Working households - Living costs and lifestyles - what is essential?

scaredofdebt · 4 July 2018 at 12:29PM

My mobile is £40 a month on a 2 year contract, my old phone broke so I got a new one, I usually roll the contract on to a PAYG deal once the contract ends.

Broadband and phone is £70 a month, I have a fast connection that is necessary as I work from home once a week. The saving on fuel by doing this pays for about half of the broadband alone, ie ~£30 a month saved on fuel.

RR4353 · 4 July 2018 at 12:29PM

Yes, that's the next question - although I guess more of a topic with a few sub-questions, all feel free to answer only those relevant to you:

QUESTION 2
A) Why do you use Internet (and associated devices)? - work, keeping connected to friends/family, shopping, entertainment - as an alternative to having a TV for example......or a combination...any other reasons?

How do people tend to pay for mobiles/laptops/, etc. - monthly contracts or outright?......how does this affect your budgets?

C) Do people feel the pressure financially because of increased use of technology, services online, etc.?

D) Or feel free to add any other ways that the Internet has a positive or negative effect on finances - for example - some people find shopping online saves them money because they can easily compare prices - others say they spend more because they see more adverts, it's always open, easier to browse more in a shorter space of time, etc. [/B]

Thanks again

RR4353 · 4 July 2018 at 12:32PM

scaredofdebt wrote: »

My mobile is £40 a month on a 2 year contract, my old phone broke so I got a new one, I usually roll the contract on to a PAYG deal once the contract ends.

Broadband and phone is £70 a month, I have a fast connection that is necessary as I work from home once a week. The saving on fuel by doing this pays for about half of the broadband alone, ie ~£30 a month saved on fuel.

That's a big saving on fuel by doing that - do work make any additional contribution to your broadband costs?...or are you self-employed?

enthusiasticsaver · 4 July 2018 at 1:03PM

Internet/phone/travel to work costs/ emergency savings. Tv licence.

RR4353 · 4 July 2018 at 1:49PM

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Internet/phone/travel to work costs/ emergency savings. Tv licence.

Thanks enthusiasticsaver!

You have 'Debt free, mortgage free, early retiree, living the dream' on your posts - what advice would you give to others striving to achieve this?

Sapphire · 4 July 2018 at 5:54PM

Why do you use Internet (and associated devices)? - work, keeping connected to friends/family, shopping, entertainment - as an alternative to having a TV for example......or a combination...any other reasons?

Use Internet for sending emails to friends/family/associates/work contacts. Use Internet primarily for checking facts connected with the work I do. I have an aversion to social media (too much time wasting, brainwashing, trolls and so forth), so stay off that. Only rarely use the Internet for shopping, preferring to buy things from shops whenever possible (with clothing, for example, always prefer to try it on for fit to avoid costly errors), though do sometimes use eBay. Also have an aversion to ads (if something is advertised anywhere, I've always automatically been turned off it). Wouldn't use the Internet for TV viewing. View terrestrial TV and DVDs, don't take 'advantage' of the various stations you have to pay for (very rarely watch the BBC, since I don't like most of the content any more), and don't use iPlayer ever since you had to 'sign in' to do so. I do have concerns about people's private spending (and other?) habits being analysed, etc, even though they do not want this, hence my aversion to the Internet.

How do people tend to pay for mobiles/laptops/, etc. - monthly contracts or outright?......how does this affect your budgets?

Monthly contracts. As mentioned the cost of the mobile is small because I use it so rarely. The Broadband cost is also not high, since I don't use it intensively.

Do people feel the pressure financially because of increased use of technology, services online, etc.?

Due to the sheer mass of advertising being thrown out via the Internet, I'm sure some people do feel the pressure financially, and get themselves into debt by spending beyond their means, even though they may not admit it to themselves or others.

elsien · 4 July 2018 at 6:22PM

RR4353 wrote: »

As I thought might be the case, internet and mobiles, laptops, tablets, etc. are important to many and very much a part of daily life - is this for work, keeping connected to friends/family, entertainment - as an alternative to having a TV for example......or a combination/any other reasons?

How do people tend to pay for mobiles, etc. - monthly contracts or outright?......how does this affect your budgets?....what would you be able to do with the money if these items weren't 'near essential'?

Mobile and laptop for work, mobile for keeping in touch with friends family (texts to keep up to date rather than long conversations), making arrangements. I don't use the mobile for much else - social media not my thing. I don't do streaming at all so watch the TV rather than watching things on line and I don't have any paid for TV.

I buy the mobile outright, keep it till it dies, and the contract is renegotiated each year usually around a tenner a month plus cashback. I keep the landline and the broadband but again look at what deals were on offer. My budget isn't so tight that it makes that much difference but if there was spare cash I'd use it for socialising and holidays. Just getting out more.

pollypenny · 4 July 2018 at 7:50PM

When we both worked a cleaner once a week was essential.

Mnd · 4 July 2018 at 8:44PM

Our 2 mobile's are covered by £20 a month payment to Tesco, Mrs D is 15 of that. (Extortionate!) And mines a fiver

RR4353 · 4 July 2018 at 8:57PM

Thanks again everyone

Feel free to keep answering my previous questions above if you're just joining the discussion now...I will number them more clearly to help me keep track of who is answering what - please just note which question you're referring to when commenting.

So.....my next topic: personal credit (credit cards, store cards, catalogues, HP, paying monthly for things like insurance, car tax, etc. - anything where you pay monthly/defer payment, usually incurring interest, rather than outright for goods/services) -

QUESTION 3
Does credit help or hinder you (or family/friends) to improve your standard of living?....how?

Working households - Living costs and lifestyles - what is essential?

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