# Financially getting worse and worse



## ci1 (16 Jul 2008)

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone could offer an opinion/advice.

I bought an apartment a year ago. 

I got 100% mortgage and its €1300 per month.
My car repayments are €250 a month
I have a credit union loan which costs me €200 per month I have nothing else, no credit cards, no shop cards.

I get my usual gas/elec/car tax etc bills which I pay as I get them. 

I just never have any money left. After bills etc I have about €150 left, I have bad back/shoulder/neck problems which I'm spending a lot of money on trying to fix, I'm going for physio/deep tissue massage once a week and its costing me €55. I do get some of this back from my Health insurance it is still going out of my disposable cash every week.

I spend €35 on diseal every week & whatever groceries I need, they would cost about €25 per week and that varies.

I have had no holiday, and I have not been on a night out in months, I don't buy lunches anymore, no luxuries like what I had before. These things don't really bother me so much because I know sacrifices need to be made, but I just find that every week I have little or nothing left.

I have gone to some banks looking for a consolidation loan for my car and credit union, this could save me up to €350 a month but I can't get one. And I don't have my mortgage long enough to get a top up.

I have extra qualifications which I have tried to put to use by starting up my own part time biz but it costs money to advertise and market it - money which I never seem to have!! 

I feel a bit disillusioned by it all, my Dad is helping me out whereever he can but thats not what I want.
when I moved in first things were ok and I thought it would get easier but its actually getting harder & now my mortgage rates are going up aswell.

Is everyone finding it difficult to manage? 

I'm on €45k a year which is ok money, and have been jobhunting but no luck so far!

Is there any light at the end of the tunnel?


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## Flax (16 Jul 2008)

You should be getting about 3k into your hand per month.

So -

3000
-1300 (mortgage)
--------
1700

1700
- 250 (car loan)
------
1450

1450
- 200 (CU)
------
1250

I understand you have bills etc., but how are you possibly spending 1250 per month if you aren't spending money on any luxuries?

Are you sure there aren't extras you could cut out, such as sky sports, lattes, boozing, etc?


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## Guest117 (16 Jul 2008)

check your maths Flax


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## Welfarite (16 Jul 2008)

What is your nett monthly salary? How much is your ESB? Gas? Groceries must be more than 25 per week. From the info. you give, you're vague on where your money goes in some areas which indicates that you don't really have a budget plan. Do out a daily budget sheet (see other threads in this forum) adn you will soon see where your money is going. The you can act on areas where yoy could cut back.


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## ci1 (16 Jul 2008)

Yeap, pretty much know what is going on!  There are other bits that go out that I didn't include in original mail.

Mortgage 1300
Credit Union 200
Car 250
Life Cover 33
Sky 22
VHI 55
Car Insurance 48
Gym 40
Total 1948

Maybe the gym is a luxury but its the only think I do during the week beside work, and I have a basic sky box which is the €22. Where I live its the only option.  

My take home is €2927 take away my outgoings of €1948 leaves me with €979.  On a weekly basis that is €244.

Petrol €35
Groceries €30 (average, sometimes more depending on the week)
Physio €55
Elec €20
Gas €20
total €160

I'm left with €84 per week which seems to go nowhere. 

suppose I'll have to just make it go somewhere!!


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## ClubMan (16 Jul 2008)

I don't understand. You seem to be covering your regular outgoings including, some that I would consider luxuries or at least discretionary items, and have a little left over. What's the problem? I certainly don't see how the thread title reflects your situation as described above!


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## niceoneted (16 Jul 2008)

Have you a spare room that you could rent out for 6 -12 months. This might allow you to get some savings together and or clear the loans.


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## Guest117 (16 Jul 2008)

ci1

i don,t see many luxuries here that you can cut out. The loans are your biggest outgoing but if banks will not consolidate them then no scope there.

Any further interest rate increase will be painful

Only suggestion I have ( other than renting a room ) is to get a part time job - maybe one night at weekend bartending or similar that gives you some social interaction and might be enjoyable if you are lucky and can get a job where some friends socialise.

Finally - take the advice given in other threads and make sure that you keep talking to your bank if you do miss a repayment for some reason. Also don't be too proud to accept help from your dad - speaking as one I believe that seeing you in financial trouble will bother him more than helping out now and then


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## ClubMan (16 Jul 2008)

badge55 said:


> i don,t see many luxuries here taht you can cut out.


