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TV Show looking for boaters to share money saving tips


Gabby_Boating

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A few years ago (before this latest series on TV) a friend of my Sister In law applied to go on a programme about 'Filthy House' as they were paying 'good money' to each householder chosen.

 

She kept Parrots and was readily accepted. They had a plan !

 

She had to move out of her house for a week whilst the crew set up for the shoot - this involved spreading Parrot poop, parrot food and bottom of the bird cage grit' and shredded newspaper all over the house.

For filming she was told to have all the Parrots loose and flying all around the house.

 

The final effect when it appeared on TV was remarkable - "Dirty, dirty woman, who could live like that " etc etc.

 

She got the house decorated from top to bottom and several £1000 for 'her inconvenience'.

 

Don't believe all you see on't telly, these 'factual interest' programmes are not always what they seem.

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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1 hour ago, Athy said:

Yes, I do live in the real world; is there another?

I take "feeling the pinch" to mean "experiencing financial hardship" or "having difficulty making ends meet"; this is surely an accurate description of the situation in which some British people currently find themselves.

I can see nothing "condescending" about the O.P.'s planned programme. I wonder if, for example, you would consider 'Gardeners' World' condescending because Monty Don is an experienced gardener who offers guidance and tips to people who are less green-fingered.

Gabby, who has been a member here for a couple of years, has approached us in good faith and should be encouraged, not pooh-poohed.

 

 

I think it is Gabby's underlying presumption that boaters live on boats because they are hard up and will be have lots of "money-saving tips" to which normal people are not privy, that grates with her original post.

 

In particular the bit about 'foraging' for and sharing food!

 

 

 

Edited by MtB
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6 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

 

I think it is Gabby's underlying presumption that boaters live on boats because they are hard up and will be have lots of "money-saving tips" to which normal people are not privy, that grated with her original post.

 

In particular the bit about 'foraging' for and sharing food!

 

 

 

I see what you mean, but I can't see why that should "grate". I don't think for a moment that all liveaboards live on boats because they are hard up, but surely some do: I think you have mentioned boat dwellers moored on the K&A who fall into that category. 

As for foraging, is there anything wrong with it? We have certainly picked up wood for the stove, and plucked fruit from hedgerows, along the towpath; haven't you?

   

   Anyway, participation is voluntary, and if some boaters choose to share their experience and expertise with televiewers, good on them. Gabby hasn't mentioned whether they would receive payment for appearing on the programme. but I assume that they would, which for someone who is feeling the financial pinch can only be a good thing.

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Thank you everyone for the varied responses! I didn't work on it...but there is a couple who live on a narrowboat in series one of the show (available online in episode 1) which shows the tone of this piece. It's just sharing the lifestyle tips that come with boating really! I know of course this isn't for everyone - and of course not every boater is tight for money! But I thought I'd share it with the lovely boating community incase anyone would be open to taking part. My everyday boating life naturally includes money saving tips - making your own firelighters, foraging, solar panelled electricity etc - and so thought it was worth a shout! Feel free to message me on here rather than emailing the contact in the ad if you have any questions :) 

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19 hours ago, Athy said:

That's a very unsympathetic view.

Some people, especially those on lower incomes. are feeling a financial pinch at present, and a programme which shows them how to live on less money is far from being "bullshit", it is positive and helpful.

'feeling the pinch' is not confined to those on the very lowest income. As Micawber said, "weekly income two hundred pounds, weekly expenditure one hundred and ninety nine pounds, result happiness. Weekly income two hundred pounds, weekly expenditure two hundred and one pounds, result misery.”

 

I have seen people living on 'executive estates', as they were once called, feeling very troubled when the cost of a mortgage they took out when affordable went through the roof. Watch for many more of these as folk have grown accustomed to very low rates. Many other circumstances can also lead to the pinch, most not the result of being feckless.

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8 hours ago, Athy said:

I see what you mean, but I can't see why that should "grate". I don't think for a moment that all liveaboards live on boats because they are hard up, but surely some do: I think you have mentioned boat dwellers moored on the K&A who fall into that category. 

As for foraging, is there anything wrong with it? We have certainly picked up wood for the stove, and plucked fruit from hedgerows, along the towpath; haven't you?

   

   Anyway, participation is voluntary, and if some boaters choose to share their experience and expertise with televiewers, good on them. Gabby hasn't mentioned whether they would receive payment for appearing on the programme. but I assume that they would, which for someone who is feeling the financial pinch can only be a good thing.

That is certainly the case.

 

But also I meet others for whom the lifestyle is the reason. We are not liveaboards but do spend large parts  of the year cruising most of the network at some time or other. For me, much of the attraction is in being much more aware of the resources we consume - you cannot just expect the tap to run water unless you do something about it most days - same with all the basics. I'd like to see  most politicians 'educated' in this way!

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51 minutes ago, Athy said:

Actually I believe he said twenty shillings, nineteen and sixpence and twenty shillings and sixpence. That's inflation for you.

 

 

'Shillings'? 

 

I thought they were some sort of rudder....

 

 

 

 

 

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10 hours ago, magpie patrick said:

And it was annual income not weekly...

 

I can pedant with the best of them you know... ;)

And because I wanted to make a serious point, not just to score one  I tried to adapt the original to nearer today figures as so often used in media pieces.

 

Try getting your boat fixed on UC in order to comply with cc expectations. Thankfully I dont have to but I know folk who do try, sadly too often failing.

