A frugal life is an easy life!

A broadband tax of 50p per month was to be brought in to pay for "Super fast broadband" as part of the previous government's digital white paper.

A new goverment takes office, then proceed to scrap the new 50p per month tax!
Hurrah!

I received a letter yesterday from BT - the only company we are able to rent our line from in our area - who opposed the new broadband tax, they now inform me that they are INCREASING the cost of our line rental by 50p per month.
This is not a "new tax" nor is it a government plan, it will result in more profits for BT who own our line!

BT were kind enough to give an explanation on their letter, it read as follows;

        "We appreciate it's not the kind of news you'll welcome..."

That was it!

Forgive me if I sound a tad miffed, but in May 2010, British Telecom announced pre-tax profits of £1bn!!!
That is £1,000,000,000 - or 1000 MILLION earth pounds to you and me.

Perhaps BT would like to tell all it's customers, why it opposed a new "broadband tax," yet it is happy to increase charges to customers by exactly the same amount, as the new tax would have cost, when these increases go directly into their profits?

I will attempt to list all the things that we - stay at home dads - do, during the six weeks summer school holidays.
To those working and having to go into work everyday, staying at home looking after children, sounds like "easy street," - as any parent will tell you, if only this were true!

DAY ONE - Saturday 24th July:

Got up at 7am, had some breakfast, then get the sprog up and ready for the day, changing nappy, breakfast, bath, dressed, etc. Got sprog settled and she fell asleep in her chair.
Finally got round to getting myself ready at around 10am, with a quick bath.
Then got the sprog ready to go out, loaded the pushchair and baby bag into the car before taking mum and sprog to next town to the butchers, for the fresh meat/cheese for the following week (as I do every saturday) - was chuffed today, got extra meat in and managed to get £3.76 off as the lads rounded the overall price down (you don't get discounts or fresh meat straight off a farm at supermarkets!).
From there, it was off to the next town, to pick up the fresh fruit, veg and fish, again this is for a family of four - involving parking up, unloading the sprog into her pushchair, then walking across town to an outdoor market, hand picking all the fresh fruit and veg we would eat and carrying the bags back to the car, stopping on the way at the fresh fish stall, where I am a regular, where I picked up three lovely pieces of fresh cod (Once again the price was rounded down for me - more discount!)

Once at the car it was a return journey home, 30 minutes putting it all away in the fridge/cupboards.
Had to wait for my better half to return from work, so that I could drive my visiting mum home (mum has been staying with us for a week) whilst waiting, I put in a load of washing and hung out the load that had just finished as we got back.
Then I fed the sprog and got her settled again as she had another snooze.
After a quick cup of tea, I loaded the car up with mum's case and assorted bags.
Home came my better half, a quick goodbye, and I was on the road to Sunderland, 120 miles away.
The time now was around 3pm.

We landed in Sunderland around quarter past 5, had a quick bite to eat, then round to my sisters (who looks just like me, but with more facial hair) to collect mum's dog. Back round to mum's house, time for a quick natter then back on the road, for the 120 mile trip home.

Leaving Sunderland at around 9pm, I drove through heavy fog and rain most of the way, finally getting home around quarter past 11.
After a brew and a chat with the wife, it was time for bed.
Quite a busy day, surely the next 5 weeks and 6 days of the school summer holidays are going to be easier than today was?

Why is discrimination permitted by the powers that be and various consumer bodies/quangos that we, the people pay for?

Age shopping discrimination:
I can stand in Greggs on a given day and pay 10% more than the person next to me, for exactly the same food, simply because the person next to me is over 65.
If you are a student, you are charged less than me by most companies websites, because you can enter your student number and receive 10-15% off.
When I buy car insurance, or any other insurance for that matter, we are charged more money because of statistics, ie, my age group statistically have more claims than another age group.

"New" customer  shopping discrimination:
If it is your first time shopping online with a company, nine times out of ten you are given a discount for using the company for the first time, whilst long established or regular customers are paying a higher price.
Insurance is famous for this, "new" customers pay lower premiums because they are "new" whilst existing customers often pay a higher premium.

