# How to save money in 'expensive' UK



## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

UK has the reputation of being a very expensive country to visit and to live in. I wouldn't deny it's not a cheap destination by any standards, but there are ways to make your pound go a long way. Some of my tips are well known, others less so and may be of more interest to residents than visitors. Please feel free to add your own hot tips.

Train Travel 
It has been said that UK probably has one of the highest regular rail fares in the world. If you just turn up at Manchester Piccadilly station on a weekday morning and buy an unrestricted standard class ticket to London Euston (one-way), it will cost eye-watering £164.50. If you want a return (roundtrip) ticket and avoid morning peak hours, it costs £81.60 return. But the best bargain is Advance fare, which is usually released around 13 weeks before travel and can get you a very cheap fare. For example, over a weekend you can travel for as little as £45 return, sometimes even less. Unlike other ticket types, Advance fare is only valid for a specific train service (comes with free seat reservation) but if you sacrifice flexibility, you can save loads. TheTrainline.com site gives you email alert of when cheap tickets get released by train companies: Advance train tickets â€¢ Get an email when they become available | thetrainline.com You can save further by getting a Rail Card. There are several types, for young people (16-25), for a group of family and friends, for seniors (60 or over) and two together (for any two specified people, and can be friends). The card generally offers a third off most fares, but comes with restriction on when you can use. Some can only be used during off-peak hours, in standard class only and restricted in Southeast England (to stop people using for commuting into London). See Railcard for details. 
For general info on UK train travel, read the excellent A guide to train travel in Britain | Train times, fares, buy cheap tickets online.

Bargain website
Probably the best and the one I use often is HotUKDeals - Deals, Discounts & Voucher Codes. Frequently updated, posted by users with valuable feedback from others. Also Money Saving Expert: Credit Cards, Shopping, Bank Charges, Cheap Flights and more is good for financial products (with useful forums for suggestions and discussions) and similar MoneySuperMarket - Helping You Make The Most Of Your Money

Cashback sites
If you register with one or more of these sites, you receive cashback on many purchases, from insurance, mail order to travel etc. The two most popular are TopCashback.co.uk: The UKâ€™s #1 Cashback & Vouchers Site and Quidco - The UK's #1 Cashback & Voucher Codes Site. You can easily get several hundred pounds per year in cashbacks. Combine with cashback credit cards such as Amex Platinum (1.25% after introductory 5% for 3 months; you need to be earning £20,000 or more) and Aqua Reward (those with poor credit record; 0.5% cashback).


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## Whatshouldwedo (Sep 29, 2013)

Great post, Joppa! 

As a pensioner I save loads of money with my Freedom Pass and Senior Rail card! But, of course, most of our forum members are not as old as I am! In London, walking can save money on public transportation. It is amazing to find out how close everything is in the city and gives you the opportunity to see the beautiful old buildings and historical sights while getting from A to B. 

I find life here is as expensive as you want it to be in many cases. If you are not prepared to shop at Primark, Iceland or other discount stores, then clothes, food, etc can be very expensive. If you are into designer clothes on a budget, TK Maxx is the one for you! Even Pound shops can provide some useful items though, personally, I would not buy food or toiletries there. Residents can shop around for good deals on utilities and mobile and Internet providers. We are lazy in that regard and tend to stick to what we have to make life easier. But I am pretty sure we could do better financially. 

I like to support traditional local stores as much as I can and find buying from a small grocer and a green grocer stall for our vegetables, not only helps to keep them going, but provides me with cheaper and often better food items. 

Let us keep this post going to show we can mix the true purpose of this forum along with immigration issues which are so vital to our members!


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## Water Dragon (Jun 28, 2011)

My most favorite money-saving discovery here is the charity shops. (For other Americans, these are like mini-Goodwill shops with a huge variety of goods, levels of quality, and range of prices.) I couldn't believe how many there are to choose from. We often spend an afternoon going from one to another. You can get great bargains on almost anything - love them!

