SSE Customers Time To Move!

Alistair Phillips-Davies, CEO of SSE, was given 72 per cent pay increase last year. His pay went from £1.7m to £2.9m as the firm's profits leap to £1.8bn before tax But customers were told in April that their bills will rise by about 7 per cent Strange I thought privatisation of our utilities was supposed to be a great benefit to the citizens, HA HA WHAT A JOKE THAT IS. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4613676/SSE-boss-got-1-2m-pay-hike-customer-bills-7.html But who should you move to, aren't they all the same? Check out Ebico, it is a small not for profit supplier of gas & electric that works with Robin Hood Energy. www.ebico.org.uk.

Qmee.com

This site really does work, I checked it out. After you sign up a ad banner shows up with products when you do a search on Google, Amazon etc. If you click on something you get paid about 5 pence or cents. This can then either be donated to charity or downloaded to your paypal account whenever you want.

The ads don't always show up, but over time you can make a few quid, and every penny counts right!?

Qmee.com

Ebico - Not for profit energy company

Ebico is a social enterprise offering electricity and gas to UK customers. They are reasonably priced and HAVE NO DAILY STANDING CHARGE! This means a saving of approx 50p a day. So when if you go away from home for a week or two, for that period your bill will be precisely £0.

Other large energy companies have this charge so even if you are away from home and don't turn a single light on, every day the bill is growing.

It's amazing more people don't switch to a company like this one. They also don't hang about when it comes to dropping the price if wholesale prices change. WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO STAY WITH A MULTI NATIONAL CORPORATION WHO WANT TO MAKE THE MOST AMOUNT OUT OF YOU POSSIBLE??

Phone Coop Mobile

Good news. The Phone Coop which was a small co-operative operating in the telecommunications industry appear to have merged with the larger Co-op brand, so they will probably become a larger company. They have a good mobile phone sim card that is decent prices and can be sent in the post to you for free.

With pay as you go, you don't have to worry about big direct debits coming out of your account, or some shocking bill landing on the doormat. You can top up online as well, so once you pay you know you have that much to spend, so will probably be a bit more selective about how much time you spend on it.

More info here;

Phone Coop

Citizens Advice Bureau

If you are in need of advice about debt, benefits, baliffs, legal issues etc. You can call them or go to a local office. You can do a search on their website to find out where your local citizen advice bureau is.

http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/

Here is a short film from them about what their service is and how they go about it.

Amazon Price Comparison

The Daily Mail has a list of various products that are cheaper elsewhere than on Amazon, and point out that retail giant paid less than £1 million corporation tax on revenues of £4.5 billion.
In 2010, it didn’t pay a anything on UK sales totalling £3.3 billion.

Unfortuantely at the end of the article it lists various 'cashback' credit cards, with links to them. They say "Clever Christmas shoppers can earn hundreds of pounds a year by ditching their debit card in favour of a cashback credit card. "

Oh really, and since when were credit cards in the business of giving away money! Clearly this is just a marketing tactic to get people into debt and know that although some will get cashback many others will be giving plenty of their cash in interest payments! The real clever Christmas shoppers will use a debit card and only spend what they have, and not owe a penny after Christmas.

Shall we bother with Christmas presents?

Many people buy Christmas presents for friends and family and secretly wish they didn't have to as things would be a lot more affordable, if they just had to buy for children and closest relatives. The crazy thing is the people they get gifts for are often thinking the exact same thing!

But a silence prevails and years go buy and they still do the same thing. So, the only way to sort out this issue is to actually bring it up. It's simple, you just say 'Shall we bother getting presents for each other this year?' Theres a good chance the persons face will light up and will shake your hand on the deal before you have a chance to say 'Christmas sherry'. Some, might squirm a bit, they like the idea of not having to spend as much money, but they might miss the fun of giving and receiving gifts. If it looks like that is the case, then say something with a laugh, 'Ok, how about we just spend a fiver or tenner. I'm happy with stuff from the pound shop!' This could seal the deal. They agree because they still can go about getting you something as normal, but at the same time money will being saved.

Sorted.

Payday Lenders

The Office of Fair Trading has said that over 50 of the companies it has investigated in an interim report do not operate fully by its rules. The OFT says it is worried by reckless lending and aggressive debt collection and they are now investigating the debt collection practices of payday lenders.

