Living abroad tips and hints for money savers

seven-day-weekend

Merrywidow wrote: »

Hi there SDW. Yes I have been off the radar for a while. Had a busy Spring and Summer and lots of guests too. Spent a lot of time on another MSE thread supporting a chap called Mike who had been duped out of £30,000 during his house renovation. Bottom line is that BBC ~DIY SOS took up his case and in June they rebuilt his house. The forum members who supported him became "Mike's Mob" and eight of us went down to Littlehampton at the invitation of the BBC to help out and be part of the programme. We were there for nearly a week and had an absolute ball and we are all still friends. Programme goes out on BBC1 on December 30th at 8pm. Can you get BBC on your mountain?

No I don't know where Droopsnout is? I owe him a long email. He could be in England for Christmas or on his way. If he is 'en 'route' I don't envy him his journey. Last year was the same. He will be in touch when we sees we are looking for him. He has magical powers that man!!

Only BBC News and BBC Parliament and BBC 'Stream' which is sport, also BBC Radio. Need a bigger dish apparently to get BBC1 and all the trimmings.

My word, you have been busy and it all sounds good fun, but more importantly a good cause, glad it was sorted out for Mike!

I like DIY SOS, I watched it when I was in the UK.

droopsnout

Evening, all!

Almost missed my cue, there!

We Snouts are at home for Christmas this year, so no gallivanting. Just the two of us, so it will be very quiet. Had enough of the UK winter when we were over in Jan/Feb of this year. Seemed to spend five weeks driving around in pack ice!!

Mind you, we did have a sprinkling of snow here during the night on Thursday morning (IYSWIM). Nothing much, though, and it soon disappeared. The nights have been cold, with a good frost.

It hasn't been a particularly good autumn - not cold, but it has rained at the most inopportune moments, meaning that I still have onions and shallots which have not been planted. And the veggie patch hasn't had its second ploughing with the tractor.

Mrs Snout had a week with our daughter recently, so we have got a bit behind with our Christmas decorating, but we are almost there now. My lessons have finished till the New Year, so I can relax. Just the tourist office to take me away from the house (Tuesday and Thursday this coming week).

Nice to know that s-d-w is back in Spain, and a pleasure to see Mw back on the thread. And DG is back in Spain in Jan. So, we must be set for winter, then. All is well with the world. Pity carrots isn't around. Haven't heard from her in ages. Hello again to chalky 75, gallygirl and anyone else who is looking!

sandy2_2

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Only BBC News and BBC Parliament and BBC 'Stream' which is sport, also BBC Radio. Need a bigger dish apparently to get BBC1 and all the trimmings.snip

If you have broad band connection you might want to have a look at this site
http://www.expatshield.com/
It might help you watch BBC iplayer

Sandy

droopsnout

Yes, I have been using Expat Shield for a few months now, and it is very effective.

If you install it, you may find it slightly scary at first, as your computer suddenly starts loading up one particular page unexpectedly, a banner ad appears at the top of each page, and you think may have a virus or something dreadful. The fact is that it is Expat Shield that is doing it, but it is not malware of any kind. It is free software, and the ads are the way that the publishers make a few bob. It can sometimes get on your nerves just a little, but as far as I am aware (after checking with reliable programs) it is not putting anything nasty onto your computer - and when you are not running it, the ads stop.

In any case, the ads have never spoilt my enjoyment of anything on iPlayer.

It's worth mentioning, too, that it is not only iPlayer which becomes accessible through this program. Other broadcasters' catch-up services are also yours for free. And if there are other sites which do not permit you to enter because you are abroad, you will be able to get onto those, too.

It works by making it look like your computer is located in the UK - in my case, I always appear to be on the Isle of Man. Not sure if it is the same for everyone. This is done by assigning you a different IP address. As soon as you stop using the program, your usual IP address is re-established, and you just carry on as normal.

If you don't have a friend or relative who knows how to enable you to log on to their system in the UK, Expat Shield is an easy and effective answer. Highly recommended, and thank you to sandy2 for mentioning it.

droopsnout

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

broken my arm

Sorry to read that, Sue.

Hope you are recovering quickly. And that the arm can still raise a festive glass.

seven-day-weekend

sandy2 wrote: »

If you have broad band connection you might want to have a look at this site
http://www.expatshield.com/
It might help you watch BBC iplayer

Sandy

We don't have broadband. Dial-up only. Telefonica say no.

We call it Muleband.

Elly_May

Hi Everyone!

I'm still here too, lurking in the background, when we're not too busy sorting out everything for our move over to Spain at beginning of January. All being well we should arrive the same time as you Gallygirl (6 Jan).

Just hoping that this bad weather will have subsided by the time we start our drive over on the 3rd, so please keep your fingers (& toes) crossed for us!

Keep safe & warm everyone.

Elly May

Savvy_Sue

droopsnout wrote: »

Sorry to read that, Sue.

Hope you are recovering quickly. And that the arm can still raise a festive glass.

's'ok, it's the left arm, and the hand still functions, just not allowed very far from my body! but it's a good job I am practically teetotal because drink doesn't mix with the drugs. however poor DH can't drink either, because he has to drive.

I have another 3 weeks at least of the arm-tied-to-body sling, then I see the shoulder expert again.

and it's technically no longer broken, because what I actually did was smash the ball of the shoulder joint, at the top of my humerus, into so many teeny bits that he had to do a half shoulder replacement! so I have a bionic half shoulder.

I was eyeing up shoulder of lamb the other day but didn't fancy it, used to be a fave ...

oh, and physio starts Wednesday: I anticipate pain! :eek:

droopsnout

It all sounds very painful. Poor you.

Good luck with the physio.

I've just this moment decided to stop whingeing about my little aches and pains ...

donny-gal

Thanks for that Sandy2, will give it a try when I get to Spain and see if Telefonica allow it to be used on their BB. I tried dial up, but lost the will to live, so decided it was worth paying in the long run. DS you could have shared that earlier!;)

Boy 3 of us arriving in Spain within a couple of days!! Just trying to sort out my next two dates due to having Eurotunnel vouchers to book the crossing with before they reduced them to 3x from 4x:D

Still wrapping presents though DH is helping, and still sorting out paperwork but getting rid of loads once scanned, so will not be so bad in the future I keep telling myself.

DG