We get our groceries at various stores, depending on the item and the prices. There are a few things we use that we only buy at Tesco's and pet food at Aldi's, but items we have no preference on are usually found reasonably priced at the discount stores. There are only 2 of us and I usually keep our monthly household spending at around 250-300GBP at most, including our cat. We are adding a small dog to the household this weekend, so we will have to adjust the budget a little, I'm sure. 

Another help is being able to switch energy providers if prices go down. I get wonderful updates on many expenses through "Martin's Money Tips" emails from moneysavingexpert.com. They also alert me when less expensive energy plans become available.

We try to buy locally whenever possible, even if the prices are a few pennies more. Our small village has wonderful bakers, butcher, flower shop, etc and I like to support them to keep them around. (We even have TWO charity shops too!!  )

For entertainment, we have cable TV and Netflix. We don't go out very often, usually prefer to invest money into our gardens and enjoying them at home. We enjoy taking picnics to the many beautiful beaches in Fife, so that expense is primarily petrol. Once my doggie gets here, we will be doing much more walking explorations of the neighborhood. 

I can't believe I have been here almost 2 years already. Today is our second wedding anniversary and I arrived in Scotland on September 27th two years ago. I love it here and look forward to the day I can become naturalized.


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## salix (Apr 27, 2014)

Water Dragon said:


> Today is our second wedding anniversary


Happy anniversary.

I've been marveling over the fact that we've already been married two months and I've used 1.5 months of my first FLR(M) (long time coming, we'd known each other seventeen years).


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## cersei (May 26, 2015)

Water Dragon said:


> *My most favorite money-saving discovery here is the charity shops. *(For other Americans, these are like mini-Goodwill shops with a huge variety of goods, levels of quality, and range of prices.) I couldn't believe how many there are to choose from. We often spend an afternoon going from one to another. You can get great bargains on almost anything - love them!
> 
> <snip>


I second this! I'm an avid reader so Charity Shops are a godsend! I do also like to pay it forward and donate the books that I'm not super attached to in order to pay it forward. If we had more room I'd be there all the time, I've seen some amazing furniture and records on offer!

I meal plan a LOT to save. I figure, even if I spend a little more at the butchers, if every last thing is consumed or safely stored, I'm saving in the long run. I try to make all of my lunches in advance, too, which saves time and money during the week. 

Club Card (Tesco) vouchers are great as well! We love to dine out and it's nice to have a freebie every once in a while thanks to those vouchers.

Hmmm...what else?

I guess during the winter, investing in things like hot water bottles instead of blasting the heat, but...I don't know if that really saved us any money last year. I'm forever cold so I usually had both going, anyway!


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## Whatshouldwedo (Sep 29, 2013)

Talking about keeping warm, when I grew up in the fifties, we did not have duvets (or much heating for that matter!) but duvets are wonderful! In fact I have had to change ours to a lighter one as we were too hot, even in winter.

Oh, and congratulations Water Dragon! So glad you love it here! I love living here again!


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## OldPro (Feb 18, 2015)

The best advice I see above is to make sure you get financial products right. In the UK, there is a big difference between the best banks and cards to use and the worst to use. Themoneysavingexpert website Joppa mentions is by far the best for help with that.

The usual question asked is 'how do I open a bank acccount?' The more important questions to ask are 'which is the right bank to open an account with?' and 'which are the right credit/debit cards to have?'

I'm always amazed at how willing people are to let a bank take money from them when a little research can show them where they can get the same thing for less or no cost at all.

You can also give some thought to the fact that this is 2015. Do you have a landline telephone? Why? There is no real need to have one any more but I think a lot of people still do simply because they always have had one. We haven't had a landline for the last 10 years.


