Money Moral Dilemma: Is it wrong to use student discounts when I'm a high earner?

OAPea

Are you a student? If so use it, but as you told us you are a top earner then l doubt you are, so don't.

GraceDalton

Why not donate some of the savings to charities providing education in the most disadvantaged parts of our world? It's thrilling how much impact can be made £ for £ (far, far more than could be made if spending the same amount here)

Cimscate

So let's look at the facts. You're in the top 5 percent so probably earning at least £100,000 a year and probably considerably more. You want to save yourself a few quid by pretending you're earning nothing. Is it morally wrong YES of course it is and you are presumably aneducated person so know that anyway!! Make your own decision and live with it but don't ask others to justify it to make yourself feel better!!

silvercar

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82078328#Comment_82078328

Why does using a student discount mean pretending you are earning nothing?

Student discounts (and blue light cards and others) are there to entice people to spend with them rather than anyone else, it's a marketing tool that businesses choose to use, nothing more.

highlander58

At best this MMD is from a sad individual who’s desperate for attention - at worst it’s just ‘ragebait’ - an intentionally provocative post designed to make us all get indignant & even angry.

And why ARE there so many MMDs these days that are either too vague to give a sensible response to - or are just plain ridiculous?
Either the MSE moderators are incredibly naive - or THEY are the ones trying to manipulate us all with these fake ‘dilemmas’. If we complain, they reply: “just remember there’s a real person behind the story”.
Of course being rude is out of order, but this just seems to be another manipulative comment to make us all feel guilty.

So - if this post really was genuine (which I doubt) - it’s perfectly obvious that the OP didn’t have to boast about being in top 5% earners; they could just have said ‘comfortably off’. That comment is purely designed to provoke jealousy & negativity. If they really did get this ‘student discount’, they’d’ve known it’s not a student discount any more. It’s called TOTUM & is available to many people: professionals, public sector as well as students.

Are you fellow forumites starting to get suspicious, feel uneasy, even taken for an idiot - like me? And who cares what discount this person does or doesn’t get anyway? It comes from businesses who are perfectly capable of deciding on their own marketing strategy. Lots of people get discounts! He’s not preventing others from getting the same discount & it’s not coming out of our pockets or our taxes.

MMD Moderators: please get your act together! Either start fact-checking these MMDs, or stop trying to manipulate us & waste our time!

oldtrout

Following on from the comments highlander58 made … the MMDs don't make me angry or jealous in any way, and I certainly don't allow them to waste my time. Quite honestly, I usually have a smile when reading most of them as I agree, there is just never enough information to give a reasonable response. I've always suspected they were made up, mainly because there is NEVER a response back from whoever had the MMD in the first place. There may well be 'a real person behind the story', but we are all identified by a username, and therefore it's quite anonymous. Absolutely no reason for the OP to not reply, yet no-one ever does.

Vitor

Plenty of surgeons and specialists on £100,000+ use a Blue Light card, so why not?

highlander58

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82079015#Comment_82079015

You’re sensible enough not to react - but plenty here do! I did once see an OP respond within the thread, but a long time ago now. This manipulation of forumites with ragebaiting is unpleasant, to say the least!

kimwp

It's just a marketing tool, go for it.

magicmoneyportaloo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82078888#Comment_82078888

Some come across as satire tbh. You might be onto something here.