hungryhorace

In real terms, yes, as the fuel escalator was frozen. However, fuel taxes compared to the US (which literally taxes nothing / not very much on gas) compared to the UK (80% of your cost is tax) the difference is stark.

DebzinUS

I still miss that dry British sense of humor

Uncle_Bob

Another thing I do not miss is having to pay TV license fee. A fee that dates back to when BBC wireless was the only media source available. Seriously that needs re thinking.

Sally Redux

Cos it's all free here.

scrubbedexpat099

Even the adverts are free!

sir_eccles

Occasionally you even get to see a bit of the program in between the adverts.

Pulaski

And worth every penny we pay for it!

Sally Redux

Usually a recap of the bit before the adverts.

hungryhorace

I thought that as well when I moved over, but then realised that without cable / dish tv you're not really able to watch anything decent anyway so you're essentially obligated to take a cable / dish package.

Bob

We ditched cable TV.

Before we sent the DVR box back, got told of a new rate that actually meant it was cheaper paying for the TV portion as a bundle than it was without it, even if we included the cost saving of not renting the DVR box. Which is mental.

Uncle_Bob

well you are free to choose what you pay for is what i mean. There are many viewing options these days, amazon, netflix, hula, satallite, cable TV etc.

The TV license fee is to fund the BBC channels. Would you appreciate your government mandating that you pay a TV license fee solely so it can fund fox news?

I like the BBC but being made to pay for it seems like something that i would be doing if i lived in china. If its as great as everyone thinks then people would choose to pay for it would they not?

P.S a DVR kills adverts.

sir_eccles

The way I view it, not paying for the BBC means you end up with something like Fox News.

scrubbedexpat099

Or MSNBC.

I do not pay for the BBC, am I getting a different feed?

hungryhorace

Snap. I was just about to reply with the same. MSNBC is just as polarising as Fox News, and has a clearly liberal agenda. I don't know which channel to be more offended by these days tbh (probably MSNBC).

Uncle_Bob

There are a variety of news sources on the internet, I hardly watch the news on TV these day. I do love the BBC and would probably pay for it if they abolished the TV license. I just think making everyone pay for state run TV channels is bordering on communism. And they hunt you down if an address is not paying a license. In fact don't you still have to prove to the government that you do not watch live TV even if you have a TV?

I'm a little disappointed as an expat who has been paying a license fee for years to now find I am IP blocked from accessing the BBC iplayer (unless i pay for a VPN) and can not sign up for any kind of access. And yet on the other hand the BBC spends alot of time, money and effort making sure it services are available in all the languages in the world.