Another idea is to get rid of your TV. The whole idea of having to pay for a license to turn on a TV is certainly outdated. You can also spend less than you probably do for TV services like 'SKY'. I don't know if there is anything you can watch on a TV that you can't watch from the internet on a monitor these days. Find the best broadband unlimited download package and forget the TV. Broadband Deals From £2.50 - Top10 Best Broadband Comparison - uSwitch.com

As for heating which is a big monthly budget item in the UK, look at your insulation, windows, doors, etc. The UK is not the world leader in how to build a home to conserve heat. A large percentage of UK homes are very poorly insulated for starters. Coincidently, there is an article in the Independent today on insulation. 
http://www.independent.co.uk/proper...conserve-heat-insulate-your-home-8467471.html

Here is a good list of factors to consider in conserving energy. Go through it in your home and see how you do.
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/consumer/10610.html It's a list from the USA but you should be able to convert any terminology etc. to suit the UK.


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## Hertsfem (Jun 19, 2013)

OldPro when people first arrive in the UK they need a bank account - any bank account! they can always change later. Remember they many have no credit rating so any bank account will do.

A family watching TV on one lap top is not quite the same as watching in a a 42" screen...


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## Whatshouldwedo (Sep 29, 2013)

Hertsfem said:


> A family watching TV on one lap top is not quite the same as watching in a a 42" screen...


I cannot imagine my husband giving up his 50" TV! He retired at 76, having worked hard throughout his working life! He deserves his big TV! We only have one however and I am more than content to watch my choice of programs on my iPad.


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

Here are my tips some of which might only be of interest or use to those who live in London.

Loyalty cards! I have lost count of how many I have. Aside from accumulating points for vouchers which you can spend in store you often also get additional perks like an occasional extra % off, pence off vouchers, vouchers for extra points or double or triple point events. Some of my favourites:

Boots gives you a very generous 4 points per £1 spent. Occasional points events usually giving you triple points for a minimum spend. They also send you money off vouchers and extra points for purchases vouchers. Occasionally you get vouchers at the till. They now have an app which you can download to your phone or tablet which is attached to your card giving you additional offers every month.

Tesco gives you 1 point per £1 spent. They also send you money off and extra points for purchases vouchers. Once they have your email you find out about some special offers and occasional get a voucher code for pounds off your online shop for a minimum spend.

Waitrose occasional sends you pounds off vouchers, you get a free hot beverage, free newspapers with a £5 shop (more at the weekend) and free Waitrose monthly magazine. There newest promotion is “Pick your Offers” where you pick 10 products and you receive 20% off those products every time you purchase them even if they are already on offer.

Debenhams has a beauty loyalty card where you get points (I think it’s 3 points/£) for all your beauty purchases. Occasionally they have extra points promotions.

House of Fraser gives you 1 point per £1 and occasionally has extra points promotions.

Let’s talk haircuts. One of my greatest discoveries is the Hairdressing section in Gumtree where trainee hairdressers advertise for hair models for everything from hair cuts to highlights. Haircuts can be free or £5 or £10. I opt for those who are working at a salon rather than a beauty school. You receive the same salon treatment as a full paying customer overseen by a senior stylist so corrections can be made if anything goes wrong. I’ve had my hair cut and highlighted at some of London’s best salons for a fraction of the price!

Museums memberships not only get you in to exhibitions for free but they usually come with several perks like 10% off in the museum shops and restaurants. Many have member’s rooms where you can relax, get free wi-fi and get a snack or a drink away from the general hubbub of the rest of the museum.

My top tip is sample sales where designers sell past season’s clothing drastically marked down. Granted this might only be of use to those who live in London or other UK cities. I am on all kinds of email lists for sample sale notifications. Here are just a few:

Ultimate Sales Guide: first stop for all the top fashion sales, offers, promo codes and sample sales - LynkU

Sample sales in London

London Sample Sales | The Music Room

I’ve bought everything from dresses, shoes, a dirt cheap leather jacket and handbags to suits, ties and shirts for my husband. If you go early you get the best selection but if you go late in the day they sometimes start marking down even more.


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## LS15 (May 9, 2015)

Groupon is excellent for saving money on a variety of things, from a meal out to designer perfume. 

