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/