in thinking that whenever you mention on here money is a bit tight people are just too quick to say 'get rid of your broadband'

[DisenchantedPlusBump]

I mean we SAVE money because of it, we don't drive and have to do shopping over the internet, usually using free delivery codes or discount codes and if I didn't then I would have to spend £7 on the bus and struggle with all the bags, kids ect....

The amount of times Ive needed something and saw it for £xxx amount in the shops then gone online and found it for HALF that and ordered it is unreal!

And besides, broadband isn't THAT expensive anymore is it??

I mean we get it as a package with Tv, phone line and calls, and in reality if we DID cancell that package and pay seperatly for calls, line rental and TV it would probably cost the SAME we would just be sat here without the net!

Anyway, my broadband is £2.50 a month. So ner ner ner

Actually, access to information via computers is now one of the key issues separating the developed from the developing world tmmj. That is why very cheap computers have been created for sale only in the developing world.

I've been selling all my old baby stuff in the local paper it's just been sitting there and it gets me money for stuff that is gathering dust so YEAY!

Santa brought me my laptop at christmas so I'm lucky

SheSellsSeashellsByTheSeashore £9 a month plus a few hundred quid for your PC/laptop could certainly help.

DP sold bits from one of his PC's the other day and got £250+ for them.

Also, not using the comp would cut down your electric bill.

It isn;t just MN is it? I pay all my bills over the internet (saves on phone costs and trips to the bank), shop online, do work and career related stuff online, read the news (no need to buy paper) et.c etc. Increasingly, the government and other instititions assume you have online access (which can make life very difficult for some people). The social element comes waaay down the list for me.

Oh and DH needs it for his job (he's freelance) so def not a luxury for us.

If I had a car I'd join one of those advertising things where you get £200 a month for having a sticker on your car.

also IIRC one of the factors in calculating poverty in the UK - if you don't have access you are severely disadvantaged (and not everyone can travel to their local library for example)

interesting article here re the global situation

ksghome.harvard.edu/~pnorris/Acrobat/psa2000dig.pdf

I lived in a pretty rough area of Glasgow when I was younger and in 2001 our area was given free pc's(even though we had one already)and a years internet connection to give people the chance so if they are actually giving them to poorer communities then is it really a luxury? The government obviously thinks they are useful for families to have.

Effie, using it for work-related things makes it more of a necessity but the rest is convenience.
It may not be convenient to go to the bank but may also be more cost effective.

For me, it wouldn't as town is so far away it would cost my broadband subs just to get there and back but for some it would, it's obviously dependant on all sorts of factors but I can think of friends who only use the internet for social aspects so losing it would save them money.

Lol at Broadband being a necessity, my dh has never ever used it ever!! Can you believe that!

He's never had a mobile phone or a credit card either...what a dinosaur

Whether it is personally cost saving or not, to suggest that Broadband is a luxury that the poorer individuals in our communities can do without is a preposterous ostracisation exercise.

Of course it isn't.
If you need money to feed your children you go back to basics.
If it's food V's Internet I don't see how there can be any question.

VS of course we would rather eat but how do you get out of a contract? If you need to pay you need to pay dont you? OH is confusing!

That came out wrong! LOL

Obviously we still buyy food but what I mean is if you can still buy food but are skint in some other way how do you escape a contract?

Most companies will cancel a contract if you call them.
Also most companies contracts are only for 12 months so once that 12 months is up you can cancel at any time with 30 days notice.
But even if you had to pay for the broadband you could make money on selling the computer and save money on the electric so it would save you money even if you couldn't get out of the contract.

Most companies will cancel a contract if you call them.
Also most companies contracts are only for 12 months so once that 12 months is up you can cancel at any time with 30 days notice.
But even if you had to pay for the broadband you could make money on selling the computer and save money on the electric so it would save you money even if you couldn't get out of the contract.

All I'm saying is it shouldn't be seen as a luxury in the same way a wide screen TV might be. Internet is part of essential modern technology and this is recognised across the board from GP surgeries to Job application systems.

Bit like cars, still a 'luxury' but cheaper than the bus in reality.

I hesitate to say we are "poor" but we are not well off. We don't have broadband. But I do use the internet from work. I guess if I couldn't do that then maybe we would think about getting it at home.

My contract is 18 months and cost £150 to get out of. But I have no intention of getting rid of my Broadband TBH. I use it for too much and I probably save enough money using it to cover the costs of it. Bought DP an Mp3 player and DVD for bday and saved £50 by getting it online so more than pays for itself this month.

£150 to get out of?
Who on earth are you with? How much is your broadband per month?
I'm not suggesting you get rid of the broadband by the way, just talking hypothetically!

Someone actually said this to me on a thread where i was distraught about our lack of money and financial problems . They just said "why don't you sell your computor" - obviously meaning that if i were well off enough to own a computor....... Yeah right, that'l solve all my problems that will - i might get £100 for it if im lucky, yep, that'l pay off the debts etc. Oh and then i wont be able to do any of the business admin bla bla bla.

It is hard having financial difficulties and yes, i suppose some peoples idea of financial strife is different from the next persons. Some people think they are in financial hell if they can't afford a holiday that year, some if they can't pay the rent. Tis all relative, but all pants really isn't it.

I blame Gordon Brown and think he should have given up his broad band yonks ago.

I am a stingy cow and though I do have a mobile so DCs school can contact me, I never use and £10 credit lasts me a good year or so. And I don't see the point of Sky when you can pay £20 for a freeview box and an old TV does the job as well as any of the new big ones.

But I do think that what you can save by using the computer more than offsets the costs of broadband.

Money I have saved recently by using the computer:

Got £220 back from Mortgage exit fees that wouldn't have known about if didn't have a computer.

Knocked £10 a month off my gas and electricity bills, got 660 tesco clubcard points at the same time (so £24 worth of deals) and also got £55 cash back by going via Quidco, so £175 plus £24 in clubcard deals. Actually it is more than that as get discount for having no paper bills which couldn't have if no internet.

Saved £9 on a Tesco shop.

Saved £70 on car insurance.

Got a £10 Boots voucher from Pigsback for free.

DH has had several £10 vouchers for completing surveys whilst waiting for his work to update.

Have knocked a good £20 off our weekly shopping bill by reading the Old Style Forum on Moneysavingexpert.com and from recipes on here and other websites, so £80 a month as a conservative estimate.

Have cut our electricity consumption by a third also from tips on Moneysavingexpert.com

Save 90p each time I bank online and don't need to go to the Bank where I would have to pay parking and petrol.

Have saved about £150 a year on our break down insurance.

Have saved money on fruit and veg as have grown our own following tips on forums.

Thanks to the internet I have worked out how much interest on the mortgage we can save by overpaying each month, even if it is only a small amount. If we can do it, this is going to save us a good few thousand.

And many more that I can't think of. We are OK financially and in reality wouldn't be able to get rid of Broadband as both DH & I are reliant on it for work so it wouldn't be an option to get rid. But if we were really skint I'm not sure I would get rid of it as I think it would be a false economy.

Also, don't forget that for some people in a dire financial situation it is information provided by other people on the internet about where you can go for financial help and advice, how to manage your debts etc, are they getting the correct amount of benefit that can help them through. I bet there are a good few MNetters who have got out of a tight financial spot due to advice on here and other places on the net.