_Sky_, gym, switch from car to moped perhaps etc.?


> Also don't be too proud to accept hepl from your dad


But don't depend on this either as it's probably not sustainable or fair.

Life cover (mortgage protection life assurance?) of €33 p.m. sounds high on the face of it for a single person? Can you get cheaper or is it high because of a high mortgage amount, long term, personal circumstances (e.g. loading for smoker or health issues?)?

Is your lender the most competitive available to you and your circumstances?

Are you claiming all relevant tax credits/allowances this year and for the previous 4 tax years?


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## Guest117 (16 Jul 2008)

Clubman is right - you should give up the gym and become a couch potato - a sad one without any TV to watch - sod it you should probably sell the couch as well !!


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## Flax (16 Jul 2008)

If you have back/neck/shoulder problems, you could probably help get rid of these by getting rid of the gym and jogging instead. Even if you keep the gym, you have €84 spare per week, which is over 4k in savings per year.

As a single homeowner, you're not doing so bad.


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## ci1 (16 Jul 2008)

Thanks for the replies.

I have put an advert in a local paper for a room to rent but I live a fair bit outside Dublin so have not got many enquiries.

Will look into the part time thing.


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## ClubMan (16 Jul 2008)

badge55 said:


> Clubman is right - you should give up the gym and become a couch potato - a sad one without any TV to watch - sod it you should probably sell the couch as well !!


You don't need gym membership to get exercise. 

I never said get rid of the _TV _(although the original poster could save the license fee too if they did). They could get rid of _Sky _and still get terrestrial channels or even get a _FTA _satellite setup for a once off payment of about €100-€200 with no ongoing subscription costs.

If you have any useful/constructive suggestions yourself why not post them?


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## theoneill (16 Jul 2008)

ClubMan said:


> You don't need gym membership to get exercise.
> 
> I never said get rid of the _TV _(although the original poster could save the license fee too if they did). They could get rid of _Sky _and still get terrestrial channels or even get a _FTA _satellite setup for a once off payment of about €100-€200 with no ongoing subscription costs.
> 
> If you have any useful/constructive suggestions yourself why not post them?



I'd agree, even after the one off cost for the free to air you'd still have change of e544 at the end of the year if you dropped the gym and sky


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## Flax (16 Jul 2008)

OP: Just remember that when your car loan and CU loan are paid off you'll have an extra €450 per month.

Keep the head down until then and you'll be fine.


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## rmelly (16 Jul 2008)

ci1 said:


> Elec €20
> Gas €20


 
Are you really spending €2080 on Electricity & Gas for an apartment in a year? That CAN'T be right.


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## noel123ie (16 Jul 2008)

Hi

Im in same position as you but be positive your on here discusssing your issues which is the 1st step

Noel


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## ci1 (16 Jul 2008)

rmelly said:


> Are you really spending €2080 on Electricity & Gas for an apartment in a year? That CAN'T be right.


 
Well I pay €20 into each account on billpay.ie every week so that I don't have to pay them in lump sum when they come around every 2 months.  And I'm normally in credit so Its the best way for me to do it.

Thanks for all the replies.


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## dem_syhp (16 Jul 2008)

As others suggested - go after the big items, increase income, decrease outgoings.  
However, much of the money spent is on the little day to day things.  So keep an expenditure diary.  This can be written or electronic.  I just use an excel sheet - just write it all down.  If you buy a lotto ticket, a pint of milk or put money in the toll bridge it goes on your tracker.   I then catagorise in to real essentials versus nice to haves.   It's great for focusing the mind, if I've spent 20 Euro on "treats", well I could have met friends for a few pints on that - was it worth it is the decision at the end of the week.  

Then do up a budget.  I know what I'll spent on presents, I've a slush fund for emergencies (when the car/gas/washing machine break!), etc.  Then compare it to what you're spending and modify either the budget or your spending habits as you see fit. 

Track your driving too in it.  If you need the car to get in/out of work - fair enough, but can you do your weekly shop on the way home, etc...  Work out your km per liter and know what your typical journeys cost you. 

Electricity/Gas - 20 Euro each a week is very expensive for an apartment in my opinion.  That's around 80euro a month, or 160 for the bill.  Goggle on energy saving techniques - there's lots out there.  Switch things off, change your bulbs to CFL's, etc..  check out [broken link removed] or the [broken link removed] or [broken link removed] web sites have information too.  Mine comes in around 20 a month for gas and 30 a month for electricity.  