If you are being chased for money by one of these debt collectors try not to let them get to you. They can be rude, nasty and sometimes quite menacing. The best response to them is to ignore them. Do not answer your door, do not engage in debate, just let them stand there. They have no authority to enter your home, so dont think you have to let them in.

If you feel threatened by them or intimidated then its quite simple - call the police. No-one has the right legally to do that, regardless of whether you owe money or not.

If you have a video camera and if they are damaging your property or are being abusive, or hammering on your door violently get it all on film.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20406659

Triodos Bank

Triodos bank is one of these 'green' banks. It only invests in companies that don't damage the environment and stays clear of weapons companies etc. They are what is known as 'ethical finance'. It is certainly an option if you are fed up with your high street bank bossing you about and slapping on charges left right and centre.

They had no bail out and seem to offer good customer service.

Their website is; http://www.triodos.co.uk/en/personal/

Ursury

What is ursury?

Ursury is lending money and receiving interest on the repayments, especially loans with high interest. It is as old as the hills and until more recently was taboo in Christian countries. Jesus overturned the money lenders tables in the temple and there is various quotes in the bible saying money should not be lent with interest.


Lending money at very high interest rates is considered 'ursurous'. You might have heard of Islamic mortgages. As with Christianity, Islam forbids ursury, so muslims get mortgages that have a fixed administration fee instead of paying interest. In general, they are now much stricter regarding ursury than Christians.

If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury. Bible - Exodus 22:25

Younger people under the age of 25 might not realise just how recent getting in debt was a real taboo. Credit cards only came into use in the 1970s and the WWII generation, brought up with Christian teachings at school and high church attendance were very much of the belief that you should not spend what you don't have and many would save for a new TV or holiday and would never have dreamt of putting it on a credit card to pay it back later.

Here is the Wiki page about ursury.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usury

National Savings Index Linked Savings

NS&I has reintroduced both index-linked and fixed 5-year savings certificates, with people allowed a maximum of £15,000 (minimum £100) in each. Savers will get a tax-free return of 0.5% above rpi inflation over the 5 year life of the certificates.

http://www.nsandi.com/

Premium Bonds

Premium Bonds are a good alternative to gambling on the lottery or putting bets on. It is a saving scheme where instead of getting interest on your money you are entered into a monthly draw with a top prize of £1 million, and many smaller cash prizes.

The bonds are backed by HM Treasury, and have been popular for decades now. One downside is over time the money you have in bonds can reduce in value due to inflation, and the fact the money receives no interest. However, this does not take into account you might win money along the way which can be invested into more bonds, increasing your chance of winning further.

So, although your money might slowly reduce in value, if you have no luck, at least you won't lose the lot like you do with the lottery and betting if you don't win. You can also cash in the bonds at anytime.

The minimum investment is £100 the maximum is £30,000 and anyone over 16 can buy them. They can also be bought by parents, guardians and grandparents for children under 16.

You can apply for premium bonds at your post office, by phone or online. Full details here;

http://www.nsandi.com/savings-premium-bonds

Britain's 5 Cheapest New Cars

The new Dacia Sandero car is proving popular at just £6,000, here is 4 other cars that are a similar price..

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/cars/article-2232885/Top-5-brand-new-cars-buy-Britain.html

'Poorest President in the World'

The President of Uruguay, Jose Mujica, lives on a small flower farm and donates 90% of his salary to charity. He says that mass consumption is threatening the planet's environment.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-20334136

Martin Lewis on Electricity & Gas Bills

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20351916

Interesting video from Martin Lewis about how the current set up for gas and electric bills means that affluent, internet savvy people are more likely to be getting cheaper electricity and gas than people such as visually impaired or elderly who are less likely to use switch sites to change suppliers.

Citizen's Advice Bureau

Money and debt section of the Citizen's Advice Bureau.


http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/debt_e/debt_help_with_debt_e.htm

Beginner's Guide to Money Management

How to manage money. A video aimed at children 9 - 12.

Beginner's Guide to Debt

A short video aimed at children aged 9-12 explaining what debt is.

Debt Advice Foundation

Debt Advice Foundation is a registered national debt advice and education charity offering free, confidential support and advice to anyone worried about loans, credit and debt.

http://www.debtadvicefoundation.org/

0800 043 40 50

National Debtline

Helpline that provides free confidential and independent advice on how to deal with debt problems.

Tel. 0808 808 4000

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/