Page 16 of 18

Re: Journal 61

Posted: 16 Dec 2016, 14:04
by Rob Houghton
Daisy wrote:There is no reason why anyone should not pay over the odds if they so desire, as Rob has indicated. Even a small extra amount would, I'm sure, help to balance the books!
I agree - I'm happy to pay a bit more, as I think The Journal is worth every penny. :-D If people want to pay £15 or £20 or even £25 a year, there's nothing stopping them! 8)

Re: Journal 61

Posted: 16 Dec 2016, 14:07
by Tony Summerfield
Interesting to read all the posts about increasing the UK subscription, but it is always a difficult decision to make. I had to increase the overseas subs as I was actually making a loss on every Journal I sent out, but that had quite an effect/affect (!!) as we lost many overseas subscribers. I have sent out every Journal since our first issue, and this was the first time that I didn't send any to Canada - there were four subscribers for Journal 60 but none of them resubcribed for 61. We lose 40 or 50 members with every resubcription. This time the numbers stayed up as 24 Old members came back (some who hadn't had a Journal for several years, but none asked for any back issues) as well as the same number of new members.

There are already regular forum posters who feel that they can't afford the current £10 (20p a week!) and I am certain that any UK price increase would simply send more away. Obviously if Royal Mail increased UK postage prices heavily I would have to do something about it, but whilst we can still break even I prefer to leave it at £10.

I should add here that a few generous people already send more than the subscription price for which I am very grateful. no names mentioned but they know who they are and they're (I couldn't resist putting that in bold for the benefit of a forumite who isn't a subscriber so probably won't see this anyway!) helping to keep us in business - but this certainly isn't meant as a hint! :D

Re: Journal 61

Posted: 16 Dec 2016, 14:53
by Chrissie777
Tony Summerfield wrote:There are already regular forum posters who feel that they can't afford the current £10 (20p a week!) and I am certain that any UK price increase would simply send more away. Obviously if Royal Mail increased UK postage prices heavily I would have to do something about it, but whilst we can still break even I prefer to leave it at £10.
Exactly, it's only 20p a week. No big deal! :roll:

Re: Journal 61

Posted: 16 Dec 2016, 15:18
by Carlotta King
It is to me. :)

My weekly budget is £50 and that has to cover food for the week, cat supplies, electricity for the week, landline phone, water for the week, household supplies (toiletries, cleaning etc) and council tax.
Most people couldn't do that. Most people spend £50 on one night out, let alone making it last for a week's living.

I dont have a contract mobile phone, nor do I have a fancy TV package like Sky.

So when I claim not to be able to afford the journal I genuinely mean it. I never have the luxury of a spare £10 to subscribe to the journal.
I agree it is definitely great value in the broad scheme of things but £10 is a fifth of my budget.
20p a week sounds like nothing and it isn't, but because I never have £10 spare I would literally have to put the 20p aside every week which means I'd have to save for a whole year to afford the journal for the next year.

I'm not having a go at you Chrissie, you're my friend xx
I'm just explaining to everyone.

Re: Journal 61

Posted: 16 Dec 2016, 15:32
by sixret
Thank you for the explanation, Cathy.

Re: Journal 61

Posted: 16 Dec 2016, 15:38
by Chrissie777
Carlotta King wrote:It is to me. :)
I'm not having a go at you Chrissie, you're my friend xx
I'm just explaining to everyone.
Dear Carlotta, good to hear from you!
No, I wouldn't have interpreted it a go at me. You're my friend. :D
And I never meant to hurt your feelings with my remarks.
Please don't take me too serious. :oops:

Re: Journal 61

Posted: 16 Dec 2016, 16:36
by Rob Houghton
I acknowledge there are indeed some people who struggle to pay £10 a year - but there's nothing stopping others from sending more if they can, as has been said earlier. Just because the fee hasn't gone up doesn't mean people can't donate more if they so wish.

I must say, Carlotta - you seem to be doing a good job of budgeting each week - brilliant in fact - as you say, many would think nothing of spending that much on a night out! :D

Re: Journal 61

Posted: 16 Dec 2016, 16:59
by Carlotta King
Thanks sixret and Chrissie, no don't worry you didn't hurt my feelings at all! :)
Rob Houghton wrote:I must say, Carlotta - you seem to be doing a good job of budgeting each week - brilliant in fact - as you say, many would think nothing of spending that much on a night out! :D
Haha thanks Rob, you just learn how to! :)

I've not used my heating for four years - my limit for electricity is £2 per day and that just covers my shower, my fan oven, and wall sockets for charging phone etc, and boiling kettles. If I used any more I'd have no money left! :lol:

I don't think twice about any of it really (except when people come round and exclaim how cold it is and that there's no big fancy meals, then I remember how differently we live!), but we're quite comfortable apart from when its below zero and that doesn't happen very often here! Its 14° today! :)

Re: Journal 61

Posted: 16 Dec 2016, 18:58
by Rob Houghton
My dad has always been very good at budgeting and we have never had central heating. I'm quite used to living in a house where only one room is heated. I think people are amazed we don't have central heating - and don't have double glazing either - so we are quite hardy!! I've always been used to turning lights off when leaving a room, and shutting doors to keep heat in. We do have electric blankets though. I'd rather have a warm bed and a cool bedroom. :-) We eat fairly cheaply too, and neither of us really drink (my dad not at all) so I guess you might say we're quite frugal!

Re: Journal 61

Posted: 16 Dec 2016, 19:13
by sixret
I have been fascinated by the frugal living. I don't buy lavish things except books. I love being frugal in some parts of my spending budgets.

Re: Journal 61

Posted: 16 Dec 2016, 19:27
by Rob Houghton
I'm very similar! I spend more money on books than most other things, as they are my enjoyment. :-D

Re: Journal 61

Posted: 16 Dec 2016, 19:36
by Lucky Star
Rob Houghton wrote: I've always been used to turning lights off when leaving a room, and shutting doors to keep heat in. We do have electric blankets though. I'd rather have a warm bed and a cool bedroom. :-)
I am very similar. I rarely use my heating, really only if it's freezing in fact. It absolutely eats money. I don't have an electric blanket though, I use an old fashioned hot water bottle. Nightlong warmth for the price of boiling the kettle. :D

Re: Journal 61

Posted: 16 Dec 2016, 20:05
by Chrissie777
We don't start heating before mid to end of November and run the heat as low as possible (62 Fahrenheit), rather put on a sweater and keep the head cool.

I'm the same. I always spent more money on books than on fashion. Books make me happy, fashion can't.

Re: Journal 61

Posted: 16 Dec 2016, 20:22
by Anita Bensoussane
We also rarely put the heating on. Not only is it expensive, but it worsens my skin condition. Besides, we Blytonians have to toughen ourselves up as we never know when we might find ourselves falling into adventure! :wink:

Re: Journal 61

Posted: 16 Dec 2016, 20:24
by Rob Houghton
This is true! We haven't quite resorted to torches or candle light, but we are of course well prepared! ;-)