You have no phone/broadband included in this.  I'm assuming you have a pay as you go? Ensure you track this in your diary.  

By the way - someone made the comment that groceries must be more than 25 Euro a week.  That's not quite true, that's roughly what I spend, and it includes 3 daily meals/coffees/cleaning products/etc.. very do-able if you cook!

Lastly - start saving to ensure you do have money for when something breaks.  According to your figures you've 84 Euro left - you haven't included clothes, socialising, getting your hair cut, etc... So start out with even 25 euro a week, or 100 a month.  As your diary get's going, you'll see you'll have more savings.


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## BoscoTalking (16 Jul 2008)

dem_syhp said:


> Lastly - start saving to ensure you do have money for when something breaks.  According to your figures you've 84 Euro left - you haven't included clothes, socialising, getting your hair cut, etc... So start out with even 25 euro a week, or 100 a month.  As your diary get's going, you'll see you'll have more savings.


 do it standing order into a credit union or some account that it is almost impossible to access - it worked for me big time!


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## GSheehy (16 Jul 2008)

ci1,

I think that you are doing fine and that you are worrying unnecessarily at the moment. Give yourself a break.

I don't think that you need to do this yet but; you tried the bank for a consolidation loan for the CU and car. Have you tried the CU for  consolidation loan approval, just in case you need it?(Or have I missed it above?)


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## ButtermilkJa (16 Jul 2008)

I understand if this is stressing you, but as suggested, I think things are not as bad as they seem...

Firstly, why go to the gym? Why would anyone pay to exercise when you can get up on a bike or go for a jog for free? It boggles me. Anyway, that's €40 saved per month.

Secondly, I know you explained your situation re putting by €20 per week each for Gas/ESB (which on the face of it sounds sensible) but you could easily reduce that to €10 each per week. I live in a 2-bed apartment and my Gas or ESB bills average out at €80 per bill. That's less than €10 per week. And I work from home so that's extra heating and electricity running computers and what not.

Those two alone will give you an extra €120 per month. You could use that to pay off your loans earlier so you can free up even more.

Have you asked your bank for a moratorium on your mortgage? A 6 month break would give you €7,800 which would go a long way to clearing your loans.

There is light at the end of the tunnel!


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## rmelly (16 Jul 2008)

ButtermilkJa said:


> Have you asked your bank for a moratorium on your mortgage? A 6 month break would give you €7,800 which would go a long way to clearing your loans.


 
OP, make sure you assess/understand the long term impact of this before considering it.


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## tink (16 Jul 2008)

Hi OP I think you are doing well for a single person paying a mortgage it isn't easy. I have recently quit my gym and am going for walks and bike rides, however I suck at going when it rains so I have bought a lateral stepper from lidls for 35 euro which is brill. You can also get exercise dvds and thats 40 quid more for drinking !! I find I feel better than I did going to the gym as you get fresh air.Also I have switched my phone from bill pay to ready to go, defo worth considering...


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## ButtermilkJa (16 Jul 2008)

rmelly said:


> OP, make sure you assess/understand the long term impact of this before considering it.


Yes I agree, this will have implications when the 6 month period ends (i.e. the repayment amount may be recalculated upwards) so make sure you are aware of everything beforehand. You may also end up paying back more over the life of the mortgage by prolonging it by a few months.


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## niceoneted (17 Jul 2008)

Tink, can I ask which mobile user your with? How have you found you have benefited moving form bill to prepay? can you PM me with some figures. I know this is a bit off topic but it may help others.


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## cjh (17 Jul 2008)

Regarding niceoneted's suggestion - www.callcosts.ie will let you pick the best phone deal if you know how many minutes you use in the month.


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## ClubMan (17 Jul 2008)

Maybe the original poster could address the point made by several posters including myself - i.e. that the thread title does not seem to accurately reflect the actual situation here and paints a much graver picture than the reality would seem to be? Seems to me that the original poster is doing OK which is not to say that additional cost savings cannot be made to further improve the situation.


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## BoscoTalking (17 Jul 2008)

ClubMan said:


> Maybe the original poster could address the point made by several posters including myself - i.e. that the thread title does not seem to accurately reflect the actual situation here and paints a much graver picture than the reality would seem to be? Seems to me that the original poster is doing OK which is not to say that additional cost savings cannot be made to further improve the situation.