You can look on your computer for their website or download an app to search for days out/ meals to products. You can also pay by PayPal, which is a big bonus for many people. 

Popular offers include massages, spa days, afternoon tea, short breaks in the UK (great for explorin), furniture, items of clothing and meals at restaurants. 

On my Groupon today, the offers include a £55 meal for two including wine at a nice restaurant down to £17, designer perfume and aftershave at about 80% off, afternoon tea for £4 at lovely local tea shops, a wedding package to be taken before the end of the year at a lovely venue including meal for up to 50 people at just under one thousand pound (normal cost around five thousand) and a sofa set with £300 off full purchase price.


You can get great deals on the every day to the more considered purchase such as TVs and sofas - as long as you check you really are getting a good deal by having a quick check around - potentially big savings.


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## Zara2013 (Jul 18, 2013)

Yes Groupon is great. Weekend away uk or abroad. Discount on restaurant bills, house items etc. BUT always READ the small print before purchasing. 

If visiting London buy yourself a weekly bus pass (£20) so that way you can hop-on and hop-off the bus any bus anytime without worrying if you have enough on your oyster card. Only use underground or overground trains when its mostly desperate necessary. .just top up few pounds for that journey. 

Saving money buying fruit and veg at a local market...don't go early as the prices are high.


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## AnOceanApart (Jul 19, 2014)

Groupon is amazing for everything from beauty products and clothing to housewares and outings. 

I generally avoided shopping at Tesco because of how expensive it is. Aldi, Lidl, and Iceland are the ways to go, and The Co-Op have a deal where it's £5 for 5 frozen items that will make a fine dinner and dessert. 

Charity shops and Primark are great. New Look and Peacocks often have steep sales on clothing and accessories. Pound shops, Home Bargains, and B&M are good for just about everything, especially when you're just settling into a new home or apartment. 

Also check for local carboot sales. The huge one in Measham is amazing (if you're settling in the East Midlands) and you can find just about anything there. My experience with carboots is that most things seem very clean and have been gently used, especially household decor and clothing, and prices can be pretty steep especially if you're approaching the end of the morning or if rain is moving in (I've seen someone selling everything on her table for 20p because it started raining, and my love's grandmother scored a box full of cute jewellery for that price).


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## OldPro (Feb 18, 2015)

LOL, Hertsfem and Whatshouldwedo, thank you for the laugh. Here's how it works.

You take a laptop and you output the signal to any size screen you want. It can be a TV or just a monitor. The only problem you have is the TV Police in the UK who go around trying to catch people who own a TV but don't pay for a TV license. You can tell them you do not use it for TV reception, only as a computer monitor but they will whine and moan about it.

Nyclon, if you want to talk about loyalty cards, then talk about money or a percentage of money, not points. Points mean nothing, they can give you 100 points per pound spent but if it takes 1000 points to get 1 penny in goods, then it's hardly wonderful.

Where we currently live, one supermarket chain gives you 1% back in points for every $ you spend. If you have their credit card rather than just their loyalty card you can get 2% back. Another supermarket chain have just started a new loyalty program and are making a big deal out of giving you 10 points for every $ spent. When the woman at the till asked me on checkout(we shop there out of convenience sometimes) if we wanted to join their new plan, I asked her how much money per dollar spent it returned. She didnt' know. So I asked her how many points it took to get $1.00 of goods and then did the calculation on a piece of paper which showed that they were in fact offering less than .5% back (.047 actually). Then I told her we get only 2 points but that equals 2% return, from the competitor. 

Ask yourself why most loyalty programs use multiples of points like 5X, 10X, 20X, etc. rather than saying 1%, 2%, etc. They are actively trying to conceal the real return you get, from the gullible.

