would submit, not the way to bring up any child with a responsible attitude to money, one which will stand the child in good stead throughout life.

Margaret

freejack2k

would say its a case of each to their own. No one is right or wrong. you either borrow money for xmas or you dont. if you do you have to live with paying it back afterwards. simple as.

inmypocketnottheirs

Hand knitted jumpers, second hand toys, not having the latest plastic toys. Yes it would be great to go back in time and live in the 50's. Whilst we are at it, why not re-introduce ration books. 2 ozs of cheese and butter a week, a loaf of bread, 8 ozs of meat. Great! Or we could go and live in Romania.

Down with progress. Nostalgia is not what it used to be.