Statistical shopping discrimination:
We, the people, have absolutely no way of influencing this type of shopping discrimination at all. A company gather statistical information, based on the questions that they themselves ask (by simply wording questions in a way that is more likely to give any required outcome) and then charge a price based on their findings.
Supermarkets are famous for this. They don't just put things on the shelf and try to achieve the best prices, everything they sell has statistical data factored into their prices.
For example, Heinz tinned soup - with a recession forecast to hit hard and winter on its way, the supermarkets pushed up the price of this popular product from around 57p to more than 80p - statistical data confirmed that in times of hardship, people bought more tinned goods (most of their named tinned brands went up) factor in more statistical data regarding more people buying soups in the winter time, once the cold weather hit three weeks later, people were paying premium prices for it, the profits on each tin sold went up by more than 50%.

After a month or so, "sales" came on, dropping the price to around 72p - this was still more than 30% higher than the normal price!

The prices charged using statistical data, have nothing to do with how much a product costs to the company in purchasing, storing, displaying, the product, it's all to do with more profits.
Insurance is another one - How has what I do in my job got anything to do with paying higher prices for my insurance?
The fact is, it hasn't.
It is merely another form of shopping discrimination, why does a civil servant get a lower price than a "manual" worker?
Why does a "company director" pay less for their insurance than a "civil servant" or "skilled" worker?
Next time you are getting insurance quotes online, have a play about with the employment section then recalculate your quote, it's amazing the amount of times it is reduced depending on your job description!

Existing customer shopping discrimination:
There are not many, but some shopping websites have been known to quote a higher price for those people who log in, on the website and then look for goods to buy or those who have previously visited that website, via cookie tracking.
Website visitors who shop anonymously, then log in when it comes to paying have been known to get lower prices,

Making regular customers pay more report

What, if anything, can be done to stop price/shopping discrimination?
By individuals, very little.
This is why these consumer bodies and quangos, that we pay millions to every year, need to start doing their jobs and protecting the customer.

If you go for a job interview and are told that you haven't got the job because you are not retired or a student, then this is age discrimination and illegal - what's the difference in being told to pay more for a product at Greggs, because you are not retired?
Or paying 10% more online when shopping at a website because I am not a student?

A bank/building society cannot recoup losses caused by other customers, by charging a set amount for their charges - this is unenforceable in common law - so why can an insurance company charge me a premium, based on the claims it's had in the past year from other customers?
Why is allowed to get away with charging me higher prices because I do a manual job instead of being a company director?

Two people living in the same house, with the same vehicle, with the same driving record. One person is a regular customer with the insurance company, the other person is joining them for the first time - why is it deemed acceptable for the new customer to pay less for the exact same product?

A price, wether on sale or not, should apply to all customers equally.
All that's happening today, is that we are all victims of shopping discrimination, where sections of the population are being given discounts and this is subsidised by the price paid by everyone else.
The powers that be and the consumer groups (that we pay for) are doing absolutely nothing about it!

When your new baby is about to arrive, the temptation is to buy lots of things and with the price of baby things going through the roof, it makes frugal sense not to go overboard!
Every company under the sun wants to sell you something, wants you to hand over your details for a small free gift, etc. Beware!

Here is my guide (a dad's view) of what you will/will not, need for a new baby:

• Baby grows/baby vests - I would stick to just six of each, 0-3 months size. Anymore than this is a waste, you'll end up giving them away in 3 months time. White and yellow are a safe bet, with maybe the odd babygrow in a colour once baby has arrived.
• Baby bottles - Just three of these with "newborn" teets. Mum breastfed here so many bottles were not needed, but even so, most baby milk products warn about not keeping many bottles pre made up in the fridge. Later on at 6 months old, the teets can be changed to accomodate the older baby and we just use two bottles now, to suppliment our baby's food.
• Muslin squares - Thin sheets of material that are ideal for wiping up sick, food spills and baby's face. I got a pack of ten of these, they are easily washed and dry fast, we are still using them now our sprog is aged over 9 months. A godsend, definately a must buy.
• Johnson's moisturising bath wash, baby lotion, talcum powder, baby shampoo, etc. - I picked up various sizes of these, whilst on offer at different shops. The idea was, to have a little cupboard full of baby stuff, to be used when baby arrived. Most of it, was a complete waste of time and money!
  Our health visitors and hospital staff advise against using lotions and creams etc, on newborn babies.
  Even now at 9 months old, we still only use a tiny drop of baby shampoo and a drop of moisturising bath wash once a day. The only other thing we use regularly is a bar of baby soap.
• Cotton wool - Sounds obvious, but you can never have enough. Next time you are at the supermarket, have a look at the bags of cotton wool that come in strips, not balls!
  Pick up as many as you like, they should be around 85p each and I got 12 packs in, they all got used up within a month. I still buy 6 packs at a time. A definate buy for new baby this. The advantage of strips over balls, is that no matter what the size of the nappy, the strips can be ripped to size, with balls you'll need to add some together.
• Vaseline - Each to their own, but for me I bought a big tub of vaseline and a big tub of sudocrem. We started using vaseline, then after a couple of weeks went out and forgot it. We had the sudocrem with us and used it whilst we were out. After just a day of using it, our sprog had nappy rash!
  We returned to vaseline and (touch wood) our sprog has not had any nappy rash at all since.
  One thing I would advise, which ever cream you use for baby's bum, rub it in well. It is a barrier cream and if rubbed in well, it will stop any rash from forming.