A loyalty system can be worthwhile if it happens to coincide with your preferred shopping patterns but too often, they are not that good when you work them out in terms of MONEY. Forget points. Tell them to 'show me the money'. ie. tell me how much money I will get back for every pound I spend. A penny, half a penny, 2 pennies, a quarter penny? Then decide if it is worth your time to be 'loyal' to them.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Tesco Clubcard is a better scheme than most. Sainsbury's offer Nectar but conversation rate is 0.5%, half of Tesco's. And Tesco does flash sales now and again when one point is worth three or even 5. I recently got a Rail Card (worth £30) for only 500 Tesco Clubcard points, after spending £500 in Tesco. So that's a return of 6%.


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## Whatshouldwedo (Sep 29, 2013)

OldPro said:


> LOL, Hertsfem and Whatshouldwedo, thank you for the laugh. Here's how it works. You take a laptop and you output the signal to any size screen you want. It can be a TV or just a monitor. The only problem you have is the TV Police in the UK who go around trying to catch people who own a TV but don't pay for a TV license. You can tell them you do not use it for TV reception, only as a computer monitor but they will whine and moan about it.


OldPro, how naughty! I don't want any police, including TV Police, checking on us!


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## OldPro (Feb 18, 2015)

Got something to hide Whatshouldwedo? 

Good real numbers Joppa. Forget the points, 'show me the money' is what I say. I forgot to mention the real kicker in my example re the supermarket card we use here in Canada. 

We get 2% on what we spend in the supermarket. We also get 2% plus 4 cents per litre on the gas(petrol) we buy at the supermarket owned pumps. We also get 1% on all purchases we make using their credit card anywhere. So while that other supermarket was only offering us .5% with their loyalty program, we are getting 1% on what we spend there by using their competitors credit card. 

Then you can talk about 'double dipping'. We have a Shopper's Drug Mart (like Boots in the UK) loyalty card. It pays 1% on purchases. So if we use our supermarket credit card to pay for purchases there, we get 1% from each. That's 'double dipping'.


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## Hertsfem (Jun 19, 2013)

Try not to be so codescending! You said "get rid of the tv"


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## JoJo100 (Mar 6, 2015)

Even though I've only been in the UK for two months (thanks again to the moderators for all of their advice with the visa process!) -- I'm finding that Lidl is the best way to save on groceries. If you have a Lidl or Aldi in your area...I highly recommend for MOST items. I don't buy meat from Lidl -- but for veggies, dairy and other stuff...it's great and WAY cheaper than bigger stores. 

I do use loyalty cards for when I shop at the bigger stores (Morrison's, ASDA and Tesco) - but I only go there if I can't find something at Lidl!


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## teuchter (Dec 12, 2011)

Ways we save money here in Scotland:

- no Sky/cable TV; Freeview (with its 100+ channels) is *more *than adequate for our TV viewing needs 
- SIM-only mobile contract; using the aforementioned comparison sites, you can get 1,000s of minutes' calls; GBs of data and unlimited SMS (texts) for only a few £/month
- for only £5/month extra, we get unlimited *anytime *calls to all fixed lines, mobiles, 0845/0870 and 0800 numbers...only caveat is that calls are charged after one hour's duration, but that's easy to get around (just hang up and redial before 60 minutes are up)
- for £9/month (= £108/year), we upgraded our bank account to a 'silver' status: this gives us free travel insurance; free AA breakdown/recovery membership; free mobile phone/tablet insurance; free card protection and free overdraft

teuchter


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## OldPro (Feb 18, 2015)

Yes, get rid of the TV hertsfem, what's condescending about that? You don't need a tv if you have a computer and a monitor. The monitor can be a 50" TV if you want but you use it ONLY as a monitor, not to receive TV reception. 

Sounds like teuchter has got some smart things going on. The only issue I see with Freeview teuchter is that it used the tv antenna which probably means the TV License Police will insist you need a TV license.

Internet direct services avoid that problem. Here is an example. British TV Channels Online FREE - Live TV Online

Your bank account sounds pretty good with those perks. If you travel outside of the UK much I would look into a second account perhaps that provides you with lower or no exchange loading costs. You can compare the charges here: Debit & credit card charges abroad: full breakdown - MSE

Losing 3% on 1000 pounds once a year is only 30 pounds and no big deal but if you are likely to exchange more than that or travel more often, then over time it adds up to signifigant amounts of your money that you have given to a bank when you didn't need to.

