to think that owning a flatscreen TV proves nothing about someone's income

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Here is a flatscreen TV from Brighthouse

As you can see the APR is horrible but the weekly payments are fairly affordable. They are designed to be.

Now that we've established how people on low incomes can afford flatscreen T.V's, perhaps we can move on to accepting the legitimacy of people wanting nice things in their houses even supposing they have less money to you, or indeed different taste.

And then maybe we can have an adult conversation about the problems facing this country without it descending into a mean spirited picking apart of the minutiae of how individual working class people choose to spend their limited money.

Jeez

I know people who havent got tellys and I know people who have, they are a real lifeline for some people who are very isolated at home.

All I am saying is that is doesn't hurt to have a bit of empathy in understanding what makes someone get a TV from brighthouse or similar, rather than just calling people "Stupid"

Sometimes the TV meter (pound to watch, in a box) is set up so that you pay that way for everything you rent - washing machine, cooker, fridge. And the only version available to rent is a thin one (what do we call them now then? LCD TVs?).

I'm fucking poor too, which is why I got my tv from freecycle.

Thats called "having some sense". We can be poor and smart too.

I have a flat screen tv and I am poor.

I got it from cash converters. They put the tv aside for me and I just paid a few pound a week until it was paid off and then they delivered it to me.

I wouldn't use BrightHouse as apart from the APR being awful, you have to get references and stuff, seems like a huge faff.

The way I bought my tv didn't get me into any debt so I used the same process for getting my boys Christmas presents last year. Started paying little bits in the summer and by December had paid for their presents. I shouldve done it this year but never got round to it.

I don't have one, yet am on full disability benefits, so clearly loaded

I can't understand anyone buying from a place like Brighthouse unless it's an essential product, which I don't think they sell.

We have a TV that cost £60 bought six years ago. Our income is close to 6 figures. Haven't felt the need to have the latest gizmos on the market.

Lucky you had internet access then VirginiaDare, wasn't it?

Exactly, virginia' I have 3 TVs in my house, all from Freecycle.

i can totally understand how tv's are helpfull to people who are isolated because of many things both distance and financial.

and i can also understand how any credit even with a massive apr but very low weekly payments is attractive to people who have no other option should they wish to purchase a highpriced item.

i much prefer to feel nothing other than symperthy for any person in that suituation and aim my disgust and negative thoughts towards the companys who make so much money out of them

sockingpxie exactly.

Not lucky. It appears to keep coming through the cable as long as one pays for it, its not really a matter of luck, is it?

How predictable though that some unimaginative posters go straight from "massive apr conning loans are a bad idea" to "you obviously want us all to starve in a poor house"
Someones going to start wittering about goats in a minute, its like a new godwins law for aibu.

Some people are stupid, this is true.
Some people are ill-educated.
Some people don't understand how interest works.
Some people have not learned the art of deferred gratification.

Instead of saying "it's their own fault for being stupid" why not consider how lucky you are to have been born with a good brain and into circumstances where that brain was nurtured and educated and encouraged and looked after.

If a company is taking advantage of people then even if those people are stupid to let themselves be taken advantage of then it's the company that is at fault.

A couple of years back, my washing machine broke, it wasn't affordably fixable, and I couldn't afford even the cheapest new one.
I looked on Brighthouse, which was my only option, and whilst I could have afforded the payments, was really cross that they only had fancy pants ones, nothing basic, which was what I was looking for.
Luckily a friend sold me one for £50, but otherwise I had no choice but to go to Brighthouse.
I'm far from stupid, just don't have access to credit and live week to week as I'm on disability benefits.
I don't have anything else on credit, and wouldn't get it unless I really needed it.

Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert

I have deep heavy TVs from the charity shop and have no intention to upgrade. I have seen too often through friends what happens when you can't afford a brighthouse payment

silly really, large is normal for tellies bought in the last 7 years.

you don't make money selling them, so no point in getting rid when the OH got the shove from work.

Oh dear, I haven't the energy to point out the crass stupidity (ironic, considering).
It just takes so much to puncture the bubble of self-righteous smugness these days in Aibu. I cba.

At least we haven't had "you can't be that poor if you have the internet" for a little while.

My uncle always used to say 'it's cheaper to be rich than to be poor'. When you're rich, you buy one good quality item and it lasts for years. Or you buy it straight up without needing credit. Or you buy the largest possible size of something and get the discount (a whole sheep and a half cow, I think he bought).

YANBU to say that you don't need to be rich to own a big and fancy TV.

However anyone who buys a non-essential item (yes, a TV is a non-essential!) from bright house or similar is an idiot. They would be better served with saving for 6 months then buying the non-essential.

it's impossible to buy a non flat screen one these days!

you could, like, save a bit every week and then get one when you have the money, like most of us grew up doing. Some of us still do.

If being one step above financial idiocy makes one smug and self righteous, then count me in.

Ach, I'm on the dole and we have a 32" LCD. Bought for us by my dad when our old telly blew up last year. Which by chance was from Crazy George's (Brighthouse's old name) and lasted us nearly 15 years! I also have a lovely pink Dell laptop that my dad bought me for my birthday last year. I have a Blackberry that I got on contract when DH was working. I also have a Kindle that I won on MN earlier this year.

Have you thought of doing a column in the style of martin Lewis Virginia?

You'd be right good at it.

or in the style of