Are these things not subjective? Even thought she is holding her own as regards her finances maybe its getting worse in the sense that OP would have wanted to be in a better place and have had more saved etc so in a sense staying still is moving backwards?

I don't really see how the title is so terrible myself.


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## ClubMan (17 Jul 2008)

pennypitstop said:


> Are these things not subjective?


Of course. But more than one person has commented that the situation looks far from as grave as the original post and thread title might suggest and there's no harm in challenging people's assumptions in such circumstances. 





> I don't really see how the title is so terrible myself.


I never said that it was "terrible". But  I don't see how their financial situation is getting "worse and worse" myself. Maybe some information is missing that would explain how this is the case? Or maybe they are simply mistaken?


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## maggie mae (17 Jul 2008)

i always found it good to calculate all big expenses comin up like car insurance, tax and all others i could think of and add 10 pc extras just in case over the yr. then open a regular saver account and pay in the monthly amount into it.it will give u great peace of mind to know ur bills are covered.


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## ci1 (17 Jul 2008)

ClubMan said:


> Maybe the original poster could address the point made by several posters including myself - i.e. that the thread title does not seem to accurately reflect the actual situation here and paints a much graver picture than the reality would seem to be? Seems to me that the original poster is doing OK which is not to say that additional cost savings cannot be made to further improve the situation.


 
Its getting worse and worse because I have just come off my yearly fixed rate mortgage with my provider and my rate is going up. Things in general are getting harder, I changed my car to diesel to save money because I'm doing extra travelling - diesel is gone up, my car tax is gone up, shopping and lifes neccesities are getting more expensive and my rise this year did not reflect any of this.

My management company fees came last week and they have gone up by €200 a year.

Thats why I feel its getting worse and worse...I'm finding it harder and harder to keep up. As are many of us these days I would say.

As for the suggestions....

I cancelled my gym yesterday evening & have taken dem_syhp's advice on tracking and seeing other areas that I can save on.

I appreciate everyones suggestions, and I'm feeling a bit more optimistic.


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## ButtermilkJa (17 Jul 2008)

Nobody can try and tell you things aren't bad if you feel they are. Obviously you are in the best position to gauge your financial status. Most of us are just looking at the figures and not seeing it the same but that's a matter of opinion. Glad to see you are feeling a bit more optimistic though. Hopefully things will turnaround for you soon.

Going back to your original figures in your first post...

You felt you were only left with €84 per week after all bills/expenses were paid. Now, add another €10 (cancelled gym fees @ €40 p/m) and add another €20 from reduced Gas/ESB instalments and that gives you €114 per week, or €460 per month.

To be honest, if I had €460 per month leftover to socialise I'd be delighted . Imagine how quickly your loans will be paid if you paid an extra €300 off per month. And that still leaves you with enough for a good night out once every two weeks! Things would turnaround a lot quicker for you.

Best of luck with it all!


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## ci1 (17 Jul 2008)

Buttermilkja, Thanks for that, and yes you're right. The amount is substantial and will cover my extra management fee charge, and increasing mortgage.

Unless you're acutally in the position trying to manage monies its hard for others to gage how hard it is to juggle and spread money around. 

Considering this is my first year on my own with mortgage I have just started to feel overwhelmed by it all, and feeling the pinch made me post my concerns and I have gotten great advice/suggestions from most people that have more experience & knowlege.

I plan to continously monitor and find out where I can make cuts. I've already started since I began the thread.


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## maggie mae (17 Jul 2008)

can understand how u feel, there is a hole for every penny but things will turn around very fast once you keep watching things and the loans are paid off. then you can concentrate on building up some savings

At the end of the day, you are paying off a mortgage and buying into the capital so it is not for nothing.

best of luck


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## ButtermilkJa (17 Jul 2008)

ci1 said:


> ...and I have gotten great advice/suggestions from most people that have more experience & knowlege...


That's it! I've been in the same position as you for over 3 and a half years and I've never had more than a few hundred Euro per month. Some months €0 ! But I've always looked at the bigger picture and managed to get by.