UK residents are fortunate in that they have alternatives that can save them that money. Here in Canada there is no alternative as all the banks charge 2.5% on exchange. We are fortunate in that we have a UK bank account that charges nothing and that our cards (credit/debit) from that bank are the ones we use when travelling. That bank has since changed their charges but as we are 'grandfathered in' the fees they now charge do not apply to us.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Are you sure?


> If you watch or record programmes as they're being shown on TV or an *online TV service*, you need to be covered by a TV Licence. This is the case whether you use a TV, computer, tablet, mobile phone, games console, digital box, DVD/VHS recorder or any other device.
> 
> If you don't watch TV at all, or you *only ever watch on demand or catch-up TV*, you can tell us you don't need a TV Licence. Please check the frequently asked questions below and then complete our No Licence Needed Declaration.


 TV Licensing site.

Then don't as a policy check up on people who complete the declaration, by making a home visit for example, but what you are suggesting seems illegal to me.


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## OldPro (Feb 18, 2015)

The key Joppa is in the words in the first paragraph, "as they're being shown on TV". Do you know what 'catch-up tv" is? If a program is broadcast on TV tonight and you wait to watch it on 'catch-up' tomorrow, that's the difference. No license required!

Of course, they are not in any hurry to run out and tell people that their TV license rip-off that has existed for decades now has a serious problem.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

'or online TV service'. So if you are watching a 'live' TV programme as it's broadcast, whether via antenna or through broadband, you need TV licence. No if you only use BBC iPlayer etc to watch a programme later after it has been broadcast. The method of broadcast/distribution, whether by radiowave, satellite, fixed or mobile broadband etc doesn't matter. I know millions get out of paying licence fee by declaring they only ever use catch-up service and never watch 'live' TV.


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## OldPro (Feb 18, 2015)

That's correct Joppa. There is no need to pay for a tv license is the point. And there is no need for anyone to give up their big screen tv, they can just stop paying for a tv license or Sky etc. TV programing. It's available for free,you can watch it on your big screen if you want.

Which is a money saving idea which is the topic of this thread.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

But if you watch it live, at the same time as it's broadcast as per TV schedule, by whatever means, you need a licence.


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## OldPro (Feb 18, 2015)

Yes but you simply don't watch it at the time it is broadcast. You watch it the next day or whenever you feel like it. No more a slave to the broadcasters schedule. You watch everythign to your own schedule.

The only time anyone has a problem with that is if they are a sports fan. ie. Have to watch their 'footy'. Fortunately, I've never been the spectator type. But if I were, I'd just off to the pub to watch the game live on their giant screen and pay for my pint with the money I'd saved on a tv license and SKY package. 

What program is there that you couldn't wait till tomorrow to watch?


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

News? Weather forecast?


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## OldPro (Feb 18, 2015)

Nope, in fact I rarely ever look at the news or weather on the TV. 

I can get a more up to date weather forecast online and there is even one we use when bad weather is possible that shows a minute by minute forecast. If it says the rain will arrive at our house in 14 minutes, it usually arrives in 13-15 minutes. It's that accurate because it is taking the info from radar and tracking it in real time. It's also showing us that radar picture and we can SEE a storm moving in real time.

As for news, I've long given up on the talking heads they call 'news announcers' or whatever. In fact, they are simply talking heads that read sensationalist headlines, ask someone being interviewed, inane questions and provide very little answer to the questions of who, what, where, when and why. It's all about 'sound bites' and on to the next headline. 

So for news, I again go online. I've already done so this morning. I go to a couple of local newspaper sites as well as some sites like Huffington Post, Forbes, London Times, etc. Here is an interesting article on news writing and its future.
Can an Algorithm Write a Better News Story Than a Human Reporter? | WIRED


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