A shocked family who asked for help with their finances were told by experts they had spent £2,000 on one trip to a transport museum. Kerrie and Ian Fitzgibbon appeared on Channel 4's Secret Spenders because their household income has halved and they are hoping to save £35,000 for a loft extension.
As experts started digging through their spend they found a number of unusual outgoings -including the £2,000 for a trip to a nearby transport museum. And the experts pointed out the membership was actually renewing and costing them £2,000 - every year.
The Fitzgibbons, who have two children have a yearly income of £39,000 thanks to dad Ian's job as an IT engineer, the Express reports.
But their income is half what it used to be as mum Kerrie lost her job during the pandemic. Taliing of Ian, she said: “He’s a bit of a shopaholic. He’s got his interests but they are expensive interests. He still wants to get nice things as if we’re both earning but we’re not. I want to be able to save money.”
Amongst these interests are vinyl record collecting, train memorabilia, spoiling his daughters and auction sites. One surprising revelation was the family’s expenditure after visiting a transport museum. Kerrie said: “We went as a family once and it’s not really my thing so I was like ‘Get me out of here’.” Despite having only been to the museum once, the family had VIP ticket membership - which finance expert Peter Komolafe revealed was actually costing them £2,000 a year.
Neither of the pair knew the tickets were eating so much of their budget, with Mrs Fitzgibbon adding: “If I had known that would’ve been cancelled a long time ago!” However, it was Ian's auction site obsession that Mr Komolafe was most worried about, where Mr Fitzgibbon was spending roughly £100 per month.
He said: “You know what it’s like, logic goes out the window when you bid and you end up spending more than you actually intended.”
Secret Spenders airs Thurdays at 8pm on Channel 4 and All 4