One bit of advice I would have (which I think has been mentioned already, and is similar to what you are doing with your BillPay savings) is to open a separate bank account for bills. This has worked great for me. Every month I calculate what bills I will have and then transfer a big chunk of my wages to cover these, +10%. That way every now and again you have a surplus that you can use to pay off any unexpected bills. Or just to use as extra cash on a given month.


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## ClubMan (17 Jul 2008)

ci1 said:


> Its getting worse and worse because I have just come off my yearly fixed rate mortgage with my provider and my rate is going up. Things in general are getting harder, I changed my car to diesel to save money because I'm doing extra travelling - diesel is gone up, my car tax is gone up, shopping and lifes neccesities are getting more expensive and my rise this year did not reflect any of this.
> 
> My management company fees came last week and they have gone up by €200 a year.


I don't think that you mentioned all of these issues/increasing costs earlier?


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## rmelly (17 Jul 2008)

ClubMan said:


> I don't think that you mentioned all of these issues/increasing costs earlier?


 
The list of outgoings is not complete, for example the following (may) apply:

Management Fees
TV Licence
Car Tax
Contents Insurance (if any)
Car Breakdown cover (e.g. AA)
NCT/Car Service (maybe every 2 years)
Gas Boiler Service (maybe every 2 years)

etc.


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## ci1 (18 Jul 2008)

ClubMan said:


> I don't think that you mentioned all of these issues/increasing costs earlier?


 
No, didn't mention them because they have not quite come into effect yet. Am not paying them out at the moment but will be soon.


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## ClubMan (18 Jul 2008)

ci1 said:


> No, didn't mention them because they have not quite come into effect yet. Am not paying them out at the moment but will be soon.


Well to understand and control your finances you really need to draw up budgets/plans that take account of all regular, sporadic and emergency outgoings as well as imminent cost increases which will take effect anon. The problem with "off the top of your head" budgets such as you previously outlined is that many people underestimate and omit certain costs giving them a warped view of reality. Better to keep a spending diary and carefully analyse previous household bills/expenses (working out a conservative average monthly cost from the total annual costs where necessary) before determining where potential savings may be made and drawing up a suitable budget and sticking to it.


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## Skinny Posh (22 Aug 2008)

Hi there, 

Just wanted to weigh in, i'm in a very similar situation to yourself and completely understand where your coming from, after all the bills there never seems to be enough and your more than entitled to your you time and expenses.  

I'm completely shattered from all the stress.... have a look through my posts, although there didn't seem to be the friendlies that you had on yours but you picked a good day.... I hope it gets easier for you.


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## rmelly (22 Aug 2008)

Skinny Posh said:


> Hi there,
> 
> Just wanted to weigh in, i'm in a very similar situation to yourself and completely understand where your coming from, after all the bills there never seems to be enough and your more than entitled to your you time and expenses.
> 
> I'm completely shattered from all the stress.... have a look through my posts, although there didn't seem to be the friendlies that you had on yours but you picked a good day.... I hope it gets easier for you.


 
Sorry, don't mean to be personal here, but you and the OP here are in completely different circumstances. Yor attitude here and the last post in your thread is very childish - you didn't hear what you wanted to hear and went off in a huff.

Last word: you are living beyond you means - no ones owes you a living or the 'luxuries' in life - you need to earn the money to afford them. Unless you change your attitude you'll never 'comfortably' afford to have a mortgage and children etc.

Can you say, hand on heart that the following applies to you:



> I have had no holiday, and I have not been on a night out in months, I don't buy lunches anymore, no luxuries like what I had before. These things don't really bother me so much because I know sacrifices need to be made, but I just find that every week I have little or nothing left.


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## truthseeker (22 Aug 2008)

rmelly said:


> Sorry, don't mean to be personal here, but you and the OP here are in completely different circumstances. Yor attitude here and the last post in your thread is very childish - you didn't hear what you wanted to hear and went off in a huff.
> 
> Last word: you are living beyond you means - no ones owes you a living or the 'luxuries' in life - you need to earn the money to afford them. Unless you change your attitude you'll never 'comfortably' afford to have a mortgage and children etc.
> 
> Can you say, hand on heart that the following applies to you:


 
Have to agree with rmelly on this.


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## net64 (22 Aug 2008)

Cancel your sky subscription.It will save you 22 euro per month.Admittedly not a lot but still 22 euro extra into your hand.You can still get the free view channells( about 50).
I plan to do this when my year is up in september.
Good luck


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