Other considerations:

• Toys - I would advise you go easy on buying these. A plain rattle for example, cost £8 at the early learning centre (now owned by mothercare) - you'll find that friends and family will buy toys as gifts. Save the toy buying for later.
• Cot accessories - Again, ease of wasting your hard earned cash on these, they are really not needed for the first 4-6 months. Musical mobiles are everywhere, we have only ever used one single elephant that ties to the cot side, that plonks a tune out when you pull its tail, and this was a gift.
• Cot bedding - One of the most expensive outgoings is a cot bedding set. With the end of cot "shield" for newborns, most important we found, was the cot sheets.
  Obviously, with any leaks, having only one cot sheet for baby meant a constant stream of washing and drying and putting back on. Get a couple of spares, cot blankets don't tend to get dirty too often, even in the event of a spill or leak from nappy.

I shall add to this post as my memory recalls what worked and what was a bad buy...

Logged on to Aviva's website for a simple car insurance quote... Here are the results.

Logged on to Aviva website, complete with "Two months free insurance" banners -  clicked on car insurance quote, filled in all my details.

• Problem number one - The website couldn't recognise my vehicle details, it is a small van though, so I rang the number provided.

After three options, I selected the "Get a van quote" option and spoke almost immediately, to a lady advisor.

• Problem number two - The lady did not listen to me, the customer.

I explained that the online quote system could not recognise my vehicle, to which she replied, "I will put you through to our website technical team!" - I told her I wanted a new quote and that she could just go through one with me over the phone, to which I was told, "But you have to go through the online system or you will be charged a 15% higher price!"

I was then put on hold whilst the lady went to check with her line manager that she could apply the 15% online discount for a quote over the phone.

After about 5 minutes, the phone started ringing and a man answered asking if he could help.

• Problem number three - The lady advisor in new quotes that I was talking to, didn't come back on the line after checking if the online discount could be applied with her line manager, lying to me and instead she transferred me to their in house technical support team.

The man explained that he was unable to do anything with quotes, as he was their in house technical support team for website problems and faults.
He then asked me for a quote number, I explained that I did not have one as the website couldn't recognise my vehicle details.
He then asked me again for a quote reference number and asked me why the lady had put me through to him!
I terminated the call with, "It doesn't matter then, obviously Aviva do not want my custom." I put the phone down.

AVIVA'S SCORES:

• Customer service - 0/10
  They transferred me around the departments as if I was totally unimportant, their advisor in their new quotes office lied to me, saying she would be right back after checking that online discount could be applied to a quote over the phone as the website was not working, she didn't, she instead transferred me to an in house technical support worker, regardless of wether that department could sort out new or old quotes, which they could not.
  Their in house technical support team couldn't understand why I was speaking to them, then he did not listen when I twice had to tell him the website would not give out a quote, before I terminated the call, he was actually asking me questions without providing any answers to my query.
• Effort - 0/10
  Aviva staff simply could not be bothered.
• Value for money - 0/10
  The only piece of information I got from taking my time out to call Aviva for a quote, was that those people who ring up and apply for car/van insurance, are charged 15% MORE for their insurance, than those people that apply via their website.
  The 2 months free insurance that the website advertises, was not mentioned a single time.

Whilst filling out the online quote, there was a checkbox option, to "opt out" of having Aviva's other companies send me, via email and post, other products that they deem I might want to buy - when I rang them up, the automated voice declared that Aviva would pass on my details to other companies that they owned, without being able to opt-out, which I suspect is against trading standards law?

Thanks to Aviva's lacklustre approach to having me as a customer, they have lost out on between £400 - £700 worth of business, had I got a quote and taken out insurance with them, they would also have had the wife's car insurance move to them, which would have been another £300 at least.
Oh well, it's Aviva's loss...