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1 minute ago, Mike Todd said:

And because I wanted to make a serious point, not just to score one  I tried to adapt the original to nearer today figures as so often used in media pieces.

 

Try getting your boat fixed on UC in order to comply with cc expectations. Thankfully I dont have to but I know folk who do try, sadly too often failing.

 

The remark was addressed at @Athy but I do get where you are coming from - I gave up the unequal struggle with Lutine and sold her cheaply to someone who had money to do her up for this reason. My problem was I was working too hard to do the work myself and yet not earning enough to pay someone else to do it. I suspect that whether one lives in a house, on a boat or in a caravan there are a number of people who face this problem. 

 

Money saving tips are undoubtedly useful and I'm not that happy about those posts that poke fun at the Opening Post or ridicule the suggestion, but as an impartial mod no rules have been broken. There is also an issue (and again I have direct experience both personal and professional) that there is only so far money saving can go and there comes a point where someone simply doesn't have the money to get by, when the "just about managing" aren't managing any more. 

I am also aware of the double edged sword of these budgeting tips

 

 

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22 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:

 

 

Try getting your boat fixed on UC 

Some of the panellists may well have the requisite scientific knowledge, but could lack the practical skills to get the jobs done.

Getting the boat into a television studio would be problematical too.

18 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

 

 

 

Money saving tips are undoubtedly useful and I'm not that happy about those posts that poke fun at the Opening Post or ridicule the suggestion, but as an impartial mod no rules have been broken. 

 

 

My thoughts in a nutshell too.

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28 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

 

There is also an issue (and again I have direct experience both personal and professional) that there is only so far money saving can go and there comes a point where someone simply doesn't have the money to get by, when the "just about managing" aren't managing any more. 
 

 

 

Umm, yes, but most people could reduce their outgoings if they tried. For example, until the recent announcement of increased electricity prices I used to switch my computer on first thing in the morning and leave it on until bedtime - doubtless millions of people do the same. Now, if I'm going out or even just going to do an hour's gardening I switch it off. How many people switch off their car's engine while waiting at traffic lights? Mrs. Athy rarely if ever did, but our new car does so automatically,, so the engine uses a little less fuel. These, and other, measures may save only a few pence each time but, as the saying goes, look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.

Edited by Athy
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38 minutes ago, Athy said:

Umm, yes, but most people could reduce their outgoings if they tried. For example, until the recent announcement of increased electricity prices I used to switch my computer on first thing in the morning and leave it on until bedtime - doubtless millions of people do the same. Now, if I'm going out or even just going to do an hour's gardening I switch it off. How many people switch off their car's engine while waiting at traffic lights? Mrs. Athy rarely if ever did, but our new car does so automatically,, so the engine uses a little less fuel. These, and other, measures may save only a few pence each time but, as the saying goes, look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.

I don't have a car, but I do turn off the boat's diesel engine if I'm on a lock landing and spot a boat coming in the opposite direction who has priority owing to the level of the chamber. It might be ten or fifteen minutes' fuel saved. On a series of busy locks it might be half an hour to an hour saved.

 

Someone will now come along and say that's a bad idea because of...

Edited by Puffling
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On 22/06/2022 at 11:02, MtB said:

 

 

I think it is Gabby's underlying presumption that boaters live on boats because they are hard up and will be have lots of "money-saving tips" to which normal people are not privy, that grates with her original post.

 

In particular the bit about 'foraging' for and sharing food!

 

 

 

On our first ever trip on a narrowboat we foraged on our way up the Stratford canal, and made a blackberry and apple pie.

I think we eat the lot though.

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57 minutes ago, Stilllearning said:

On our first ever trip on a narrowboat we foraged on our way up the Stratford canal, and made a blackberry and apple pie.

I think we eat the lot though.

 

Ah but did you do that to save money?! Is is a good money-saving tip?

 

Did you forage the flour and the sugar too? 

 

 

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19 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

 

Field-lifting! 

 

 

 

Not many opportunities to glean wheat these days, and sugar cane requires a trip to the Caribbean. Sugar beet needs processing which would be beyond facilities found on boats. 

Obviously a goat would provide nearly everything one needs,  and she can do the foraging for you. 

 

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My understanding is that the vast majority of wear in an engine, happens when it is started. To maximise the life of a diesel engine, it is best to keep it ticking over at constant speed and avoid unnecessary stopping and starting.

 

The Napier engines fitted to the Intercity 125 trains were basically marine engines, designed be run at constant revs for hours on end. The original Intercity 125 design concept was for express trains that would likewise run for long distances without stopping. When they were used on Western Region, they started to be used on services with relatively frequent stops, and the thermal stresses caused by frequent alternations between running flat out and tickover at stations, lead to cylinder head leakage, necessitating a revised cylinder head design that could cope with the frequent thermal expansions and contractions.

 

I applied the same principle when designing my central heating system, where the pump runs continuously in heating mode during the timed heating cycle. Every room has its own thermostatic radiator valve,,so there is no wall thermostat. Our present pump is more than 15 years old, and is used daily  throughout the year as our hot water cylinder is also pumped.  The pump is in the airing cupboard, so the small amount of electricity consumed,  helps to keep the cupboard warm.  The previous pump only failed after a similar service life because the "O" ring seal of the rotor inspection plug failed, allowing water to get into the motor windings and cause a short circuit. 

Edited by Ronaldo47
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